In all honesty, all I can think about is springtime. Events include St. Patrick’s Day (three days before spring officially starts but work with me here), March Madness (Go Cats), Keeneland (horse racing), Easter, The Kentucky Derby, Cinco de Mayo, and Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are finally going to fight. I’m ready! I’m also ready to experience the spring and summer activities that exist in Michigan. For instance, I’ve been told since the day I got here that I have to go “Up North” and get out on these Great Lakes. I’ve also heard about the copious amounts of festivals that take place, the Dream Cruise, the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, and many more exciting events to come. Bring it on.
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a group of fellows and I attended a social entrepreneurship discussion at Cliff Bell’s. The panelists consisted of successful business owners in the city and the topics ranged from getting money to start a new venture to attracting attention from outside Detroit. However, the statement that resonated with me the most was “You are a composite of the five people you surround yourself with the most”. So simple. Yet, so powerful. Of course, this was not the first time someone has mentioned that the people you surround yourself with influence you greatly. However, it did make me reflect. I’ve had numerous roommates/co-workers in the past four years throughout college, Disney, Colorado, and now Challenge Detroit and my personality has transformed with every group of people. For example, while some living situations enabled me to be extremely outgoing, some have prompted me to be more focused on working and studying. Neither was better than the other, simply different. The following story portrays one of my situations.
My junior year of college was a big one. In fact, it was my favorite year of college. I moved into a house on a whim after a guy in my fraternity asked me to. I didn’t know him that well and didn’t know the other two guys he asked to live there either. However, I opened the door to this opportunity and it was the best decision I made in my four years at the University of Kentucky. To this day, I carry the mindset of that house.
Chris was my fraternity brother who had offered all of us to join him in the conveniently located house next to Sorority Circle (whaddup). He was a larger than life figure on campus who was well known for his outgoingness. Not only was he highly gregarious at school; he was the number one salesman for a nationally known book selling company in the summertime. I had a running joke with my fraternity brothers that one time I asked Chris to take out the trash and somehow I ended up on the curb putting it in the can. The guy was smooth but not in a manipulative way. He simply radiated positivity and it was impossible to be angry with him. He had positive quotes all over our walls, positive books laying around our tables, and, most importantly, had a positive mindset to attack each day with enthusiasm.
Insert J-dub (Jordan), another employee at the book selling company who occupied a room in the house. Sagacious, hard-working, and holder of the same positive mindset Chris had. He often called old friends in order to not lose touch, he got up most days at 6 a.m. to complete personal reading (who does that in college?!), and helped me obtain a job on campus. It was hard to get J-dub to go out on weekends because he was extremely dedicated to being mentally and physically prepared for his next summer of selling books. He was focused and it was refreshing to be around that in college where a large amount of people go out into the wee hours in the night and sleep until noon the next day.
Lastly, Emilio was the fourth roommate. Emilio was the youngest, but like me, was malleable. He was highly involved on campus, smart, and always followed through on his word. Emilio embodied generosity and helped me with school work, my car, girls, the gym, you name it.
Long story short, good things happen when you’re around positive people and live with a positive mindset. I earned the highest GPA of my college career during my junior year, I obtained a job on campus, I became an amateur boxer to fight in a philanthropy event, I met a nice girl, I turned 21 with a ton of friends, UK won the basketball National Championship, and I got accepted to study abroad to Germany the upcoming summer. This piece is not about me and what I’ve done. I listed these things to paint a picture of a philosophy I believe in. Joel Osteen, an American Preacher and New York Times bestselling author, writes in his book Your Best Life Now:
“The Bible says, ‘If you walk with wise men, then you’re going to become wise.’ If you associate with successful people, before long you will become successful. Their enthusiasm will be contagious and you will catch that vision. If you stay in an atmosphere of victory, before long you’re going to have an image of victory. If you hang around people of faith, before long you’re going to be filled with faith. But you cannot soar with eagles as long as you’re pecking round with the chickens.”
Therefore, I encourage you to take inventory of the people you interact with the most. Take note who is uplifting you and who is not because remember, you are a composite of the five people you surround yourself with the most.