Letter From The Editor : Forging Ahead
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Written by Gboyinde Onijala
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Thursday, 21 February 2008 |
 One thing I look forward to with great anticipation is the start of a new year. I am sure many of you feel the same way. A new year represents a fresh start, new beginnings, second chances and new chapters. Not knowing exactly what the upcoming year might bring, we hold on to the hope that it will be a year of endless possibilities, open doors and blessings.
The new year presents a fresh opportunity for people to set resolutions (that many of us fail to keep within the next month!), and to leave all painful memories and experiences of the past year behind. For me, there is a verse in the Bible that best describes these sentiments towards a new year, “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14, NIV). After coming across this verse several times, I began to understand the message within the words. What God was trying to show me, as I reflected on my desires for the new year, was the importance of the concept of “forging ahead.” Forging ahead, I believe, means moving forward at full steam towards the dream/goal you hope to accomplish. You have to be willing to make the necessary sacrifices and put in the effort to get to that destination. You realize that although you cannot see the finish line at this point in time, you will eventually reach it and all of that hard work will pay off. In one of his recent sermons, the Bishop of my church also highlighted another definition of ’forging ahead.’ He commented that one aspect of forging ahead requires that you stop focusing and dwelling on your past accomplishments and limiting yourself to the things that you have achieved and focus on greater things that you can accomplish. You have to desire more and strive for the best so that you don’t get stagnant and complacent with your place in life. He believed that it is important that we train ourselves to be dissatisfied with the status quo and to train our minds to always reach for new heights in every aspect of our lives whether it be in our relationship with Jesus, our careers and educational pursuits. He stressed that the key is knowing that there is more to attain. One of the areas in which I am applying these great principles that I learned in church is in my role as the president of the African Diaspora Club. It is my desire to see ADC reach new heights this year and accomplish more in terms of membership, activities, awards, levels of impact, student voice and so on. I believe that African students play an immense role on Towson’s campus and enhance the overall dynamics of the university with their diverse backgrounds, talents and skills. It is our duty as an organization to celebrate and positively portray diverse cultures of Africa by encouraging and supporting academic excellence, building community, promoting networks, being engaged as global citizens and fostering life-long ties to the continent. By doing this we are fostering growth, encouraging development and changing our continent one student at a time, one country at a time. Last years accomplishments were great, however, we can and we will do better and achieve more. We hope to impact the campus and community-at-large on a greater scale which I believe, in result, will bring greater attention to the phenomenal things that are happening not only to the African students at Towson but more importantly, the great things that are taking place in our continent. We are forging ahead not only as an ‘organization’ but as a group of people linked by similar desires, dreams and visions...to make a difference in the continent of Africa.
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