Vincent’s Blog

Hello my name is Vincent, and I am writing a series of book of my life. I finished the first book with the completion of getting my high school diploma. I am now starting a new book on my college years. This book will not end until I walk across the stage of Austin Peay with a degree in my hand. Right now I have an unfinished book. My freshman year is finally over, but I have not achieved my ultimate goal. This freshman year was good to me. I know that all good things must come to an end, but I do not want this feeling to end. Things may not have gone the way I always wanted or planned, but it was not worse as it could be. I met a lot of new people, which I now call my family. It is a great feeling to know that even though I have my intermediate family, I also have an Austin Peay family. Through the good and the bad, nothing could change the feeling of completion of my freshman year in college. Nothing will change the joy that feel my heart. I know this is only the beginning of a great book. I have accomplished a lot in my freshman year, but I know that this journey is not yet over. There is a lot more in store for me. I have always been taught that it is better to give than receive because the reward is so much better. I have tried my hardest to give of myself to Austin Peay and to Clarksville, and I think I accomplished that. My reward I received will not be a trophy or a certificate, but rather I received more wisdom, new friends and completion. This chapter was had all the emotions possible, but I know it will happen again in the next chapter too. I will be sad because of saying good bye knowing that it will be three months until I see old friends again, but also happy to know that old and new friends will come next fall. The summer will come and go and on August 10, my next chapter will begin at Austin Peay when I arrive for RA training. So I end this blog not with a period, but with a three dots meaning that there is a continuation to this book. It has been a privilege and may you find…

***Sidenote: This was my hardest blog to write. A tear or two did come to my eyes, but that’s ok because real men cry.***

Like ever morning when I wake up, I turn on the weather channel to check the temperature for the day. The temperature says it is going to be a nice cool day so I decide to throw on some gym shorts and a t-shirt. As I start my walk to class I notice men outside with uniforms on that say “AP Physical Plant”. They are either cutting the grass, picking up trash or going to do some maintenance work in one of the many Austin Peay buildings. Everyday all day, they are here making Austin Peay function. We walk past these people and forget the job that they do for this university. They do not do their job for the glory or the fame. They are behind the scenes. These people keep the campus presentable and running for students, faculty, staff and visitors. They are unsung heroes. Never will you see them getting a certificate or trophy. I say thank you to these unsung heroes because people do notice. They are the true champions for the job they do.

So I have been doing a lot of thinking about kid shows lately. I have a roommate who loves to watch cartoons, but I can never seem to sit down and watch it with him. The shows now days are not the same like they used to be. I remember when kids you used to actually wake up early on Saturday mornings and watch kid shows while eating Fruit Loops or Captain N’ Crunch. Now day’s kids will not wake up even if the world is coming to an end. Also, I remember when kids were almost late for school because they were so busy watching cartoons they forgot about getting dressed for school. What happened to the good old days? I will tell you what happened, kid shows are not the same as they used to be. All kids care about today is the new game system that came out, phone or etc… So I think we need to go back to the glory days of kid shows. I came up with a list of all time kids shows. I gave a list of shows to my fellow Austin Peay friends, and had them come up with the top 10 from the list given with 10 being the lowest and 1 being the highest. The list with our answers are down below. Check out out answers and compare them with yours, and send me what you think the 10 are as well.

List of Shows

Doug

Rugrats

Power Rangers (original)

Barney

Sponge Bob Square Pants

Sesame Street

All That

Kenan and Kel

Arthur

Gula Gula Island

Vincent Wilson 10 Ten

10. Sesame Street

9. All That

8. Arthur

7. Power Rangers

6. Doug

5. Gula Gula Island

4. Sponge Bob Square Pants

3. Kenan and Kel

2. Rugrats

1. Barney

Jeremy Chandler Top Ten

10. Sponge Bob Square Pants

9. Sesame Street

8. Arthur

7. Barney

6. Kenan and

5. Gula Gula Island

4. Rugrats

3. Doug

2. All That

1. Power Rangers

Chelsea Savage Top Ten

10. Arthur

9. Sponge Bob Square Pants

8. Sesame

7. Barney

6. Gula Gula Island

5. Kenan and Kel

4. All That

3. Doug

2. Rugrats

1. Power Rangers

Scott Sanders Top Ten

10. Barney

9. Sponge Bob Square Pants

8. Rugrats

7. Arthur

6. All That

5. Sesame Street

4. Kenan and Kel

3. Gula Gula Island

2. Doug

1. Power Rangers

In everything I do, I want for that thing to have significance. My decision to come to Austin Peay, I wanted it to have a significance. The people I know and organizations I join; I want it to have significance. I want what I do in life to really matter.

So deciding to come to Austin Peay will have significance in everything I do. I decided before I set foot on campus that I wanted to give of myself. In less than a year of being here at Austin Peay, I truly hope that I have made my significance and will continue to do so. Austin Peay has already given me more than I have paid for.

I did not always have this clarity when it came to wanting to have significance at Austin Peay. It took a poem from my 11th grade English class to help me figure it out. This poem not only helped me figure the significance I wanted to leave at Austin Peay, but everywhere else. So I end this blog with that poem. It has been a great inspiration to me, and hopefully you can get something out of it too.

What Will Matter
By: Michael Josephson

Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.
There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.
All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.
Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.
It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
Yours grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear.
So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do lists will expire.
The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won’t matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end.
It won’t matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.
Even you gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought but what you built, not what you got but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.

What will matter is not your competence but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone.
What will matter is not your memories but the memories of those who loved you.
What will mater is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident.
It’s not a matter of circumstance but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.

So finals are now over and I can not be so excited. It has been a great first semester with many more semesters to come. My grades are where I want them to be. As much as I miss my bed in Memphis, I am also missing my bed at APSU. I am counting down the days until I return to APSU. As much as I want to spend time with family and friends, I also miss my new family at APSU. Over the break I will spend time with family, friends from high school, and mediaion. I just hope I do not gain a lot of weight over the break, freshman 15 is no joke. I will be hitting up the Foy Center as soon as I get back from break. I just got a feeling I will not be the only one hitting up the Foy Center trying to loose the weight from break.

For some reason I have been doing a lot of thinking about my high school alma mater. It says, “There are things in life we treasure as the years go swiftly by. Good times, good friends, and special memories fill our hearts with pride. May the lessons that you taught us and the truths exemplified. Bring you glory now and ever…” I know that this alma mater does not just pertain to high school, but to everything else that we do. Let us not forget the things we should truly treasure over this holiday break.

Happy Holidays and New Year.