December 13th, 2013

Dear Gentlemen,

I hope this letter finds you all in a positive position working towards the completion of your semesters. Regardless of how you feel your finals will turn out each of you have earned a well deserved break. Many of the previous drivers were focused more on motivation towards the preparing and performance for our finals, but we are nearing the end of that phase in our semesters. Hence, this driver will deviate from the motivational tone most of our drivers have had for a while, and will help begin the transition into our breaks.

Inspiration: A handshake. That is all that it was and yet it has sent shock-waves through the diplomatic and news world. At the memorial for the late Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama shook hands with current Cuban leader Raul Castro exchanged a few words, and then moved on. However, this is the first time in nearly 13 years that physical interaction has occurred between leaders of the U.S. and Cuba. This has begun talks on relaxed tensions between the U.S. and Cuba, newspapers have printed countless articles about this 10 second interaction, and it all comes from a simple handshake. I explain this situation to you guys today because it is amazing that despite all the chaos unfolding on the different corners of the world, despite the countless number of children fighting as child soldiers in the continent of my ancestors, and despite the fact that our government barely passed another bill to ward off financial instability today while ensuring financial ruin down the road, the press is concerned with a simple handshake. As you guys can tell, I like to over-analyze situations. From this particular one I have taken two major points. The first is that the world is a cruel but honest place. The reason this is such a big matter is because of the heightened status of these two individuals from rival countries. Quite simply, if you "matter" people will care, but if you "don't matter" they will just as quickly turn a blind eye to you in your time of need. It is a sad truth, but a vital fact that one who wants to change the world must keep in mind. Until you are somebody no one will care what you are doing, or what your plans are. Once you have become accomplished, and until your downfall or demise, people listen intensively to your every word. The moral is don't get comfortable on the top and be careful that you truly know who your true friends are. The second observation I made was that while these figures who attract tremendous attention have a lot of influence not all of them use it for the right purpose. It is easy to get comfortable at the top and neglect those you should care for or even represent. For instance, I earlier mentioned how Congress managed to pass another bill that takes the pressure off of our financial constraints. I am trying to simplify this for the sake of time, but the essence of the matter is Congress refuses to get its finances under control, and uses the fate of our country's financial stability time and time again to try and sway the public in support of a certain party's political agenda. Neither wishes to compromise, and eventually their bickering will lead to a disastrous fate for our country. Meanwhile we spiral deeper in debt, and watch as our politicians come from a smaller and smaller pool of entitled, well-off, privately funded individuals. I am not here to complain about the state of our nation, but I simply want to shed light for you guys on what I see as a big problem in our society. If we truly want to see drastic change in the way our country is run, we need to drastically change the demographic of our countries leaders. We can watch, learn, and prepare ourselves to one day accept similar roles, but in the meantime we must actively prepare ourselves in such a way that positive change, and innovative opportunities can come from our leadership. We must be a beacon of positive change in the world around us. So someday when major press and news networks are talking about one of our brief handshakes, let the developed gentleman we have become be as morally concerned as he is publicly appreciated.

Encouragement: I would like to to talk about the momentous accomplishment of our fellow League member Ethan! He has secured the first copyright of any member in the League, and I personally wish him the best in the future of his movie. I have been able to read a considerable part of the script and I can already say that this is something I would love to see in reality, keep up the good work bro I'm right behind you 100%. On that note I would like to encourage all of you to follow through with Ethan's suggestion of writing out your goals. I personally believe that having goals on paper, in a place you can go back and read is very powerful. It helps bring you back to the mind-state you were in when you set those goals and can help you accomplish them even when faced with strong adversity. Also I know that in the past week I have felt very overwhelmed, but one of my favorite quotes by Og Mandino helped me get through it. The quote reads:

"I will persist until I succeed. Always will I take another step. If that is of no avail I will take another, and yet another. In truth, one step at a time is not too difficult.... I know that small attempts, repeated, will complete any undertaking."

So if the grind gets hard for you gentlemen (or if it has been hard) and you feel like you just want to quit, remember...just another step. One step is not too hard. One more problem won't hurt. One more set can't kill you. Though I assure you that the sum of you extra effort will someday make all the difference.

Testimonial: I completed my Engineering Analysis final on Monday, and my Physics final earlier on Thursday My Chemistry and Calculus finals are tomorrow and I plan to go in confidently and prepared to succeed. I have submitted my list of goals for next year, and I plan to stick to it and accomplish everything I have set out for myself. This break I will plan out the rest of my academic career, and will begin to apply for study abroad scholarships. I pray that I don't run into any problems that I can't handle, and I know that God is leading me in the right direction. I promise you guys I will aid you to the best of my abilities to accomplish your goals for the next year, and I look forward to a future I can positively impact.

Furthermore: I challenge each of you guys to stay humble, to remember that we are nothing yet, and that we have to cash in our potential for long lasting accomplishments. Remember to focus on what will matter 5, 10, or 20 years from now, and not always on immediate results. Next Monday we look forward to hearing from Kris, and I look forward to seeing many of you over this Christmas Break.

Be Great,

Chukwuemeka K. Ukaga