Essay 1.1 ~ Hyperreal Hypermedia:

When I came to Texas A&M as a freshman, I was immediately greeted by three older guys that assured me that that year would be the best year of my life. And they were right. These guys were called crew chiefs and where in charge of leading the dorm to anything going on for that year. Although most of it revolved around bonfire, it was not limited to this. However, Bonfire would become the biggest event of that semester. Before the tragic collapse in '99, I got a chance to meet a whole lot of people. Bonfire brought me so close to the people I would be spending the rest of my college life with through hard work and a little pain. I would be friends with not only the people in my dorm, but also many people from all over campus that work side by side every night to build this massive structure.

Even though Bonfire fell and killed 12 of my friends, I believe it was well worth it and would have had no problem getting right back up their, even if it meant I lost my life. Bonfire meant that much to us and most of us that actually spent more than 100 hours out there would agree. People just don’t realize that Bonfire isn’t just a simple construction project, but rather a bonding experience where all kinds of things are created.

Seeing the campus fall apart and all the traditions that A&M once held so dear disintegrate, I knew that something must be done. So I turned to a group of my friends that had experienced the same greatness of bonfire and we decided it was our duty to carry on this tradition to the next generations. We knew we could do this and do it safe. Because we knew that we wanted Bonfire back, but we also knew that we didn’t want anyone else to die for it. So after many years of planning we formed Unity Project and I undertook the biggest task of my life.

As one of the main leaders of this project, it allowed me to meet a lot of the new aggies that wanted to learn about what made Bonfire so great. Sadly I couldn’t learn everyone’s name but believe me; I'm continuously meeting people that came out this last year. So if you come up to me and I don’t quit remember you, I ask you to please just keep introducing yourself and tell me how much fun you had out there.

journal entry - bonfire