The Rich Getting Richer

  In spirit with the rich get richer model, I was reminded of a friend of mine that used to be in my a cappella group. My friend Don was in the group until this semester, as he could no longer attend the University for financial reasons.

            The very first night of my freshman year, I was wandering around with a group of people that had formed in the common room on my floor. I uncomfortably followed my suitemates around in the group, as I felt really out of place in my new environment and am shy. Later in the night, a few of us in the group were heading back to our rooms and heard music coming from an open door. People were flooding from this room, there were probably at least fifty people squeezed in there, watching the boy play his guitar and sing.

            That was the first time I saw Don. I actually met him a few nights later when we both played at an Open Mic night in afterHours. As I was there with one other kid, Don had several people there with him.

            A week or so later, we both auditioned for the UniSons all-guys a cappella group and we both got in. After this point I really started to notice that Don just seemed to know EVERYBODY. Whenever we’d walk back through Ruggles to International Village from rehearsal, it seemed that every twenty feet or so he’d stop to say hi to someone he knew. Some people I recognized, most I had never seen before. These people were of all different looks, backgrounds, interest groups.

I would go to the dining hall with Don, find a seat and be halfway done with my meal before he cam e to sit, distracted by all the people he would see.

            If you met someone, they would already know him. If you met someone who didn’t, they soon would.

            If we had a party after a show with a group from another school, I would look up somebody I met there on Facebook as soon as I got back to my room and Don was already listed as a mutual friend with just about everyone at the show and the party.

            Don was just so charismatic that he had to make friends with everyone he met, and he had to meet a large number of the people he encountered. He knew a crazy amount of people, and it seemed that that list would always be continuously growing.