WordUp by Chad Gramling

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I am going to tell you about a guy named Chris.

I met Chris back in college when I was a student at the soon-to-be renamed Tri-State University. Chris was a sophomore who transferred in after his freshman year at IUPUI. He played football for a while, but quit soon into the year - I think it was partly because of injuries and partly because he really wasn’t the epitome of physical conditioning.

Chris was a big dude who always seemed to have a day or two facial growth and was pretty scrufty looking. He was wearing shorts in the winter - but also donned athletic warm-ups all year round. Chris seemed like he was about seven foot tall and had at least a hundred pounds or more on me.

He had a voice like Tone Loc and when he laughed, you could tell he smoked . . . many things . . . and often. (come to think of it, he looked a lot like Ton Loc) He liked to indulge in alcohol and was a frequent “guest” at one of the “other” fraternity houses (but never actually joined).

I remember him most from spring semester.

He drove his mom’s Ford Taurus and played Rage Against The Machine’s Evil Empire at all times. We’d hop in the car after class and he’d turn on the ignition. Rage would already be blaring and his fingers were already on the window controls to bring all four down.

He’d shout something like “Hell Yeah! This is the sh*t!” as he zoomed down the road to the dorms or wherever we were going.

Now here is why I wanted to tell you about Chris:

What about this story surprises you?

• That I would hang out with this guy (and have always been most comfortable around his people of his personality)?
• That the Rage Against The Machine CD was borrowed from me?
• That Chris was seriously studying to be . . . an Elementary English Teacher?
• That Chris was genuinely intelligent and would have been great at his profession?

That’s what I liked about Chris. He broke the mold. He chose to pursue a career that was seemingly a role for which he would have never been considered. And he didn’t care.

Think again how surprised you probably were to learn that Chris wanted to be an English teacher. Now, think about how surprised you’d be if you were a third grader and walked into the classroom to see Chris on the first day of school.

More on this tomorrow.

[tags]Friendship, Rage Against The Machine, Tri-State University, IUPUI, English Teachers, Breaking the Mold, Sterotypes[/tags]