As I sit and try to summarize the past four years of my collegiate experience, my mind trails back to the story my mother shared with me the summer before my freshman year. She was offered a performing arts scholarship to Birmingham Southern College in the 70s during the earlier phase of integration. Because she was so afraid of what attending at such a volatile time could mean, she didn’t accept and considers it one of her only regrets in life.

“Never back down from an opportunity because of fear. Always, always pursue your passion,” is what she told me. Her personal experience revealed that we are afforded the chance to have a positive, sustainable impact. If we shrink back and fail to seize the opportunity, the person we’re hurting the most is our self.

With all of my campus endeavors, I will take away lessons that have further shaped the way I view this institution and myself. Regardless of position and power, we are expected to act with fairness, honesty and respect as stated in the Capstone Creed. People who knowingly advocate for and put good faith in a system that neither assists the progression of the entire student body nor works for the greater good of the University should realize that, until action is taken to ensure institutional advancement, we will continue to deprive the thousands of students who walk these grounds.

Sentimentally, the Capstone and I are kindred spirits. We’re both resilient and adamant about our causes and, at times, eager to hide our missteps. The countless memories contained within the perimeters of this campus are much like the ones in my own heart. Stamped with triumphs and defeat; filled with laughter and tears.  During our worst storms, when we depended on our foundations to protect us, we were left to pick ourselves up by the bootstraps and survive to say the least. We cleared away the broken pieces and, leaning on our faith and friends, somehow managed to remember our true purpose: to serve.

There is only so much we in our human capacity can influence. Temperance, in its purest form, is knowing you have power and authority but exercising sound judgment and using it for good. I can only hope that the example I’ve led through my campus involvement and leadership has resounded as a firm example of persevering and pursuing your passion despite the odds. We are Alabama and we roll with the tide no matter how hard it hits.