My graduating class at Indiana University is celebrating in caps and gowns today, and although I don't get to be there for that, I'm very much okay with missing out on it. My semester doesn't actually end for another two weeks anyway (silly France), so I have yet to complete what my peers have done, making it feel a bit imaginary for me. What I'm really missing out on this weekend is the celebration of someone else that has done so much more than me.
My older brother Cole is graduating from Auburn University tomorrow, and I dearly wish that I could have been there to snap pictures of him in his cap and gown, but now I have to find another way to show how proud I am of my big bro.
Tomorrow, Cole celebrates something real; he has finished his four collegiate years, during which he not only studied and took exams, but also grew into somebody that I'm even prouder to call my brother than before. My friends can attest to how much I brag about my big bros, and now anyone reading this gets a good taste of that.
Cole has always been the funniest Stuart, but as he has grown into who he is and matured during college, his humor has developed in complement. Part of this is due to the amount of knowledge that he's accumulated in these four years, which is to be expected during college, seeing as he was and English major and thus learned more words and how to use them in increasingly clever ways, but due to his unrelenting passion about what interests him, he also researches whatever band or idea piques his interest. He uses some of this researched information to make his famously clever and hilarious quips, but also applies it wherever applicable in his life.
Anybody that has ever attempted to argue with this guy certainly knows that going against him tends to be a losing battle. At first, it can take a while to figure out why he's so hard to beat -- is it because he stops blinking and intimidates you with the glaring intensity of those ambiguously blue/green eyes? Does he have mind control powers that make you suddenly capable of only producing sub-par arguments? Honestly though, he's just so knowledgeable that he can support pretty much any argument with the facts that he can come up with off the top of his head, and when combined with his quick wit, it makes for a lethal combination.
These argumentative tactics could easily make a person intimidating to encounter, but Cole is also generous with what he knows. Especially when he knows that I'm curious about something, he makes the effort to share new information, teaching me things that I never would have known without my brother. How much do you know about the Wu-Tang Clan? Had it not been for Cole, I would know nothing about them, likely never developing an appreciation for rap music, but he broadened my understanding of the world (or at least of the musical world) and taught me some things that I'm honestly pretty proud of knowing. He also taught me everything I know about basketball, so I can understand what I'm seeing when I watch Bulls games on TV. He makes me smarter and feel cooler than I could be without him.
If I hadn't taken an entire class on the Beatles, Cole, you would undoubtedly smoke me at Beatles Trivial Pursuit.
One thing that I personally keep learning more and more, especially since Cole and I started college, is just how supportive and wonderful of a brother he is. He was my first friend. He has always kept and eye out for me, and was definitely not shy about doing so whenever boys are involved in my life, but it took me until college to really start noticing what he does for me. He teaches me things and shows me cool music. When we're in different states or countries, he finds ways to give something as short and simple as a text message the heartfelt warmth of a hug. He makes time to hang out with his little sister even though he has a lot of well-earned friends that he needs to make time for when we're home. He sticks up for me when he notices that I'm being picked on and don't have the presence of mind to defend myself, and I can never put into words how much that means to me.
All in all, Cole has been an amazing brother and person in general, and this man that I look up to so much absolutely deserves to be celebrated today. I love you, I look up to you, and I'm proud of you. Congratulations, big bro.
No comments:
Post a Comment