I want to go deep into the way-back machine for this Monday’s stock story, all the way back to my days at MSMS.

Before I do, I want to make sure that you see a very, very appropriate stock story of mine today: the story of the toast I gave at Sean and Katharine’s wedding last year. It accurately describes how I first met Sean, and that’s appropriate, I think, on their first anniversary.

Okay, onto the story.

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Many of you know that I was involved—okay, up over my head—in student goverment at UAH. What you probably don’t know is the origin of me being involved in student government stuff.

Back when I was a senior, I lived on 2-East in MSMS’s Peyton Hall, the boys’ dormitory. [2-East 4-Life!] Our hall was very much junior-dominated—including Rick. [I've talked about that before.] I’ve forgotten most of the first Wing Meeting we had, but I do remember saying one thing:

“Every year, Senate”—the legislative body of MSMS’s SGA—”gets people from homerooms and from wings. It’s pretty much a tradition that wing senators are seniors, and I don’t think that should change this year here on 2-East.” The previous year, we’d had more than one Senator, mainly because Brandon Blissett had a meltdown and ended up going home. I think Ravi Mantena, his roommate, may have finished out his term.

In any regard, my little speech got me in trouble—the only two candidates for our wing ended up being myself and Lester Jones. I’d've been cool if Lester had gotten it, but to be honest, I wanted to be a part; after all, my friend Seth Misenar was the SGA President, and I wanted to help him if I could.

I won. That was the beginning of it all right there.

What no one who knows me will believe is that I never did a thing but vote in my first semester in Senate, at least until the last month. The first time I rose to have privileges of the floor, I was so nervous that I stuttered, which is something that I don’t really do when nervous. [I only stutter when I'm trying to find words, and my brain decides to repeat words or syllables previously said. It's annoying, but it's not compulsive.]

By the end of my senior year, I and others had re-written the SGA Constitution. Looking on it now, I laugh uncontrollably—it was radically bloated and overwrought. I have no idea if it’s still in place seven years later, but if it is, it ought to be scrapped.

I think I improved just a little from there.