144th Opening Convocation

On Friday September 23, 2011, I attended my very first convocation. Before I attended, I didn't know what to expect. Upperclassman said that it was basically a blessing over the school year. My initial thought was why so late, then followed by that I thought: better late than never. I was curious to see what exactly it would consist of. I must admit that my curiosity was just that; a slight "I wonder what this is about," it wasn't a, "I'm so curious. I'm excited to go to another lecture." I suppose one could say that my excitement to go was little to none. With the little motivation I had (freshman seminar blog being the only true motivation), I rounded up several girls on my floor and we made our way to Cramton Auditorium. Since this is a so far honest blog, I must admit that I was a little late for the event. For when I woke up, even my little motivation didn't seem like enough to get me out of my comfortable bed. With all my will power I mustered up the strenghth to go. Not too far into the convocation, all of my negative energy had turned into positive energy. To my suprise I was actually understanding and relating to what orator, Micheal L. Lomax was saying. Overall, his point was that Howard's present student's and faculty can not rely on the past accomplishments. We can't continue to say that Howard is the best because of what happenED, we need to be able to say Howard is the best because of what is happenING. This point made me realize that our future must be greater than our past. We must continue the legacy. Another great point brought up was that the faculty must realize that the students sitting in their class are the next world leaders of the black community. We are the future so they must take that into account. He said that they should treat us with respect because we are Howard's future sponser's and donator's. When we leave and venture into our own lives we will be considered Howard alumni. The teaching's we learn matter and our accompolishments will reflect or education here at this institution. Reflecting back on the convocation I can say I'm glad my motivation (freshman seminar) was worth it.