Fairfield University

In July of 1998, I met my classmates at the Class of 2002's Freshman Orientation - "Walking on Sunshine." When I returned to school in September, I was quickly remembered as "Bouncy Bill" from a game at orientation. To this day, I am convinced that there are still people who only know me as "Bouncy" or "Bounce." My Freshman year was a different experience from high school. Most of my friends from Trumbull went away to schools in upstate New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and other schools in the South and Midwest. Many of us still managed to keep in touch and we always met up whenever people were back in Trumbull again. I also made several new friends at Fairfield even though I was a commuting student. I decided to live at home since Fairfield is only 12 miles away from Trumbull. I had the best of both worlds. I was able to mix the experiences of college and still have the luxuries of home. I was on campus so often, many people were surprised to find out that I was a commuter. After my Freshman year, my friends Matt and Scott transferred to Fairfield. The following semester, Brian transferred to Fairfield as well. "The Trumbull Club" would always talk about moving on campus when we talked to Coach Maffei in the Canisius parking lot. In February of my Junior year, we decided to move on campus. Matt and I moved into Kostka Hall room 313 Scott and Brian moved into room 312. We entered the housing lottery for the following year, we got the number one spot and chose to live in the townhouses for my Senior year. Townhouse 88 treated us well. We transformed our basement with a bunch of black light bars, black light twinkle lights on the ceiling, and had everyone sign their names on the walls with black light paint. Speakers, stereo equipment, the "Ten Commandments of Beirut," and two black light sensitive Beirut tables completed the basement. It was definitely the best basement party environment Fairfield had ever seen.

I was also very involved with the volleyball program at Fairfield. I have many great memories with the Men's and Women's Volleyball teams. I was a four-year member of the men's club volleyball team and was a Co-Captain and Vice President of the team during my Junior and Senior years. I wore the number 1 and played as the team's Defensive Specialist/Libero. The team made great strides during my four years at school. We started from scratch and built the team to one who was widely respected as one of the toughest and scrappiest team in New England. During my Senior year the team qualified for its first-ever NECVL Championships as the 19th ranked team in New England. I will always remember the good times, the wins, the losses, the close matches, and most importantly the friends I made through playing volleyball.

During my Junior and Senior years, I was also the Manager/Statistician for the Women's Varsity Volleyball team. The team won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship both years and went on to the NCAA tournament. Being the manager of the team was a lot of work, but it was also a lot of fun. My responsibilities were primarily to keep the play-by-play statistics during matches, assist the coaches, and to help run drills during team practices. As the team manager, I was able to travel to many schools and visit many places with the team. I was also able to see some of the best volleyball in the country. Some of the most memorable trips include Pepperdine University (2000 NCAA tournament), Penn State University (2001 NCAA tournament), MAAC Tournaments, University of the Pacific (Banker's Classic), and Xavier University.

In May of 2002, I graduated from Fairfield University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Systems with a double minor in Economics and Mathematics. My four years at Fairfield flew by quickly, but I enjoyed every minute of it. The friends, the parties, the men's club volleyball team, and women's varsity volleyball team are just some of the great memories, great times, and great experiences I had at Fairfield. College is definitely one of the best times of your life.