Is It Frat? Episode 1: Reading

I do a some mentoring to the actives since I’ve graduated. And I gotta say, it’s obvious that like the wise Bobby “Byrdlaw” D’Angelo  once said: “FRAT BOYS HAVE CHANGED.”  It’s with that in mind that I came up with a super Dad-joke level game that helps us understand changing with the times.

Announcer voice: Since time immemorial sharks have filled the seas of this great planet and fraternities have been a part of this country’s higher education. Though the respective presences of sharks and frats have remained constant, how they look and act change with the times. Context is everything and how certain things abide within the context of fraterities past might no longer vibe with brotherhoods of today.

It is with this in mind that we must regularly stop and ask ourselves…

Live Studio Audience: IS! IT! FRAT!?

That’s right people everyone’s favorite not game show is back, well almost back. Next time it’ll be back. This is the first installment. Anyway…

Reading! Is it frat?

Ever since you were little it’s something you were told you were supposed to do. Yet you also, at some point, had a genuine motivation to do it as well. There was something you wanted to be able to do for yourself. You wanted to play certain text heavy video games; you wanted to please your parents or teachers; you wanted to get around on the internet; or you very likely wanted to actually read literature written by sharks and/or humans because it was * gasp * enjoyable! Now, that’s all well and good. It really is.

But is it frat? Well let’s look at it two different ways: the ways it IS frat, and the ways it’s NOT frat. Then lets measure the net fratness on the Fratometer. That’s pronounced fra-TAH-meh-ter for reference “FRAT-o-meat-her” is a meat thermometer you administer to a co-ed during a situation of mutual consent.

Disclaimer: This piece will have been sponsored by Audible as soon as they respond to my emails, phone calls, carrier pigeons, and/or singing telegrams… so be ready to use that promo-code: ConallSucks any day now…

Reading: Not Frat
Gone are the days of being a NEEEEEEEEERD just for doing one thing or another. You won’t have it counted against you just for liking to read for its own sake. You might have what you LIKE to read held against you, but that’s true for any media: what you like to watch/play/have sex with etc. But with anything there are the opportunity costs. Here is where reading IS different than other media. You can’t do it with other people. You can watch a movie with your boys or binge a show with your girl. Games can be multiplayer OR single player. You get the idea. Reading is me, myself, and I, only. If reading is your sole form of entertainment you might create an image for yourself that influences how others perceive you but more importantly how they treat you. And that can have a ripple effect.

Reading: Frat
Reading, TV and Movies have a lot of overlap and you’ll hear “the book is better than the (show/movie)” any time they adapt something. Compulsory schooling might have tried to beat ready-for-fun out of us but by God we won’t forget at one point it was entertaining. There is no getting around it. Now, we are all aware of the educational side of the written word. But what if I told you there is another world that is both entertaining and educational and yet neither at the same time? The “self help” or “self improvement” world of literature is a $420-gazillion dollar industry. This can range from Guitar For Actual Idiots; to From Gimp to Pimp: Getting Girls Later If You Can’t Right Now; to Shut Up Inside and Out: Teaching Your Baby Meditation; to GET GUD at Jesus-ing. And I believe this is make or break for reading as Frat. You can find an interesting way to expand your horizons or learn something new in a concise  and curated way or even how to figure out WHAT you want. Granted, info is everywhere online and in video format but these types of books give you a specific platform as a guide since you probably don’t even know where to start or where to go once you do start and that has a lot of parallels to a good fraternity experience: it should give you an enhanced experience with better knowledge, understanding of yourself, and maybe some direction or at least insight that will payoff after you finish school.

Conclusion:
So now we come to the moment of truth, and say it with me!

HOW! FRAT! IS IT?!

The Fratometer says……

Frat.

No more, no less. It’s as frat as any ole fraternity. It is what you make it. So make it great!

Please include in the comments below what might make a good episode and tune in next time when we ask…

IS! IT! FRAT!”