Convocation

Mosby-Jones leaves a memorable impression.

 

 

 

            Hundreds of students crowded into the Givens Performing Arts Center on Wednesday morning to take part in the “official” start of the academic year: Convocation.

 Most students, judging by the dozens of photocopied checklists and the waving down of instructors to prove that they were at the event, were attending Convocation for the requisite Freshman Seminar class. 

As the processional began, the familiar faces of professors on campus emerged from the lobby and into the auditorium draped in billowing robes and hoods of various colors. Guest speaker Andrea Mosby-Jones was seated on stage, her hair flowing beneath her cap.                        

Mosby-Jones, engaging the audience with a clear, distinct voice and commanded attention at the podium, proceeded to describe many of the lessons that she had learned throughout her life thus far.    

One of the greatest lessons developed shortly after the discovery that she was pregnant at the age of 16.  Determined not to become a statistic, Mosby-Jones finished college and earned a degree in Business, as well as a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning.

Mosby-Jones appeared very comfortable as she moved about the stage, microphone in hand. In one humorous moment, she removed her cap from her head because it kept slipping off during her speech.

Mosby-Jones focused on what many of the younger students in the audience were feeling as they started their first day of college a few days ago. “Fear is real, but fear is not your reality.” she said. “Most people speak through their fears and not their dreams.”

Mosby-Jones also encouraged the students to reach their full potential.  “We live in a nation where mediocrity is accepted,” she said.  “American can’t afford to be mediocre anymore.”

Mosby-Jones left the attendees with a few other words of advice. “Let the past stay in the past,” she said.  This was met with several nods of approval from many of the students.    

Mosby-Jones was met with enthusiastic applause after her speech, a clear sign that she had left a mark on her young audience.