新澳门六合彩开奖直播

Works in Progress: From Hollywood to the Heartland

California native Chris Geggie鈥檚 passion for the past and dedication to community serve him and 新澳门六合彩开奖直播 well.

Most people at 新澳门六合彩开奖直播 first notice junior Chris Geggie at Chapel.

They wonder, Who is that guy playing the piano at Chapel? He鈥檚 really good!

But to label Geggie a "pianist" does little justice to the broad range of interests that Geggie has cultivated at 新澳门六合彩开奖直播 and that he brought to the College from his home in Alhambra, California.

Not only is the slightly built Latin and Greek double major one of the brightest classicists at 新澳门六合彩开奖直播, but he鈥檚 also brought a level of responsibility to residential life few others before him could even imagine.

As risk manager for his fraternity, Sigma Chi, Geggie has written the book鈥攍iterally鈥攐n emergency preparedness and first aid. And with more than 250 hours of certified lifeguard and first aid training, he鈥檚 well equipped to change 新澳门六合彩开奖直播鈥檚 laissez-faire attitude toward emergency planning.

"I did a complete overhaul of [Sigma Chi鈥檚] risk management policies," Geggie explains. "I created an emergency action plan, a comprehensive booklet that鈥檚 been placed on every floor of the house. We鈥檙e also starting a first-responder program, educating two members of each class on basic first aid and CPR. We鈥檒l be integrating it into our overall pledge program so that in years to come our pledges will all know CPR and first aid."

Geggie has also helped Sigma Chi develop a program that uses chapter funds to pay for Emergency Medical Technician training for one member each year. Having someone fully trained as an EMT, he says, is an important asset for Sigma Chi and the entire campus.

Now he鈥檚 working with Sigma Chi International to incorporate some of Delta Chi Chapter鈥檚 policies nationwide.

The son of a Detroit-born Los Angeles police lieutenant and a former USC Trauma Center nurse, Geggie should have risk management and safety in his genes. But it is his work as the senior lifeguard at the city pool in Alhambra that has driven much of his work at 新澳门六合彩开奖直播. "I鈥檓 the guy who ensures the safety of our patrons and our staff," he says. "I鈥檓 the guy who makes sure all the equipment is working, the chemicals are stored safely, and our staff is well trained."

Risk management, though, is but one of Geggie鈥檚 interests. His love of all things ancient, including the study of Greek and Latin, powers his intellectual pursuits.

His father, Paul, earned a Fulbright scholarship to spend six months working alongside Scotland Yard detectives to study the way UK police work with mentally ill criminals. Visiting his father over the holidays gave Chris his first taste of Europe, and he instantly fell in love with ancient Rome and Greece.

His Loyola High School Latin teacher, Teresa Yamauchi, inspired his interest in Latin. "She鈥檚 so passionate, cares about her students, and does everything she can to make the class fun and meaningful," Geggie says. It was Yamauchi who led a group of Loyola students on a spring-break trip through Italy and Greece that fanned Geggie鈥檚 smoldering interests into a burning fire.

"It was so funny the way we acted when we got to Greece; we were all so blown away, so geeked out, we should have been wearing pocket protectors!" He laughs. "Every time we turned around we saw something that we had only studied. It was an amazing experience."

He discovered 新澳门六合彩开奖直播 when he received a postcard from the College. Later, when Senior Associate Director of Admissions Walter Blake visited his high school, he missed the appointment. Blake persisted and came back the next day, which impressed Geggie. He would visit 新澳门六合彩开奖直播 twice in his senior year of high school, once for a multicultural recruitment event and later for Honor Scholarship Weekend. He finally chose to attend 新澳门六合彩开奖直播 after receiving an Honor Scholarship, Fine Arts Fellowship, and President鈥檚 Scholarship. He tested into third-year Latin classes at 新澳门六合彩开奖直播.

"My classics mentors have been Jeremy Hartnett, Leslie Day, and David Kubiak鈥攁nd all for different reasons," he says. "Dr. Hartnett brings this incredible energy to the classroom. Dr. Day makes the learning real and fun. And Dr. Kubiak is one of the toughest teachers I鈥檝e ever had.

"He expects his students to raise themselves to his intellectual level," Geggie says of Kubiak. "You don鈥檛 get a lot of compliments from him, but when you do, you know you鈥檙e doing an awesome job."

Geggie鈥檚 enormous energy and robust attitude in life date to his early childhood. "My mom says I banged pots and pans all over the house," he says. So his mom, Olivia, did what good moms do for energetic, banging children: she bought him a piano. He took lessons for six years, then quit until his high-school years. At 新澳门六合彩开奖直播, he takes piano lessons from Diane Norton and organ lessons with Cheryl Everett.

"I took up organ simply to be able to play the fight song in the Chapel," he says. "Old 新澳门六合彩开奖直播 is a beast to play well on the piano and a horrible monster with lots of teeth to play on the organ."

Yet true to his nature, he persevered and figured it out. One of his fondest 新澳门六合彩开奖直播 moments came when he played Old 新澳门六合彩开奖直播 on the Chapel organ in front of a massive crowd. "It was President Andy Ford鈥檚 last Chapel Talk, and I got to play the fight song. It was such an emotional moment for him鈥擨 could see him from where I was. And it was equally emotional for me."

Fast-forward three months and Geggie was right there in the Chapel again, this time "playing in" new President Pat White, again managing the difficulties of the fight song on the organ and fully invested in this place so far from his California home.

"When President White finished speaking and sat down, I could see that he had tears in his eyes," Geggie says. "I started playing the song, and he stood up to sing and he looked so proud. I knew right then he was the right man to lead the College."

Photo, above right: "I really like it here in Crawfordsville. The pace is slower, people are genuine, and my absolute favorite time of the year is fall. Everyone comes back, the freshman class pumps energy into the College, and when the leaves change, you get this symphony of color. I rearranged my room so that my desk faces out the window and I can watch as the leaves change."

鈥擟ontact Geggie at geggiec@wabash.edu