t sucks to have something stolen from you. Ask Austin Powers, he knows.
In 1999, someone “shagged” Austin Powers and stole his “mojo”. Austin Powers’ mojo is what gave him the ability to thwart off Dr. Evil and restore good. I sat back and thought about it and I realized that the students of A&T have been “shagged” and we have lost our M.O.J.O.
That is right my fellow peers. We have lost our Motivation, Optimism, Judgment, and Orientation.
Ironically, the spy who shagged us is not foreign to our campus. We have shagged ourselves. You can stop reading now if this does not pertain to you, but after several introspective views of myself, and what is happening at our school, I realized this is relevant to everyone. We have lost our M.O.J.O., now its time to get it back. Otherwise, the very things that stand against this university will soon claim victory.
Motivation comes not only from deep within, but also from the encouragement of others. We do not do that anymore my fellow peers. We spend a lot of time tearing each other down instead of building each other up and motivating each other to be the very proud esteemed Aggies that we are meant to be. Think about how often many of us have said that the football team is terrible. How many of us have taken the time to go to them as fellow peers and try to encourage them?
How many times have we seen our fellow peers take an active role in leadership but yet instead of trying to encourage them we criticize them? If we keep tearing each other down, this campus will not be filled with the passionate students A&T is known for, but with shallow, insecure, spiteful people that will step on each other to get ahead only to trip and fall in a perpetual cycle lending itself to a slow death of Aggie Pride.
The only way to achieve our motivation of each other again is to get over the “me” mentality. Many of us have a mindset that it is all about us. However, let me remind you that even if you think no one has helped you get where you are, you are sadly mistaken. Someone has done something for you, and until that mindset is broken we cannot reach out and motivate one another. The only way to break the cycle is to actually try to encourage your fellow Aggies. Stepping outside the convenience of isolation and building a community of motivation is what we need to do. We are meant to achieve great goals, but it cannot happen if we all sit here and do not have each other’s back and motivate each other. Optimism leaves when motivation dies. Many of us have developed such a negative view of A&T, not so much in the sense that A&T is a bad school, but not taking ownership of this school.
This campus was, is, and forever will be run by the students. If we do not regain the optimism we once had for this school, it will not matter if the students “run” the campus if they are puppets.
I am going to be a realist and say that it is not always easy having a cheerful disposition when it comes to A&T. The convenient thing to do is to just say that “A&T is messing up” or “I’m graduating”, but the right thing to say is, “A&T is having problems, what can I do to help?” That is taking the optimistic approach toward A&T, looking for a future and contributing what you can to ensure that our Alma Mater is still in existence. The realist would say that cannot happen, and as a realist I say that optimism is a reality that can happen when one removes themselves and puts faith in their abilities.
In order to regain that optimism we have to start publicizing the good that we do and the achievements of many of our students. We have a very talented student body and it is up to us to make sure that our fellow peers are made noteworthy at A&T. That goes back to motivating and encouraging each other and if we do not do that then we can begin to discuss optimism. We have so many elements of media, even if it is taking one of the bulletin boards in the union just to highlight weekly student achievement. It is a start toward capitalizing on the good work and achievements despite the real problems we have here. When motivation is not there and optimism leaves, we gain a poor judgment.
Judgment can take a turn for the worse, when all you have is a sour taste in your mouth. Our perspective is crucial to A&T. It affects the decisions we make as a student body.
If our judgment is skewed because we lack the motivation to care or the optimism to look for the best possible future, then we will fail as a student body and complacency will continue to remain prevalent over the student body.
If our judgment of this school is not a positive one it will manifest itself in our lives and thus continue to lead the “whispers” that outsiders are saying. We are taught how to think here at A&T and not what to think. That notion creates the ability for us to make judgments about every endeavor we pursue. If that notion becomes skewed then we will make decisions only with our own self-interest in mind and A&T will not move in the direction it needs to go.
The best result comes when everyone does what is best for themselves and everyone around them. The only way to alter our judgment in our decision making when it comes to A&T is to change our perspective. That change of perspective is only going to occur when we get over the “me” mentality and motivate each other. If we do not get our judgment together we will not be able to orient ourselves in the right direction. Orientation is the ability to mobilize as a unit in the midst of chaos. Sadly, we have lost our ability to mobilize as a student body when the need calls for it. We have become more concerned with the “shine” of things as opposed to the movement and impact that our unity can bring.
It pains me to know how easy it is for us to pile up at the club without hesitation, but when something of importance comes along that requires our time and work how quickly our calendar fill. Orientation is one of the cornerstones of this institution.
People were able to change the course of history not because anyone person was better than the other, but because they had commonality in vision and knew that they had to get beyond their own self interests to work for the greater good.
Imagine the day that this student body is united. The impact that we would have on society would be unimaginable. We have more potential than we realize but because we tear ourselves down and then are torn by others around us we refuse to get it right. In order for us to orient ourselves to moving A&T where it needs to be we need to start by motivating each other, followed by optimistically viewing the future of A&T.
From there, our judgments will change toward each other and the school and then we can move effectively in a new direction. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” If we cannot orient ourselves together we can go ahead and hand A&T over to those seeking to take her on a silver platter.
We have indeed been shagged and lost our M.O.J.O. All I know is that I want to see our M.O.J.O. come back. The best way to do that is not to be schooled but to educate ourselves. Education is what remains when you forget all the schooling you have learned.
It is time for us Aggies to become students of life again and take what we are doing in the classroom, our community, and our homes and use it to help this campus. It is not an easy process, ask a butterfly. The hardest part of a butterfly’s life is to emerge from its cocoon.
As a butterfly emerges from its cocoon so must A&T break from dismay, spread her wings and fly. Hmmm, that gives me a thought…I think we are experiencing the Butterfly Effect.
- Marvin Q. Jones Jr.