All our lives we have mimicked those around us. Almost everything we have learned since birth we have learned by mimicking others. We watched the way our parents and other figures in our lives interacted with each other and use this as a foundation to build our social skills throughout our youth. We mimicked the movement of our parents’ lips and eventually learned to talk. We watched our parents walk around the house and soon stood up and were walking, too.
Now we are all grown up. We have learned everything we could at home and have since moved off to college to learn even more. Although, the method of learning practiced in college resembles more closely a cup of coffee and an open book in a library at 1am; we are still learning through every interaction we have “with those who the routine of life brings into familiar contact”.
It’s Masters week, and I’m sure golf is on your minds almost as much as it’s on mine. In that spirit I want to share this video with you.
Although a funny video there is plenty of truth behind it. When we are around people who have traits we desire to possess, we mimic those people in an attempt to attain those traits, just as we did when we were learning to walk and talk.
My Grandma always says, “if you lay down with dogs, you’re gonna get fleas”. It is her way of saying what our preamble states a little less colloquially. “For the cultivation of true friendship, then for the mutual protection and advancement in intellectual, moral, and social life…” This one part of the third sentence encompasses why Chi Psi has stayed relevant to the collegiate man for the past 171 years: there are some things that just aren’t taught in the classroom. It is through positive examples set by alumni and senior Brothers in our Alphas that we have continued to thrive. It is through Brothers looking out for one another and their fellow students that our members continue to grow individually into better men. It is through Brothers living the values of Chi Psi and others mimicking those actions.
As the school year comes to a close I challenge you, in the spirit of Chi Psi to be someone that others wish to mimic and avoid giving anyone fleas.
