by Drew Clark
Trine University, ‘20
UGAC Vice Chairman
Drew Clark (Trine University, ‘20) at the 2017 Biennial Convention in Washington D.C. after has Chapter received the Founders’ Cup.
Growing up I was a fairy quiet kid.
I had no trouble with my school work and was the star wrestler all through high school.
After high school I decided to attend Trine University to wrestle and study chemical engineering. I had chosen Trine University over Purdue University because I was extremely impressed when my tour guide said hi to everyone we passed on the tour. I liked the small campus feel where everyone knew each other. That was my comfort zone.
Going into college I had no intent on joining a fraternity and really didn’t know what it even was. My first day on campus some of the wrestlers invited me over to the house to hang out. There, I discovered that my tour guide was the current president of the fraternity. I talked to him for an hour or so and got to meet some of the other brothers, we had a good time.
Throughout the semester, we played volleyball almost every day. I felt like I belonged there. Once the end of the semester came, I received a bid to the fraternity, however, I was right in the middle of wrestling season and knew I couldn’t do both. Come Christmas break, my grades were falling and my back was giving out due to wrestling.
I had to make the hardest decision I’ve ever made to quit wrestling. I had wrestled for as long as I could remember. It was who I was.
Brother Clark (right) playing volleyball outside the old chapter house at Trine University.
Returning to school for the second semester I decided that I would join the Fraternity. Little did I know how much that decision to join would impact my life.
That semester I had learned what made Phi Kappa Theta so special. I learned what it meant to be a servant leader and I had made 30 of my closest friends.
At the end of my second semester, I was elected by the chapter to attend the Biennial Convention in Washington D.C. At the convention, Jon Blanton (Trine University, ’17), my Associate Member Educator, was the current Undergraduate Advisory Committee Chairman (UGAC) and his term was up.
The night before the election, Jon told me that I should run for it, so I did. I ended up being elected as the Great Lakes UGAC and was later elected as the Vice Chairman of the UGAC. With this position I get to serve as a member of the Phi Kappa Theta Board of Trustees.
Through this position I have had the privilege of assisting chapters in Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin with chapter operations, philanthropy and recruitment. I have also had the opportunity to attend the Boise Bollinger Leadership Academy in Bowling Green, Ohio as well as IMPACT18 in Orlando, Florida.
It is always so cool to me when attending these conferences to gain a perspective that there are hundreds of other people who share the same values and the bond of brotherhood all throughout the country, young and old. It is through these experiences that I have truly gained an understanding of what it means to “give, expecting nothing thereof”.
It was also through these experiences that I was able to meet Dr. Michael Brown and his team of life coaches.
My favorite thing that he had said at one of the leadership conferences was, “You will never wake up being someone you have not been becoming.”.
I have no doubt that joining Phi Kappa Theta was the best decision of my life.
I have truly been blessed with the opportunities that this fraternity has allowed me to experience.
I have developed from a quiet freshman, falling behind in class, and struggling in wrestling, to being a servant leader, top of my class and ready to accomplish anything life throws my way.
About Drew:
Drew Clark is a collegiate student at Trine University. He grew up in Wabash, Indiana, and graduated from Northfield High School in 2016. Brother Clark is currently studying Chemical Engineering with a minor in Environmental Engineering.
He Serves as vice chairman of the Undergraduate Advisory Council for Phi Kappa Theta Fraternity, representing the Great Lakes Province, which includes chapters in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin and Michigan. Through this position, he also serves on Phi Kappa Theta's Board of Trustees.