Greg Schrage
Sphinx Club
Paper about Experiences
What I Have Learned as a Rhyne
As a start another week of being a Sphinx Club Rhyne, I feel the need for reflection on my experiences. When I started off being a Rhyne I really didn’t know what to expect. I knew that there would be a lot of physical effort and the such but what I did not realize was that I would soon learn more about Wabash College in the next couple of weeks than I did in my Freshman Year. I have learned a lot about the beginning of the college and the hardships of the founders of the college to get enough money to start up their dream. I learned that the college was founded in an attempt to churn out men who could educate the many, many people who were migrating to Mid-west. I have learned that Wabash College has spoke for themselves and had a mind of their own. During the Civil War, when most colleges and universities in the state were going to a co-ed education and admitting people for free, Wabash stood firm in its stance of being an all-male college. I have learned about the great sports teams of Wabash College from “Pete” Vaughan to Mac Petty to Chris Creighton. I also learned that the phrase “Wabash Always Fights” was started by an utterance at a speech and has grown to be the war cry of the college today. I learned that the Sphinx Club has been the gel that holds the campus together since it’s inception. The knowledge that I have gained about the college is one of the best experiences about being a Rhyne.
Another thing that I learned is that it is harder to get a group of people together and work together if they don’t live together like a fraternity pledge ship. Nevertheless, this same group does work together and accomplishes a lot as a team. My Rhyne brothers and I have gotten to know each other a lot more and with the addition of the friendships we have formed, teamwork became easier. I knew who many of my Rhyne brothers were before our pledge ship together but now I know them on a personal level. This is especially true in the case of Lyman. He and I worked in the calling center together and I knew that he was a Phi Psi but that was about it. I now know that he lives really close to a lake in South Dakota that my friend and I visit every summer to get drunk and ski. Knowing that A.J. lives close means that he can come to get drunk and ski with us. Also, being a Rhyne has taught me that there are many cool people who go to this college that live by me. I had no idea that Serek and Pope were from Avon and Goff is from Brownsburg. Now that I know these facts, all these guys can come and party or hang out in Danville, my hometown. I have also seen that things in Rhyne ship and pledge ship are sometimes the same. Some pledges are better pledges than other pledges and some have more things than others to worry about outside of pledge ship. The same thing applies to Rhyne ship but I think that you will get this in any team effort. I have learned that there are people in fraternities that I had never set foot in before this that are really cool and worth visiting. In conclusion, I have learned that the friendships and fun times formed during Rhyne ship will be remembered forever and that a greater knowledge of the college has given me a greater love of it.