Fall 2019 Convocation: Welcome New Broncos!
posted by Shawnsuki Brooks | September 18, 2019 | In NewsSeptember 10 was a beautiful day for Fall Convocation 2019 at Fayetteville State University.
The FSU Concert Choir performed the Negro National Anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing, and the FSU Concert Band held the academic processional music to Pomp and Circumstance. The stage was filled with trustees, commissioners, and FSU’s very own alumnus, the mayor of Fayetteville, Mitch Colvin. FSU’s acting-chancellor Dr. Peggy Valentine spoke greetings at her first FSU Convocation.
The guest speaker Mr. Caylin Moore grew up in Compton, CA, and at the early age of seven had to learn how to push out of his tough situations.
He told the crowd to “despise not the days of humble beginnings,” and “you will go through.”
He described his journey from avoiding gangs on the way to school to getting to college on an athletic scholarship, only to suffer a back injury.
Moore noted, “It’s not what you go through,” but it’s about “how you respond.”
Moore’s childhood dream was for his dad to be able to see him play football on TV, so he convinced himself that it was possible.
He went from student athletic posters to the school janitor. He then remembered that Booker T. Washington was also a janitor and knew it was only the beginning of his journey.
He recalled the story of a student spitting on his clean floors, telling him he had “missed a spot.” He then used a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. to inspire him to seek excellence in all things, including being a janitor.
Moore’s main goal was to let the students know to focus on the little things and to make it all count. He may have missed a spot that day when the student spit on his floor, but he made it to Texas Christian University later on. His father got to see him play on TV while he was at TCU. And he spent his last birthday with Michael Strahan on Good Morning America.
Now Moore has that spot and encourages the class of 2024 to go out and get their spot. Cultivate your vision, decide to do all things to the best of your ability and get that spot. Get a vision, make it plain, and piece by piece get that spot because there are others counting on each and every one of us. He closed with the question? “What is your mission to solve?”
Moore’s question was followed by a standing ovation.
His speech not only spoke from his personal experiences, but as the crowd cheered, it was safe to say that Moore’s story of overcoming obstacles was incredibly powerful because it was not only his story, but the story of many others sitting before his very eyes.
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