Fraternities have been around since the establishment of universities in Europe. Many of these fraternities were groups of university intellectuals who shared similarities. Today, fraternities and sororities (the female counterpart) number in the thousands around the world. Though the concept of the fraternity has changed dramatically over time, there are so many out there with so many different purposes that there is something for everyone.

On June of this year, a month short of my second anniversary with the company, I resigned from my job. The pay was good, the benefits were more than any employee could ask for, and the co-workers were not only friendly but brilliant at what they did. It was the perfect office setup and, in these uncertain times where jobs are scarce, I gave it all up.

Just a few days before the September edition of Halfway Magazine goes online, a cousin of mine will have attended her first day of school as a freshman at a large public university in a neighboring state.

“When you were a child,” my mother recounted with much pride, “You could do frog jumps up a long flight of stairs in the park with no trouble, but the boys struggled.”

A few weeks ago, I entertained the idea of giving my graduation speech. I thought that it may come in handy in case I get requested (more like forced) by my classmates to give a few words. Yes, an impromptu speech.

One time, I woke up from an afternoon nap, and I went downstairs and found the den full of ladies in red dresses with plates and drinks in their hands. I took it they were from the school next door.

I feel that simply having faith is more important than collecting religious paraphernalia; a spiritual faith without an expiration date attached because life is full of changes. There was a ten year gap from when I last stepped out of a church before I visited another church. This visit was about five years ago, when a friend invited me to attend a church revival.

When I was younger, I didn’t question my parents’ faith. Among my earliest memories are those of Sunday school, the church building and the scary bathroom in the basement. I remember frilly dresses on Easter and getting in trouble when my grandmother caught me running through a sprinkler in the dress.

On normal afternoons, Vivi and I dreaded the 40-minute drive home from school; and to pass the time we usually role-played, with me as a princess and her as my prince (I always forced her to be the male) and sometimes we’d end up arguing about the way the story should go, which would, in turn, become a kicking competition.

Summer of 1992. I was about to spend my 7th birthday in China, a remote and distant place that I was to visit for the very first time in my life. Little could I foresee what this country held.