Chris Cassella About Me (Thanks for Asking)

Hello thoughtful reader,

This post is going to be some background on me, my life, and my eventual journey to this Bangkok hotel. To start, my name is Chris. I am a rising senior at the University of Richmond. I’m originally from a small town in Connecticut called Orange. I’m a double major in political science and P.P.E.L (philosophy, politics, economics, and law) where my concentration is in philosophy. I’m also an accidental minor in WGSS. I say “accidental” not because I don’t want to be one, it’s just I didn’t plan for it. If you continue reading this blog post, you’ll see that lots of my experiences are unplanned. Before that, though, here is a little more about me:

• I play ultimate frisbee on the men’s club team, the Richmond Spidermonkeys. The Spidermonkeys on nationals in 2017, were a semi-finalist this year (2019), and have qualified for the national tournament for the past four years.
• I am a member of STC, the University’s premier (only) improv troupe.
• I write satire articles for the Collegian.
• I play drums the UR jazz ensemble under the direction of Mike Davidson.
• I listen to many different genres of music, but due to spotty WIFI coverage in Thailand have had a few artists in heavy rotation: Tash Sultana, Rage Against the Machine, Tyler the Creator, and Frank Ocean.
• I work at 8:15 Café at Boatwright.
• I have no idea what I want to do after graduation, so if you ask you’ll get a different answer than the other person who just asked.

I applied to the University of Richmond on a whim. I had listened to a lot of Lil’ Dicky my senior year of high school (he had just released his debut album). He was a U of R alum, and I knew a two other people from my hometown who were enrolled at Richmond. So, I put together an application for what in hindsight was no real reason other than I knew some people who went there. I got accepted in March of April of my senior year. I had been rejected from most of the other schools I applied to regular decision, so my options were cut down to two schools: Boston University or the University of Richmond. I visited Richmond over spring break, liked the campus, and paid my deposit after a tour and a meal at D-Hall.

There wasn’t one thing in particular that made me choose UR over BU. My mom had gone to BU and hated it, so that probably left a sour taste in my mouth. I also didn’t want to be another student in a massive crowd. UR’s small classes made me feel assured that I could get to know my professors and fellow students. I liked the liberal arts appeal of Richmond, too. I knew I wanted to be some sort of political mastermind, but I didn’t know where to start. “Broad” was my best friend, and I took courses all over the subject map my Freshman year.

I wasn’t happy at Richmond, however, and want to make that clear. I will note too, that I won’t sugarcoat how I feel about U of R. I thought about transferring many times. I had applications lined up for music colleges or really anywhere else. I didn’t feel like I belonged. I felt uncomfortable. I only liked the frisbee team and didn’t have many close friends in my grade. The friends I had towards the end of fall semester into spring all rushed different fraternities and we stopped talking. I joined a fraternity too, not because, once again, I had planned for it, but it just worked out to be practically beneficial. I liked most of the brothers, I was involved in similar activities as them, and it just made sense as a male on the Richmond campus. I am not “frat,” I don’t love fraternity life or culture, but I’m ultimately happy with my decision to join.

Freshman year turned to sophomore fall, which, after some broken bones and mental breakdowns, turned to junior year. My junior year fall was by far the hardest semester to date. I had a lot going on in my personal life that made schoolwork extremely hard. I did not go abroad, and had a little FOMO for sure. However, I didn’t regret my decision to stay in Richmond. I wanted to be closer to my family, for I didn’t know if we’d be moving at the end of the year. It didn’t feel right to be wasting time in Prague drinking my way through Europe (I believe this is the “untold story” of juniors that go abroad) while my mom was in Connecticut thinking about moving. There were benefits to staying in Richmond, too. I had a lot of time to sit in my thoughts, and got a better sense of self. I got closer with my sophomore and senior friends as well which was really nice. That being said, I determined I wanted to go abroad in some capacity at some point in my life. The problem I faced was the cost, as well as the lack-of-knowledge of where to go, what to do, how to do it, etc. Enter Dr. Datta and Dean Merritt.

Encompass seemed like the program I was waiting for: funded by the school, guided by professors, to a country I had never been to. I applied, once again, on a whim. I did my best to put together a good application. I didn’t tell my parents until I got the offer. They supported me and I started to get excited. Then the logistical information got delivered and I got a little less excited. The 24 hours of travel was not ideal. I dreaded it through the whole build up to the trip, and it was exactly what I expected. It took a toll on my body, especially the day after I returned from frisbee nationals in Texas. The heat down south prepared me well for Thailand, but my body was so, unbelievably tired from the travel. I’m here now, though, in one piece, enjoying some mid-day tea.

This post turned in to something a little bit longer than I originally had expected, so if you got down to this part, congratulations. The next string of entries will be less about me and more about the trip. As it stands, I love Thailand. The food is incredible and the city itself is really interesting; it’s extremely fast-paced and diverse. The people here are extremely respectful as well. I’m not scared to walk down the street, though I am cautious of the motorbikes. The drivers will just turn wherever they see a gap, which could be in the four-foot space in between you and the curb. Crossing the street in Bangkok is like Carytown on steroids. You just kind of step out and hope for the best. Now that I think of it, my journey to this point today has really been like crossing the street in Thailand. It was not something where I looked both ways like I was supposed to. I didn’t “look both ways,” I crossed when I saw an opening and hoped for the best. The metaphor is a little bit crude and in all honesty probably isn’t the best. I like it, and its my blog post, so it stays in the blog post.

Thanks,

Chris