February 25, 2016
Read time : 5 min

It’s safe to say at this point, the camera loves JSU’s “Up to Us”. Our team’s been featured in our campus’ newspaper and television station. We’ve even got a photo with our Congressman, Bennie Thompson. I cannot tell a lie, it’s been pretty great. Even today, a popular local newspaper, The Clarion Ledger, published an article about our team. With all this attention, we’ve got to stay media ready. Luckily, we haven’t had any painstakingly embarrassing moments as of yet.

The most memorable media experience we’ve shared so far is probably our most recent television interview. We were elated when our university-sponsored television station agreed to feature us within their early morning broadcast. For our team leader, Lotfi El Jai, this was his first time being featured on television. His was ecstatic, so much so, that he beamed as he told his family back home of this new opportunity. Though it was his first time on T.V., Lo was quick to inform the team of what all he knew that these kinds of interviews entailed. He even gave us tips on how to conduct ourselves. As confident and audacious as he always is, we saw a different demeanor from Lo on this particular morning. It was hilarious to watch because he was so nervous, he turned bright pink. Luckily, he survived his first encounter with a television broadcast with the support of his loving teammates.

I’d be remiss if I did not mention that this trip to the T.V. station took place at 7 a.m. And no, I’m not joking. I’m not sure if you all are aware, but for college students, morning hours such as these are unheard of. Personally, I was just surprised that I made it in time while still looking somewhat presentable. All in all, I think we surprised ourselves by how energized we were in talking about our campaign. The way we answered the series of questions, you’d be surprised that we had come in like zombies only moments before the camera graced our faces.

Hungry and running on less than five hours of sleep, afterwards, we did what any college student would do after an early call time. You already know. We raced to our campus’ Chick-fil-A to have a hearty team breakfast before dashing off to our classes. From the time it seemed to take us to get there, you would’ve thought we all had teleportation superpowers. Come to think about it, we just might because it’s a miracle that we’ve even survived this campaign to date.

As we savored the moment of having completed a successful live interview, we allowed ourselves to really enjoy each other’s company. Fueled by our commitment to this campaign, we continued to talk to students, faculty, and staff about our initiative and our upcoming events in between Chick-fil-A chicken biscuit bites and gulps of fruit juice. Hey, no one could ever argue that JSU’s “Up to Us” isn’t fully committed to this campaign.