At North Carolina A&T, students positively impact campus through a variety of avenues from SGA, SUAB, Greek life, and peer mentoring, to name a few. What people may not know is the impact on campus being made by faculty.

Yes, you hear about various teachers, but what about the people who work in auxiliary services, and are behind the scenes?

Thirty-seven year old Johnnie L Sanders Jr. can be seen at A&T every weekday setting up not as a student, but getting ready to for his shift as the primary cook for Aggie Wings. Although he works as the Aggie Wings cook, his true passion is being an artist.

Sanders has been working at A&T for the last seven years. He began as a cleaner, and then he began making sandwiches at Blimpie’s. From there, he transitioned to becoming a Team Leader at Chick-Fil-A, and now he works at Aggie Wings. During his 30-minute break, he usually can be seen drawing whatever inspires him in The Aggie Sit-In. Several of his coworkers such as Tonya Williams, who is the lead cashier for Aggie Wings, and Krista Wilson who is the lead cashier in the Aggie Sit-In, know about his talent. Sanders also does select portraits for them. Tonya gave high praises to Johnnie’s ability to draw saying that, “his artwork is awesome.” When asked about Sanders, Krista Wilson said it best, “Johnnie is very talented. He has the ability to draw any and everything. He just has to pursue it, and find the right avenue.”

Being a Greensboro native, he grew up on Phillips Ave, where he came from a two-parent household. He began to draw at the age of nine and his inspiration were his childhood friends, the Webster family. “Allen, Ken, Eugene, Donnella and Kim were so ahead in drawing that it motivated me so much that I had to be just as good if not better than them,” said Sanders.

He said these five friends still inspire him, and although his artwork has made tremendous progress since he first started, he feels he has a lot to improve on. Sanders can do it all from stencil to portrait, however, he added that his favorite style of art to draw is Anime. Out of all of the types of Anime, he likes Dragon Ball Z is his favorite. His favorite characters are Vegeta and Goku. Most people who grew up watching the show like those two because of their edginess and how relatable they are. Although he loves anime, his hero when it comes to art is Marvel Comics original comic book writer and former president Stan Lee.

In his spare time, Sanders works on his comic book series “Team M.P.A.C.T.” (Mercenary Patrol Action Control Team), which is a comic he is currently working on. It is a superhero comic based on the concept “struggle for survival and power.” His comic goes in depth with Good vs. Evil but also the search for renewable energy and maintains peace between rival planets. “Some of the stuff in the comic is similar to what the United Nations are currently going through,” said Sanders.

He plans for it to be like the comics of old, which contained action packed scenes but also substance, giving every possible audience something to lookout for. There is no timetable on when “Team M.P.A.C.T.” will be available, but he has aspirations of it being out within the next five years.

Along with his comics, Sanders continues to draw what comes to mind in his spare time. Although he is a mystery to most, some students such as Zachary Tanner know about his gift. After befriending Sanders, Tanner saw him draw and knew he was special. “I’m glad he uses his gifts and doesn’t let them go to waste,” said Tanner.

A former GTCC dropout, he plans to get back into school and take more classes in Graphic Art. He feels that when he was in school in 1996, he was not focused and did not realize his true potential. He added that if he went back, his head would be in the books and he would increase his skills and earn a bachelor’s degree in graphic art. For someone who is “always trying to strive for perfection,” he sees himself debuting his comic in five years, living in Japan, and working on the next big thing. He wants to be known as someone who was a great artist, but more importantly, a people person who was respected by his peers.

• Jerrell Leeper, Contributor