"The Real McCoy"--Guest Blogger

I am happy to say that I have the ability to pass the blog along to someone I admire. When I first came to Union in June of 2006, next to me sat Peyton McCoy (Peyton similar to Walter Payton, or Peyton Manning, McCoy like “The Real One”).

Listening to Peyton’s ability to tell a story and speak in public is amazing. She is a one of a kind, a real natural, and I admire her dearly.

-j-

Here is what she has to share:

My colleague Jeffrey Shepard approached me about penning this blog submission. I beamed with pride. You see, Jeffrey Shepard is an innovator par excellent. Not only that; one cannot help but beam at the distance traveled as a cohort in this parade of progress, which is evidenced in our inventions. What a marvelous family, the Union family. I kept thinking about my friend Roland, a new band director at an urban high school. I went to their football game a few weeks ago.

Round silver tubs started tapping a rhythm that converted even the non rhythmic. It could not be denied–the drum line was tight. The half-time show evangelized the audience. The drum major led 200 novice marching musicians into a frenzied exciting energy surpassed only by executed precision. It seemed that some invisible compass was navigating chaos into constructive tension. Effortless exactitude. First we sat on the edge of our seats wondering what was about to come. Then we were on our feet infused with exhilaration, invigoration. Next we were cheering and applauding with fierce urgency. But things are not always as they seem. That which appeared effortless was the result of extraordinary effort. Those novices—moving 200 strong–transformed the field, the fans, and themselves. From the player’s bench to the sky booth it became evident—there was a transformation coming on.

Simultaneously, five hundred miles west in Cincinnati, Ohio, there was another half-time going on. Admission tickets were high and expectations higher—there’s another transformation coming on:

It can be downloaded or uploaded
It’s for the information generation

It’s for the rough road and the heavy load
It’s a soulful rejuvenation

It recycles sorrow’s dump truck load, oppression’s dirty load,
And the weary blues overload

It’s a great migration towards an overdue celebration prior to a consummate transformation

It’s for the lost, the found, and the almost found
The bound, level to the ground, and the underground

There’s a transformation that’s yours (and mine) for the asking

So we’ll work longer—and care stronger—towards our transformation Union Institute style

If there’s a high road to take, take it
If there’s forgiveness to give give it
If there’s a thank you to say, say it

Then we can have a transformation, real inter disciplinary transformation–Union Institute style.

Peyton McCoy
Union Institute & University
Cohort 1