Over this past weekend, over half of Nu Alpha Phi fraternity's alumni from Syracuse University found time in their busy schedules to make the 4-hour trip from New York City to Syracuse to touch base with the active brothers at Nu Alpha Phi's Eta Chapter.
Although we may keep in constant contact with each other, some alums have not paid a visit to their alma mater in months and brothers who we haven't seen in a while are always a welcome sight. After the warm welcomes upon their arrival, it felt as though they had never left.
They arrived late on Friday night, which meant we had to have our near-ritual brotherhood brunch at our favorite local pho restaurant. Our first big meal together was spent catching up with old friends and an exchange of views and insight on the direction the chapter is heading. We always look to older brothers and alumni for advice on steering the chapter to greater heights and our Alumni Weekend serves as a mediator to accomplish just that.
Not to say that we don't spend loads of down time during these few days! After all, it is the weekend, and we found it necessary to have a game of tackle football as the weather in Syracuse relented and showed us a bit of sun and warmth.
As the sun set and the cold began to set back in, we decided to head back to the house to keep warm with a brotherhood hotpot. Preparing and organizing the dinner was definitely a joint effort, and so was finishing all the food!
To compensate for all the food that was consumed over the weekend, we participated in Syracuse University's KASA's (Korean American Student Association) Volleyball Tournament on that Sunday. With the hotpot dinner still resting in our stomachs, we still managed to achieve a respectable second place in the overall tournament. As it turned out, our prize were an assortment of gift cards to local eateries; such is the vicious cycle!
Soon after the volleyball tournament, our alumni made their journey back to the city as their work weeks started the next day. They may have left as soon as they arrived, but not without leaving words of guidance and wisdom as well as many fond memories behind.
Eta Chapter Out.
