THE ALPHA ALPHA CLASS
OF OMEGA ALPHA
INITIATED FEBRUARY 21, 2009
BRANDON M. BOATSWAIN
#129 BROTHER CRIUS
My name is Brandon Boatswain; I was born on August 14, 1990 and raised in Freeport, New York. I live with both my mother and father. Thomas Boatswain, my father, is a strong individual who always pushed me to succeed in life. He coached my church basketball team for about 8 years. I must say it build a strong bond between him and I. My father’s side of the family is Puerto Rican & of Montserrat heritage. My Nana who was born and raised in Montserrat lived to be a whole 113 years of age. You can say she has seen and experienced it all. She was a woman of great knowledge and wisdom. In her eyes there was no such thing as giving up, success was the only option. My mother, Elsa Boatswain, was born and raised in Cuba. I have built a strong relationship with my mother throughout my life. She has taught me my second language which is Spanish which will be useful throughout my life.
I am the youngest of three children. I have an older brother and sister who I am really close to. My parents sent all of us to private schools starting from the 7th grade. I was not the best academic student. I struggled at times but still I strived for success. It was also hard for me to leave my friends that I had grown up with. I was a bit nervous going to a school that was far away from home, then the usual school that was down the block from my house. I accepted the fact that my parents did this to better my education. I have friends from all over Long Island now. You can never have too many! I once traveled outside the country to Costa Rica in the 10th grade which was one of the greatest experiences I have had. Learning about people of different culture and their lifestyle intrigued me. No one was materialistic. The life they lived was pure as they said. From those two weeks that I was there I felt like that was a place I could live in.
As the years went on I noticed that it was time for me to decide which college I was going to attend. Johnson & Wales University stood out to me the most. The people are welcoming and comfortable to be around every day for the next four years of my life. I first met John Wahlen, Brother Ali, at Wild Cat Weekend. We were both from Long Island and had a lot in common. He looked into Greek life and found Tau Epsilon Phi. After he became a brother he sold Tau Epsilon Phi to me. I was introduced to the brothers who were friendly and began to have interest in getting to know me. I began to rush TEP and spent time with them at events where you could see the bond each of them had with each other was real. They had a brotherhood that would last for an eternity. This was something I wanted! I received a bid and I was willing to put in the effort and time to learn about Tau Epsilon Phi. It was a big decision that I made as well as the best decision I made. TEP teaches you how to become a better person. Now I am stronger. ---Rush TEP---
JUSTIN FISCHER
#130 BROTHER PROMETHEUS II
My name is Justin Fischer and I am a freshman here at Johnson & Wales. I am a Culinary Arts major and cooking is my passion. Ever since I was little all I wanted to do was cook, and when I was eight I saw a TV special on food network about Johnson & Wales and I have been hooked on the school ever since. After college I would like to travel around the world working in the culinary field for a while and eventually open up my own restaurant some day.
I grew up in a small town where everyone knew each other with both my parents. I was an only child for a long time, 8 years. Then when I was just about nine my parents told me that I was going to be a big brother. It was one of the most exciting times of my life. Being an older brother had a lot of responsibilities. My parents were very understanding knowing it was going to be a big change in our lives and did all they could to make me feel special and important throughout the whole process knowing that it would be tough to adapt to not having both of their attention all of the time now. So that year, in November I became a big brother to my twin brothers, who I had the opportunity to name. I’m very close with both my parents and my brothers, family is a big part of my life.
As I got older I always had a feeling that I was meant to do something more in this world, be a part of something larger than myself. That is why I chose Tau Epsilon Phi, they are a strong group of brothers with a common purpose and ideals. Joining was an easy decision. I felt a close connection when I first met the brothers of Tau Epsilon Phi and I knew it was something I wanted to be a part of.
FRANKLIN RODRIGUEZ
#131 BROTHER HEKTOR
My Name is Franklin Rodriguez, I am 18 years old and I am from Berlin, New Jersey. I was born March 22, 1990 in Brooklyn, New York. My parents have been divorced since I was 2 years old and ever since then I was a mommas boy. My mother (Sandra) means the world to me and she is my best friend. I have a 7 year old brother (Jeremiah) that can be a pain but I love him dearly. There is a big age difference but my mom holds everyone together.
I never really had a true father figure in my life so my grandfather and mom took that position. They made me who I am today, a strong reliable and trustworthy person. Without them I would be nothing compared to what I am today. They always had me in sports and were my #1 fan in every sport I played. Playing sports kept me humble and helped me work together with people as a team. Since I am not playing sports yet at Johnson & Wales I miss being on a team, becoming a brother in TEP would help me extend my networking opportunities.
TEP can help me become a better person in many different ways. I’ll be more involved with school activities and expand my network to sports teams and other Greek Life Organizations. The fraternity offers people skills including leadership, honor, brotherhood and giving back to the community. I will be there for my brothers at anytime and I know that we will have a tight bond even after college.
NEVIN XAVIER
#132 BROTHER MEGELLAN
My name is Nevin Michael Xavier, and I am a student at Johnson & Wales University, studying Restaurant, Food and Beverage Management. I am from the small town of Ludlow, Massachusetts. Back at home I am very involved in the Portuguese Community. I am a member of the Gremio Lusitano Portuguese Club where I also bartend, and I am the chair of a committee which plans an annual dinner dance to raise money for Portuguese students to further their education, and go to college. I have two amazing parents and an amazing supporting family that I love and thank them for everything they have given me.
As for Tau Epsilon Phi and Greek life, it was something I have always wanted since I was a freshman in high school. As it came closer to having to pick colleges my junior year one of the things I would look for in a college is if they had Greek life. When I found out that I got accepted to Johnson & Wales and that they had a very small but strong Greek Life, I was excited to go to orientation. At Orientation I meet a gentleman named Christopher Bisciotti, who was the Chancellor of Tau Epsilon Phi Fraternity. As I sat down and talked to him about Greek life he got me even more interested and excited to join Greek life and come to Johnson & Wales University. When I went home I looked more into Greek Life online, I searched fraternities and read up on them. Coming into school I was open-minded but I did have one fraternity in mind. On the first day of school, the first group of men to come up to me and ask if I needed help moving my stuff in was TEP. From that day forward I knew they were the guys. As I started to hang out with them I realized that I could become a better person by joining Tau Epsilon Phi. I also think that I can offer and learn a lot to Tau Epsilon Phi. As it is said, “Alone I am Strong, with my Brothers I am Stronger.”
CHAD CELLANA
#134 BROTHER ARENOSO
My name is Chad John Cellana. I entered this world on June 5 1990. I was born in North Adams MA, then moved to Grafton, MA when my parents got divorced, then finally settled in Uxbridge, MA at the age of seven. I am the older brother of two sisters. Jessica is a year and a half younger and Staci is nine years younger and she is my half sister. My fathers name is Glenn, my mothers name is Kathy and my stepfather’s name is Marc.
I attended Nipmuc Regional High School. I played soccer and golf also I was apart of the student council. My favorite activity of my youth was playing indoor soccer with nine of my good friends. Every Tuesday night at 10 from November to June we played a game. This game only took an hour of our time but when we were playing it seemed like it lasted forever and as soon as the buzzer sounded I counted the days until I could get back on that field.
JWU was kind of a last minute thing. I never planned on attending Johnson & Wales. To be honest the only reason that I put in an application was because it was free and I didn’t have to write a paper. But when I got accepted along with Westfield State and Keene State I started to look at JWU. I weighed my options and looked at the academics and when I found out that it was a career university it caught my eye. Even though it was pricey for my family and I; I made my decision and became a Wildcat.
I was always interested in joining a fraternity. The draw was a lifelong brotherhood. TEP caught my eye because of the closeness of this brotherhood. I hope that I can be a positive addition to the fraternity of Tau Epsilon Phi.
GEORGE CATUOGNO
#135 BROTHER RELENTLESS
My name is George Michael Catuogno and I was born on June 22, 1990 at Riverview Hospital in Red bank New Jersey. I grew up in a Central Jersey in a town called Manalapan. I have two wonderful parents, Michael and Cathy Catuogno and a loving sister named Nicole and a beautiful white boxer by the name of Tango. My family is my world and I cherish every moment I get to spend with them.
Most of Manalapan is a very wealthy area of New Jersey but not all parts. The part I grew up in wasn’t the best when I was younger. There was violence and people who brought drugs into the area. It wasn’t the best feeling when you were afraid to go to the park. It was a place where you had to be tough otherwise you became a target. But as the years went on the place started to straighten out for the better. It still wasn’t a place I was proud to call my home though and I let that get to me. I succeeded in getting my parents to move out of the area. When I look back on it It was selfish on my part, it’s a shame that it took so long for me to realize that I should appreciate everything I have. I started working at the age of 11 at the local flea market. My father taught me that nothing will be given to me for free, that if I want something I would have to go out and work for it. My parents are very supportive of me, whether its athletics or the decisions I make for my life.
The hardest obstacle I have had to overcome hit me in 2005. My Nana passed away from cancer; around the age of 67 she was diagnosed with colon cancer and ended up beating it. After overcoming the colon cancer she ended up developing cancer of the breast and eventually of the pancreas. My Nana is my role model, she was so pure as if she was an angel on earth. The hardest thing was to see her, as she was progressively getting worse, soon all she could remember of me was how we played Monopoly for nine hours straight. I wouldn’t trade that time for the world. Towards the end of the year my first white boxer Nikko started to get ill from cancer also. I held my dog as he slipped away from me. It seems that this curse seems to follow me wherever I go and I just have to learn to accept it.
I was very judgmental about the idea of a fraternity. I generalized and figured that it was just a bunch of guys that get together just to party. As time went on and I became more familiar with the Tau Boys of Johnson & Wales, I realized that we shared a common interest. I never had an opportunity to give back to the community and by becoming a candidate of Tau Epsilon Phi it brings me one step closer. I feel like if I’m accepted into the brotherhood it would make me better myself and others around me. I have been given a great opportunity and I will succeed at any expense.
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