[FSUZeta]

I think they were suggesting you not mention that you had to miss your dear friends funeral because it might come off as confusing. You wrote a wonderful tribute to your friend, and then finished it off by saying that you had to get back to school, which appeared to be 180 degrees out from the things you had said about your friend. But realize that we are reading your responses, not listening to them. Written statements can easily get misconstrued.

I think if you are going to speak about your friend and the influence his life and death had on you, you might want to take the approach that you, he, and your other friends had a sort of unofficial brotherhood, how you were always there for each other and how you are hoping to find similar friendships in a fraternity. But you have to temper what you say because the topic can quickly become uncomfortable for those who did not know your friend. In fact, you might want to just share your feelings about your friends' death with people you are close to. You can let down your guard with close acquaintances and really level with them, something you cannot (or should not) do with people you have just met.