I’ve been completely inspired here lately. When I grew up, I wanted to be Michael Jordan–tongue out, gliding through the air and jamming on fools. By the time I got into ninth grade, I realized sports were not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I think it was my junior year when I first picked up a guitar. I was instantly in love.

I think it’s funny how some things never change, but others can change in the blink of an eye. I promise I’m going somewhere with this. Over the years, we see our aspirations and dreams evolve. Oftentimes, the people that inspire us will change as well.

Whereas I always wanted to be a less obscene John Mayer, now I’m pretty comfortable being Ben Skipworth. This year, there have been a few guys on campus the past few months that have really inspired me to be a better leader (this could be a mile long if I could run over my word count).

Mason Kirkland, MEISA president, has done an outstanding job this year. He has done things with MEISA that I don’t think have ever been done here at UNA. He’s put together several events on campus that have given a lot of people within the entertainment industry hands-on training.

Cory Hamilton, SGA president, has done an exceptional job as the voice of students at UNA. He has represented us well throughout the D-I issue, and continues to serve the students to the best of his ability. He and I have had several talks this year, and he has kept The Flor-Ala up to speed with what’s going down on campus.

Blake Clark is the man behind the curtain putting on the spring concert. When I get the feeling that I’m about to overwork myself, I think about what all Blake has going on. That dude works eight days a week, no exaggeration. The key to anything is preparation, and given the amount of time he’s put into organizing the concert thus far, my expectations for the event are insanely high.

So, I guess now is the time I go chug a bottle of testosterone pills. I feel like I just watched “The Fox and the Hound.” Seriously, though, it’s an absolutely righteous time to be a student at UNA. There is a buzz around UNA that I haven’t noticed in my three years here. I don’t think we could be here at a better time. Who knows, maybe one day my kids will say they want to be Cory Hamilton when they grow up.