Recently, in my FT 201 class (prospective students: this is basically your introductory film course), we launched our websites/portfolios to publish our work. After some time designing my page, I searched for an alluring title that captured the my essence. Long story short, I added the words “Armey Strong” to the banner.
Then, while critiquing sites, my professor also noted the title: Clever!! Punny!! But why? What does it mean to you or this site? I told him that it has a lot of meaning to me; in fact, it was sort of like my mantra.
A student across the table interjected, “Then that’s something I definitely want to read about!”
And, so, here it is! I’m going to kill two bird with one stone: a blog post for you and an article for my website’s bio page. Are you ready to learn the story of “Be Armey Strong?”
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Flashback to almost five years ago. Three friends — Carly, Jess, and myself — sit at a table together during their study hall. In front of my is the nomination sheet for freshman class president, ready to pass in. But, before I get up to go anywhere, my friends were sure to have my back.
“You’ll need a slogan, you know,” Carly reminded me.
As if I could come up with something clever! Tyler and Armey don’t rhyme with anything fun.
Jess, quite a laconic gal, chimed in, “You don’t need a rhyme. What about a pun? What about… ‘Be Armey Strong?’”
Two weeks later, I walked out of the school as a proud representative to my class. I was ecstatic… but also a little fearful. What was I getting myself into? Was I right for the job? I resolved that those questions didn’t matter. What did matter was that I was now an important role model for these students. I planned to give 110% effort in any duty that impacted the well-being or experiences of others. After all, compassion is a main trait of any Armey.
In the years to come, my above promise and Armey Strong became synonymous. I faced a lot of struggles within high school. But I had to remember that I had work to do and that my personal problems shouldn’t affect my work because that would spread an unnecessary negativity amongst those who don’t deserve that burden. I trained myself to remain optimistic in dark times, compassionate and kind towards all, and remained a strong leader for the sake of others and my own well-being.
“Armey Strong” evolved from trivial wordplay to a guiding phrase that lead me to unbelievable opportunities and friendships that I cannot even begin to explain (we’ll save those for another blog post). I try to remember what it means as I go about my days: Positivity. Friendship. Understanding. And as Deadpool would say, “maximum effort.” And, it’s kind of cool thing to say, right? “Armey Strong” threw me into BU full-throttle. I joined clubs, met friends, and became proud of my Terrier identity.
Anyway, here’s the moral of the story for you, COM students: don’t live life aimlessly. Find your mantra. Similar to Stacy’s point in her post below, live life with meaning. You may find yourself making a huge difference in the lives of so many people, including your own.
Carly and I at our last student leadership conference in April 2015. Being Armey Strong lead us to this nostalgic moment, where we both were preparing to say our goodbyes as regional and state student council officers. Thank you for everything, Carly.
