I write this blog while witnessing a massive battle between a thunderstorm and the ferocious Venetian Lion, San Marco himself. Each brings his weapon of choice with thunderous steadfastness, unrelenting and unrepentant against the opposition, calm amidst the cloudy mist of hostility. With San Marco, a sword of historical words and wood; with the storm, a spear of thunderous rhetoric and rain.
Yet while our home, Casa Artom, is rumbling with eager anticipation of an inevitable victim I already know to whom victory belongs. And tomorrow morning I plan to meet him in Lido, on his golden shores of victory and at the end of his promised rainbow -- there I shall find San Marco in his glory glaring triumphantly as the defeated storm retreats, in search of another day. Thus my concern is not with tonight, but with my morrow for I have to prepare for the hostile forecast ahead of my life. On October 10th, 2014, I will have the unique opportunity to partake in the Mob-ility Symposium at Casa Artom, located in Venice, Italy. Alongside scholars and the alike, I will be presenting my paper entitled: "Reassessing the American Hope: The Effect of Education regarding Socioeconomic Un-mobility concerning the Urban American and the Exceptional Person". Due to the length of the paper -- as well as the inability to the present the paper in full -- my presentation will be entitled "Education, Hope and their relationship to the Un-mobility of the Urban American". As the title suggests, I will tailor my speech to focus mainly on the specific relationship between education and hope regarding specific aspects of socioeconomic mobility seen through the Urban American. Although this opportunity is once-in-a-lifetime, I still have my slight anxieties. I am but a newbie student versing a recognized symposium -- yes, even as one of the toughest Wake Forest third-years, I will be entering an academia coliseum full of harden senior scholars. Thus, the question holding my mind hostage: how does a mere Undergraduate compare with those whom teach Graduate-level education? There are two sides that fight a war, two generals whose sole goal is to return home to their families victorious. Although I am a one-star general, new to this level of opportunity but not to the war itself, I feel as if I have been training my whole life for this one battle. In other words, my years of waging war against my laziness, battling the lies of self-defeat, and fortifying my skill set through constant practice are finally paying off. I feel filled with the spirit of San Marco, the same man who did not ever consider fearing Death but rather battled him selflessly until he was finally martyred into a joyous slumber. Mark's weapon of choice, evangelism through truth, is still waging a contemporary war without tangible flesh. His legacy inspires me as I build my legacy. Therefore, as I face the cloudy grays ahead, full of the horrific unknowns, I stand unmoved on the golden shores of life, glaring upon the impending thunderstorm and prepared to fight with my broad bow of boldness. For I already know to whom the victory belongs. I can almost touch the promised rainbow.
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