Zach Vaughn, an Italian "Wanna Be" Does Admirable Job, Before
Life is Cut Short
The risk of studying
abroad is that the life you temporarily suspend in
We were both residents of Taliaferro [RAA: Italian via
I heard the news about Zach the day before I was supposed to go to
I thought that going on Spring Break was a calloused and hardened thing to do.
But then an interesting thing happened-
For about the past year Zach and his family had been living in Northern Italy,
and Zach fit into Italian culture like a hand into the a glove. While I was in
The Zachary Vaughn that I knew was an extremely smart kid, but he did not take
himself too seriously. He slept through and was late for class all the time,
but he was never late for a party. I found this to be an extremely Italian
attitude in my travels through
Moreover, I was so surprised to find everything closed between about 1 and 4 in
the afternoon. It took me a solid couple of minutes to remember that the
Italians, like the Spanish, take several hours after lunch to digest, rest, and
nap. The
I cannot say that Zach’s napping patterns were this organized. Last year,
living in
As early as freshman orientation, Zach’s unique style caught my eye, to
say the least. It was not uncommon for Zac! h to wear clothing that looked suspiciously like a purchase
from the women’s section. Zach was not a metrosexual;
he was The Metrosexual. He was always impeccably dressed;
I don’t think he even owned a pair of sweatpants.
I never got the chance to visit Zach in
But the biggest weapon in Zach’s arsenal was, without a doubt, his smile,
a quirky, toothy, triangular smile. It was the sort of
smile that I used to draw on stick figures when I was a little kid. Zach
definitely used it to his advantage. He was my “lunch buddy” last
semester. But out lunches were ill fated from the beginning because he is Zach.
You couldn’t schedule anything with him. He seemed to operate on the
Italian modus operandi! that there is a grace
period for lateness for any appointment.
On one particular occasion I waited for him at the UC couches for 15 minutes
and then got frustrated and left, walking towards the Crim
Dell, to go back to my dorm. And, there he was, standing at a white van that
had been set up to promote a new video game.
When he turned and saw me he flashed his smile and sheepishly shrugged his
shoulders. How could I stay mad? Who can stay mad at a college boy wearing
alligator leather shoes and huge aviator sunglasses while playing Playstation2?
We went back into the UC and ate our lunch and shot the breeze right through
our classes. Zach was like that, he had a way of reminding you that life is
meant to be lived; if there is a van with a Playstation
in it, it clearly is meant to be played and you should seize the controller
with both hands.
Every street in
It is not just modern
While I would not say that Zach had an empire at the College,
! I would not hesitate to say that he certainly had a following, a very
eclectic following. He was a part of the Young Democrats and the College Republicans. He was part of the African
American Male Coalition, and he was white. He absorbed different aspects
of the College like ancient
Somehow these things were not a contradiction for Zach. It made sense that Zach
would be a part of so many different groups. He probably had more friends than
anyone else I know. He was the most inclusive person I have ever met. He did
not see flaws in people, he saw quirks and oddities. And Zach was a connesouir of weird personalities. He genuinely enjoyed
every type of person he came across.
I am a more tolerant person as a direct result of being friends with Zach.
While I would never say that the ancient Romans were a tolerant people, they
certainly did incorporate different races and cultures into their vast empire.
The Egyptia! n obelisks that
pierce a number of piazzas are a testament to the different people that at one
point called themselves Roman.
The last thing about
Roman dinner parties were also quite an event. Most of them lasted close to 8
hours and consisted of 10-15 main courses. How can one eat that much? Well, the
Romans invented the “puke and
rally;” they had special rooms designated for vomiting (vomitoriums, and no, I’m not making this up) and many
of them came prepared to purge, wearing a feather on a necklace for the purpose
of inducing vomit.
Again, I am not making a direct and literal comparison. Zach did not liked to watch peo! ple battle for their lives against
each other and wild animals, nor was he a participant in self-induced vomiting,
but he certainly knew how to have a good time. A party did not start until Zach
arrived.
Sometimes you did not even know you were going to party. More than once, I was
fast asleep only to have Zach burst through my door and start a pajama party.
He was irresistible. And so is
This city gets an absurd number of tourists each year because it is rightly a
must see on everyone's travel agenda.
While Zach’s time among us was far too short, I am grateful that I had
the opportunity to know him. People li! ke Zach make William and Mary more
than a college, they make it a community.
The
ANNOTICO Reports are Archived at:
Italia
Mia: http://www.italiamia.com