because you're different

You chose triathlon as your recreational pastime out of a slew (legion!!!) of extra-curricular options available from our fine university (dear old USC!!!). You chose early mornings and late evenings (all day, EVERY day!!!) bathed in sweat (shivering in hoodies and sweats!!!) and baked in sun (freezing cold!!!), over sleeping in and partying late. You chose loooooooong weekend excursions leading to godforsaken places (out of the ghetto!!!), when you could have been clinging to University Park or a fashionable off-campus cozy love-nest (West-SIIIIIIIIIIIIDE!!!).

And you know why...

You could have done Competition Cheer and been sampling the latest micro-fiber technology in cheerleading shorts and mini-skirts, but NOOOOOOOOO, you chose Triathlon. You could have done Ping Pong Posse and hung around a dinky cardboard table debating the merits of rubber paddles, but NOOOOOOOOO, you chose Triathlon. You could have done Undergraduate Student Government and been the BIG MAN/WOMAN ON CAMPUS and gotten berated by Vice President Michael Jackson every week, but NOOOOOOOOO, you chose Triathlon.

And you could (coulda woulda shoulda? maybe? heh? no regrets? sure? ha ha ha!!!) have pursued the big 900-pound gorilla that everyone KNOWS is on this campus but nobody EVER talks about (because, after all, anyone who EVER talks about it is such...like...you know...*loser*): GREEEEEEEEEEEK!!! But NOOOOOOOOO, you chose Triathlon.

And why? Why did you give up on bacchanalia? Who did you give up on decadence? Why did you give up on the chance (no! the opportunity!) to stand around and listen to lines like: "If they're walking alone, it means they're not popular--and we don't want anybody who's not popular!" or "Prada is sooooooooo last year! This year we only wear Fendi!" or "They have to be pretty and their friends have to be pretty, or they're not worth talking to!" [NOTE: these are actual lines overheard during Rush Week]. Why did you give up on so much FUN?

Why? Because you're different, that's why!

You want to get outside of campus. You want to try things new. You want to get out of your shell. You want to do more than think outside of the box. You want to grow beyond the confines of your ordinary world with its ordinary people living ordinary lives thinking ordinary things doing ordinary shopping eating ordinary food listening to ordinary music watching ordinary television pursuing ordinary activities and dissing everybody and anything who is not just...like...them...

Every day.

And the rest of the whole wide world spins on, even though so many people don't know it.

But not you. You want to explore. You want to see what there is to be seen. You want to meet whoever there is to meet. You want to learn whatever there is to learn. You want to free your mind. And you want to experience what there is to experience. As much as you can pack into the limits of your life. Even if it means studying the arcane arts of swim technique (sculling!!! finger-tip drag!!! catch-up drill!!!), cycling (clinchers!!! wheel true-ing!!! seatpost angle!!!), and running (intervals!!! plyometrics!!! ascending sets!!!). Even if it means doing a workout at 6am in the morning, and then turning around and doing another workout at 7pm at night. Even if it means an entire weekend on the bike rolling out on Pacific Coast Highway to F-O-R-E-V-E-R. Even if it means getting far, far, far, far, far---FAR---away from campus.