Nicolas (Messi) Ho
From the archives of TiPWiki, the unofficial Duke TIP Wiki
Nicolas Ho, also known as Messi, was a 3rd year tipster from 2014 through 2016. He attended Davidson, Georgia Tech, and Duke East, all term 2 until he was unable to return for his fourth and final year as a tipster.
| Nicolas (Messi) Ho | |
| TIPster | |
| Pronouns | He/Him/His |
| Attended | 2014-16 |
| Social Media | |
First Year
Nicolas' first year at Davidson truly began during his very first RAG meeting. He had worn a Lionel Messi jersey that day, on account of just returning from the world cup in Brazil, when his soon to be best friend AJ interrupted his icebreaker introduction. "let's just call you Messi" he said. And it stuck. For the rest of term, Only a few actually knew the name Nicolas Ho, but many would come to know the kid called "Messi" who wore Argentina gear every day, including but not limited to: A Flag, two Messi jerseys, pants, socks, two hats, and underwear.
His most immediate impact did not come during class, but actually from games of "world cup" after every meal. using the space between two trees as a goal, the Tipsters would engage in a free-for-all battle to score. While these games initially started out small, they soon became the main event after every mealtime, at one point including over 20 players.
Meanwhile, on the academic side, Messi took the architecture course. Those who have taken this class know the danger, boredom, and absolute fun it brings. Because of the activity conducted on the first day where students had to construct a perfect cube from particle board, it was affectionately dubbed "cube hell". The class involved many other projects and even a trip to downtown Charlotte.
Although his whole class quickly bonded, there was a much slower-growing connection between Messi and Emma. It took until halfway through the second week for events (and the strategic stealing of a hat) to bring them together. After evening activities the very night Messi was planning on asking Emma to the dance, his friends rushed to him declaring that it was an emergency. Aj explained that another tipster had asked Emma to the dance, and she had asked him what to do. Like a true friend, he immediately stalled and gave Messi enough time to ask her out. She said yes, and the rest is documented by Snanders007
Arguably the most defining moment of the term for Messi was when he broke his leg by stepping in a hole, temporarily halting what was shaping up to the best TIP soccer career ever seen. A mishap in the showers right before the third dance would lead to a near miss with gangrene almost a week later. it was nast.
All in all, Nicolas Ho's first year was a resounding success.