Brother Interview: Chris Cassino '00

This week's brother interview is on founder Chris Cassino '00!  

Basic Stuff:
1. Your name, as you would prefer it to be stated? 

Chris is fine, only my parents and people looking for donations call me Christopher.

2. Your current location?
Where am I? How did I get here? Is this my beautiful wife...?

This is a short question with a long answer because I am a pain in the ass.

Seriously, I've moved around a lot, and for many of my jobs, I've had extended assignments in different locations. I'm not sure how this happened as I remember not being thrilled moving around a lot as a kid. My Dad was a military brat who grew up to be an officer in the Army, so it seemed he needed to move every two years or so even after he got out. When I lived with my step-father and mother, we still moved several times and while the moves lead to better things I remember not liking that either.

The longest I've ever lived in a single place is 4 years. That statement covers everything from my birth until now.

But with three kids that kind of thing is getting old really quick. So is being far away from family. The plan is to live in the Baltimore/Washington area for the foreseeable future so that we're close to family, friends, and job opportunities. However, in order to facilitate that long term existence, we're going to be homeless for a while (or rather, we're moving in with my in-laws for several months while my wife interviews and my kids finish school this year, but homeless sounds so much more dramatic) so the best way to describe my current location is the Baltimore, MD area. Or China. Or the UK. Depends on where the next job sends me. So stay tuned! We hope to have an address by August when my kids start school.

3. Your Facebook/Twitter account links?
I don't use twitter, though I probably should because of some other projects I have going on.

https://www.facebook.com/chris.cassino

Fraternity Stuff:

4. Badge Number?
#5. God, I'm old now...

5. Pledge Class Name?
Founders Class

6. Fraternity Nickname, if you remember it?
Commando.

But I think I also inherited Waldo, Houdini, and "Goddammit where the hell is Cassino tonight?" some where along the way...

7. Story behind how you got your nickname, if you remember it?

The short version - I didn't like to wear underpants when dancing with girls at parties Freshman year. Hence, Commando.

The long version - Ah, how could I forget (pours glass of chianti).

You see, I was raised in the wilds of Arizona with only the coyotes and a Dungeons and Dragons player's guide to keep me company. When I turned 18, I applied to be part of Rowan's first engineering class, got accepted into the scholarship program, and left my house for South Jersey 3 days after graduating high school. I had a job in a machine fabrication shop before starting college in the fall, working 10 hours a day as a janitor and getting to do some process development work after my chores were done (my first internship!). I had never seen Rowan's campus. I spent the summer rebuilding old race cars and working on a rolling Alfa Romeo chassis my Uncle had given me with the provision that if I could get it running it was mine.

When I came to live on campus my deprived high school experience combined with not being around too many people during the summer and turned me into a devotee of the frat party scene. I thought it was wonderful. Where else could you drink all this horrible beer while stomping around in the primordial ooze that seeped up from dark wells in forbidden basements? And there were women! Some would even give you their number. Sure, most of those numbers were 911, but who cared about that? Digits were digits. In this ridiculous, Beast addled state of mind, the concept of not wearing underpants while dancing seemed brilliant. And jeans really don't chafe if they're tight enough.

When I explained this reasoning to Rob, someone who had seen a lot more of life than I had by the time I got to college, he laughed and shook his head. Then we had the first colony meetings in the common area of Mimosa, and the question of nick names came up, Rob related that story, and said that I should be called Commando. There was a moment of silence before Don, who had not really said anything up until this point, said, "Sounds like a gay sex thing!" That did it. The name stuck.

As an epilogue of sorts, it seems that kind of thinking runs in my family. My girls are dancers, and they tell me the best thing about wearing dance leotards is not wearing underwear. And my boy tells me he wants to wear his boxers all the time because when you wear them with baggy jeans "it feels like you have nothing on." I have to carry multiple pairs of child briefs and panties in day bags in case I discover my kids decided to skip that step in the morning when we're out running errands. I of course make sure my sagging ass is trussed up where ever I go now.

8. Your fondest memory of being a Phi Psi?
Too many to remember. Road trips with Uncle Bill are high on my list. But if I had to name a few others it would be the times I got to talk with a young Ben Schwedes, Justin LeeLee, Eugene Bayawa, and Moh Bah before they were in the fraternity. Those men impressed me greatly then and continue to impress me now. It makes me happy to check in on them every once and a while even if it's only on a Facebook newsfeed. Proud to be a brother. Proudly looking forward to new memories too.

9. Your most embarrassing moment as a Phi Psi?
I got a talking to one night for drinking. I was supposed to be a sober brother who could drive friends home. I did not have any drinks that night but people thought that I had. In fact, everyone was surprised that I hadn't been drinking that night. It was a wake up call that I had become too casual about my drinking. It was shaming to see that my friends and brothers were worried about me.

10. Your proudest moment as a Phi Psi?
Being at the chartering party and seeing what everyone's hard work had accomplished and realizing that I had a small part in it.

11. Any unique memories from your time as a Phi Psi?
Too many! But rather than relate about visiting brothers in jail, escaping from crowds of angry TKE members at bars, or being so happy when my brothers have had huge life events that I could participate in (even if it was only by talking to them after the fact) I think one of the times that stands out in my time at Rowan was helping Steve Brahney move. We drove for hours in a moving van, visited his mom at the beach and talked about the future. People like Rich Rozycki and Steve Brahney impressed me greatly. I have always been a dreamer. But these guys were trying to do something. Talking with Steve and listening to his goals and hopes and where he had been on that night was inspiring. It made me think that maybe I could do that too.

12. Any fraternal advice you would give to an undergraduate Phi Psi today?
Wow. Advice, huh? In some cases, do the opposite of what I did. In other cases, the decisions I made turned out OK. Try to do more of that. And don't mess around with your 401(k). Set up a no load account and leave it alone.

13. When was the last time you visited Rowan or the chapter?
Too long ago! That would be the homecoming in the fall before Chaty was married. So that was...2007?

14. What is favorite event the chapter holds?
I have not had the chance to be involved with too many chapter events. Although I have been lucky enough to be around for one initiation ceremony and that was very cool.

On the national level, I think the Woodrow Wilson Leadership School is awesome. I never attended but I think it is a great opportunity for the young men in our fraternity. I wish there were more opportunities like that in the world. It is the one charity that even when I'm flat broke I make sure to contribute to when Phi Psi fund raising comes calling.

15. Who's the 1 brother you want to reconnect with / see interviewed here?
Hmm...that's a tough one. I don't believe we've seen one of these from Steve Brahney. That would be interesting. Please include a request for his favorite Wawa Ghetto moment in the list of questions. Other than him, it would be interesting to hear what proud papa Eugene Bayawa has to say.

16. Name 1 friend you made in NJE you still keep in touch with...
Marc Chaty, although I try to keep up on everyone through Facebook. I love seeing their pictures and rants and successes and failures. I miss everyone. Here's hoping being closer will make it easier to take part in chapter events.

Career Stuff:

17. Year you graduated from Rowan?
Class of 2000. I did the engineering degree in 4 years, and I took an insane amount of credits and other courses because I was...silly? Deranged. I don't know. I think I finished with 186 credits. See the Waldo and Houdini comments above for how that turned out...

18. Degree(s) you graduated Rowan with?
BS in Civil Engineering, concentration in Infrastructure Engineering.

19. Any advanced degrees or certifications you have?
Well, let's see. I have a Master of Science in Engineering Mechanics, a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (was supposed to be a PhD but that is a looooong story), my Professional Engineering license, and a bunch of other certs that don't matter if you're not in the nuclear or power industries.

20. Your current occupation?
Hmmm...let's be different here. I am a stay at home dad doing contract course development work for online graduate universities while I transition to being a full time engineer at a big OEM again. My start date is March 10, and I honestly wish I could have made it April 10. Being at home with my kids has been fascinating. I was hoping to have more time off but my family needs me to have a stable job. Such is life.

21. Number of years in that occupation?
As a Dad? Nine years now. In the power industry and being an engineer? Nine years too. I find that symmetry frightening for some reason.

22. Any career advice you would give to an undergraduate Phi Psi today?
Heh. This one comes from a Marine friend of mine. Semper Gumby. Stay flexible, ALWAYS!, and be ready to move to a better opportunity when one comes along.

23. What's one piece of advice you'd give every undergraduate about networking?
Be kind. You never know when the people you meet will need your help. Sometimes that help is just listening to them and treating them like what they have to say is important. And when you need help, those people are more likely to want to help you if you weren't a jerk.

Relationships/Family/Personal Stuff:

24. Are you currently in a relationship? If so, with who and for how long?
I met my wife Theresa in September of 1996 and we've been together ever since. We married in June of 2001. We're approaching the point where we'll have known each other longer than we didn't know each other before we met. Kind of crazy...

25. Do you have kids? If so, how old and their names?
Abigail (Abby) - 9
Oliver (Ollie) - 6
Calleigh - 4

26. Hobbies that you are currently into? What do you like to do in your spare time?
I'm a little all over the place here.

I love stories and comics. That inspiration I mentioned from guys like Steve and Rich blossomed about five years ago into entrepreneurial projects and a passion for writing. I am trying to get a small toy company off the ground and I'm revising a novel or two.

I love to draw and paint and I'm trying to develop that into something that can produce comics as a vehicle for the stories I write. I also enjoy sculpting and would love to spend more time doing that.

I'm a third degree black belt and I've been fortunate enough to travel to Japan for training with my teachers. I hope to get my teaching license in the next few years.

I like working on old houses and helping people fix them up. I also like to make furniture. Woodworking is something I've done since I was in high school.

My wife caught the triathlon bug last year and since then I've been getting in shape to do races with her. We're going to be doing a sprint triathlon together this summer. I also found out I like to do obstacle course events and I hope to finish a Spartan race in 2015.

I like to travel to Asia. It's a fascinating place and I'm hoping to get back there to do more work.

There's also a "power island" concept I'm hoping to develop when I start work at my new job. Something people can use to drop into devastated areas which can morph into a community node when the recovery is underway to provide a local power source and data center in developing countries. So that keeps me busy figuring out aspects of the design problem.

27. Anything you would like to share with other brothers through the blog regarding your relationship/family/personal life?
Just that while I may rarely be close to you guys, you are never far from my thoughts. I've had a crazy last few years and the outlook suggests that I won't be drowning in sanity over the next few years either. I'm looking forward to catching up now that I'll only be a two or three hour drive away.