The dangers of a single story was a powerful Ted Talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a novelist.  She talked about how incorrect a stereotype can be and she related it back to her life of being a novelist from Africa.

In my life this snap judgment and forming a stereotype of someone is something I experience everyday.  Being in a fraternity here at Ohio State has taught me that not everyone has experienced Greek life and many people have certain beliefs about them whether they are based in fact or not.  I have experienced as well as heard stories from my brothers, that we are viewed in a negative light because of the publicity that fraternities get.  Some of these assumptions include never going to class and partying all the time or even worse, sexism and racism.  In truth, many of these stereotypes are actually false and can be quite damaging to those who are the victims of these stereotypes/prejudices.  

Everyone is guilty of prejudging someone or forming an assumption before they knew them, even me.  In my case, I was guilty of prejudging one of my previous roommates of being a party animal that did terribly poor in school.  When I first moved in a was forming these judgments all I could focus on was how many nights he would go out to bars and drink all the time while sleeping in.  Without any additional information i just assumed that he did not do well in school because of this.  He actually had a very high GPA because when he wasn't going out he was in the library hard at work and just because his classes didn't start early in the morning doesn't mean he did not go to them at all in fact they were in the afternoon and he went to every single one.  None of my previous assumptions were correct and I only made this assumption because of what i was exposed to in the media.  After I got to know him and figured all this out we actually became really good friends, quite the opposite of what i was expecting. So remember, don't form the assumptions before you have all the facts and be impartial.  

My Ideal Leader

In class, we discussed the qualities that a leader possesses.  Qualities such as:  a drive for positive social and ethical change, charismatic, influential, and determination.  My ideal leader that I would enjoy to meet would be John Lennon.

I believe he was a great leader despite the fact that he did not hold a  position with any political power.  He changed the world through his music and the generation that grew up with him.  He firmly believed in peaceful anti-war movements and was firm on the point of nonviolence.  I would love to sit down with John and explore his thoughts on what is currently going on in the world today. I believe that John Lennon was a great leader because of his overarching love of all things.  He never discriminated and would fight for anything worth fighting for without wavering, which I find is an important quality in leadership.  Because of the fact that I am very interested in the 1960s and 1970s as a decade of pop culture and change, I would love to talk with John about his inspiration for his song, Give Peace a Chance. (Video available below).

I once read somewhere that John Lennon was so involved in his anti-war movements that Richard Nixon, the current president, was nervous that it would not get him reelected so his supporters campaigned to have him deported back to England. He ultimately got his green card after that dispute.  

I firmly believe if he were still alive today then he would definitely be involved in the worlds current political situations through music, just as he did some 50 years ago.

About me!

    Hi, my name is Troy Richter and I am a third year at The Ohio State University.  I am studying Behavioral Neuroscience and plan on going to Grad school and eventually researching Alzheimers Disease.  I am very passionate about anything neuroscience and find my self talking to anyone who will listen. It is incredibly interesting because of the complexity of the human brain and everything it encompasses. It is amazing how we have evolved this specific and complex. I get this a lot from people haha:

    I am also very close to my family, especially my brothers.  This past summer my brother, Cole (center) got married!  This is a picture of all of us.  Some say that I (on the right) look incredibly similar to my brother Grant (on the left).  Along with the passion I have for my family I am also passionate about my hometown, Hilliard, Ohio.  I played football and ran track in high school and we are a fairly large high school so I am always running into people I know that go here or have hear of Hilliard.  I hope to one day give back to my hometown because of its impact on me as a person.

I am very passionate about the fraternity i am in as well. I am a brother of Delta Tau Delta, Beta Phi chapter.  My brother actually founded this chapter back in 2004 (Technically bringing it back after leaving campus in 2000). I am always striving for ways to make it a better place for men to call home and to become better leaders of today. I often talk with my brothers about this, trying to get their opinion and then bringing that to the chapter. I am always excited to talk with anyone about the fraternity.  

-Troy Richter