Come my friends,
Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
For my purpose holds to sail beyond the sunset.
Though we are not now that strength which in old days moved earth and heaven,
That which we are we are.
One equal temper of heroic heart.
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will,
To strive,
To seek, to find, and not to yield.

Man, this is probably one of the greatest poems I’ve ever read. It’s up there around number three in my list of favorite top ten.

Everytime that I read this poem, I always pay attention to that key line, “Tis not too late to seek a newer world, for my purpose holds to sail beyond the sunset”. I believe this means that there is something out there even greater than what we are doing now. There are whole new opprotunities and scenarios that we can encounter and we ourselves can achieve that purpose of going out and beyond what we are familiar with. This was essentially me my freshman year here at the University of Arkansas. Totally clueless, secluded into my own shell, and not wanting to venture out into what this new horizion had to offer. But for me, what made me ’sail beyond the sunset’ was the inspiration to become a part of Kappa Kappa Psi. There was something for me out there, but I didn’t know what it was since it was out there beyond my realm of comfort. I owe it not only to myself, but to my PM class and the members of the Lambda chapter who were able to show me this new horizon. But just like what Morpheus told Neo in the Matrix, “I can only show you the door. You’re the one that has to walk through it”. They showed me what Kappa Kappa Psi was all about, but it was up to me to pursue this path. Ultimately, the best decision of my life.

The greatest thing about this poem is that it relates almost completely to striving for the highest and doing these things in the face of obstacles. “To strive. To seek, to find, and not to yield” was such a great way to end this poem. The obvious line ‘to strive’ tells me that not only should you strive, but strive for the highest. You should then never yield in the face of adversity and other obstacles. I’ve had my fair shares of obstacles in the path, but for me, nothing is ever easy, even if the road in front of you has been paved smooth, has rubber bumpers on the edge, and you can only go less than 5 miles an hour. It’s true that you’ll face obstacles not only in life, but in Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma as well. But, this is the exact reason that we have brothers and sisters. They are there to help you with those obstacles. Whether they be school, family, friends, job, relationships, or trying to get past level 23 on Nazi zombies, brothers and sisters are there to provide that helping hand.

If you ever have the chance, grab a book of poems and see how they can relate not only to your life, but to Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma, brotherhood and sisterhood, service to others, or anything of the sort. You might be surprised by what you find. This passion of fraternity and poetry should be realized and never forgotten.

One of the first great travels that I was apart of was travelling to Stillwater Station and seeing the Shrine for the first time. I was a PM at the tome and to be able to see where it all began and where everything came from is one of the most humbling feelings ever. Here you are at the very start of the fraternity that you have become a part of.  You are standing on what was once was the spot for Boh’s podium. 

I have done so much travelling in my lifetime and some of my favorite places to go to are historic places such as battlefields.  When you go to these kind of places, this certain humbling feeling takes over and you wonder just what really happened at these places and just what it meant to be there at that certain time.  The greatest example of this for me was when I visited the Gettysburg Civil War  Battlefield.  Here I was standing out on Little Round Top, a small hill that almost 10,000 men were killed upon, and looking out to this large empty field a mile and a half wide that had over 50,000 casualties; the greatest loss of life at any Civil War battlefield.  I had almost no words to describe the feeling that had taken over me; to even realize that you were staring at what was essentially a giant graveyard was mindblowing. 

While visiting other chapters and visiting Stillwater isn’t as violent or bloody as Civil War battlefields, it still gives you a humbling feeling to see that the one thing that started what you are a part of is now staring right at you in the face.  Recently, myself, the other members of Lambda and our PMs visited Stillwater Station and the Shrine, but this time I was now a member seeing it from a different perspective.  It was now all clear to me that these PMs are having the same experiences and feelings that I once had when I saw the Shrine for the first time.  Whether you are a PM, member, alumni, or sponsor, this same humbling feeling is felt by everyone.  I think that everyone should have this feeling at some point in their life.  With this, people can finally begin to realize how important it is to remember how everything began.