These are the voyages of the GAMship captains. Our sixth Captain's Log circles back to Columbus where it all started with our first captain and his first officer. The very first mate to sign on to GAMship. The very first officer to be elected. The longest sailing shipmate of GAM. The longest commanding officer of GAM. The most decorated. The most respected. This is GAM's very own Columbus: Captain Christopher Engel.
"[T]he sight of an achievement [is] the greatest gift a human being could offer to others." [Atlas Shrugged] Captain Christopher has brought award after award to GAM and his shipmates.
Outstanding New Organization Award, 2008-2009, to GAM
from NYIT Manhattan Campus Student Government Association
Best GAM Watch Design, in Time For GAM, Fall 2009, to Christopher Engel
from Frederique Constant
Certificate of Completion, Mentors in Gam and Emprise, 2009-2010, to Christopher Engel
from NYIT School of Management Professional Enrichment Program
Certificate of Recognition, Career Perks, 2009-2010, to Christopher Engel
from NYIT School of Management Professional Enrichment Program
Above and Beyond Award, 2009-2010, to Christopher Engel
from NYIT School of Management Professional Enrichment Program
Certificate of Recognition, 2009-2010, to GAM
from NYIT School of Management
Certificate of Completion, Internship Certificate Program, Spring 2010, to Christopher Engel
from NYIT Career Services
Outstanding Student Organization Award, 2009-2010, to GAM
from NYIT Manhattan Campus Student Government Association
Student Organization of the Year Award, 2009-2010, to GAM
from NYIT Manhattan Campus Office of Student Activities
Outstanding Club President of the Year Award, 2009-2010, to Chris Engel
from NYIT Manhattan Campus Student Government Association
Outstanding Student Leader Award, 2009-2010, to Christopher Engel
from NYIT Manhattan Campus Office of Student Activities
And the countless additional awards that his shipmates have earned through GAM and the programs it supports.
As apparent storms seemed to chase his ship into port to run aground, Captain Christopher sailed against the gales to save the integrity of the ship.
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| Captain Christopher Engel, GAM MA 2008-2011 |
“The port would fain give succor; the port is pitiful; in the port is safety, comfort, hearthstone, supper, warm blankets, friends, all that’s kind to our mortalities. But in that gale, the port, the land, is that ship’s direst jeopardy; she must fly all hospitality; one touch of land, though it but graze the keel, would make her shudder through and through. With all her might she crowds all sail off shore; in so doing, fights ‘gainst the very winds that fain would blow her homeward; seeks all the lashed sea’s landlessness again; for refuge’s sake forlornly rushing into peril; her only friend her bitterest foe!” [Moby Dick].
This Captain Christopher learned at the helm: that the safest port is into the storm.
"There is a wisdom that is woe; but there is a woe that is madness. And there is a Catskill eagle in some souls that can alike dive down into the blackest gorges, and soar out of them again and become invisible in the sunny spaces. And even if he for ever flies within the gorge, that gorge is in the mountains; so that even in his lowest swoop the mountain eagle is still higher than other birds upon the plain, even though they soar." [Moby Dick]
In his honor GAM establishes a new award. In addition to being the third captain to retire with the Me Hearties Pennant, Captain Christopher receives the Take A Bow trophy, which logs his voyage at the helm of GAMship. And Captain Christopher was first to reach for the brass ring, so we name it after him: the Columbus Circle.
How befitting that Captain Christopher's last event is to say bon voyage to us. We come full circle to conclude the Columbian Era by bidding our Captain Columbus the same for the bon voyage he gave us. Bon Voyage, Captain Christopher Engel
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5 comments:
To: CHRISTOPHER ENGEL Captain of GAMship. Congratulations on your recent trophy. However you carry your achievements, aka, trophy, in your spirit. Onward Captain. MP
GAM's cinco de mayo was spent in a superbly elegant event saying thank you to our shipmates, and to Captain Columbus. Check out the photos, and more to come, here. http://web.me.com/mavirek/Mike/BonVoyage.html
The rockin' Farewell Address of Captain Christopher to GAM
Part One:
My Fellow GAMers and Guests,
It has been a great honor to serve as Captain of the Manhattan chapter of Great American Mentoring for these past two years. I am proud of our members and of our many accomplishments. During my tenure as Captain, GAM was awarded the Outstanding Student Organization award by the Office of Student Affairs and the Student Organization of the Year award by the Student Government Association. But most importantly, our greatest accomplishment was that we built a vast network of mutually beneficial partnerships through the exchange of value for value. In essence, we created a stronger community, not based on any immoral altruistic motives of sacrificing our needs for the needs of others, but by pursuit of our own self-interest, knowing that a stronger community is of benefit to each one of us as individuals. Why is this important? Because I have been labeled a “servant leader” by the NYIT community. A "servant leader" by definition is one who is in a position of power or influence and is compelled to sacrifice his needs for the needs of the people he serves. I denounce this label. When I became Captain of GAM, I did not do so sacrificially because it was something I had wanted and something that would benefit my life in the long-run. I had a self-interest in helping the people around me, and in providing opportunities for the members of GAM to succeed themselves, because that would give me a good reputation as a student leader and a track record of success, which it did. By the same people who falsely branded me a “servant leader,” I was awarded Outstanding Student Leader of the Year and Outstanding Club President of the Year. But there was nothing sacrificial about my leadership and the result was both myself and the members of GAM benefitted and we enriched the NYIT community as a whole. This is the virtue of selfishness. What is interesting is that most people abide by this moral code but lack the integrity to admit it not only to the people around them, but most importantly, to themselves. Integrity is an integral part of leadership.
The rockin' Farewell Address of Captain Christopher to GAM
Part Two:
So how did I come to an understanding of such a revolutionary philosophy? It all goes back to my sophomore year, where by chance, I had signed up for Judge Gregorek’s history class in the Fall of 2008. Upon walking into his classroom, I was a man who lacked self-esteem. Little did I know, meeting him would be a positive turning-point in my life that would fundamentally change me for the better. He explained the formation of a club, GAM, developed on the premise of “business sense and social grace.” Having been the Vice President of my high school’s business club, DECA, (and severely lacking social grace) I was interested. That was until he held up this monstrosity, Atlas Shrugged. Suddenly my interest faded. However, it was through Gregorek’s persistence and my ambition that eventually led me to attend the first GAM meeting, where I had volunteered to be Chief Mate, the Vice President of the club. In the coming months, I would endure endless nagging to read Atlas Shrugged. Finally, after being promoted to Captain, I caved. As I turned the last page of the book in early September 2009, I knew my life would not be the same. This book instilled in me a new perspective on life based on a concrete set of values and principles, and most importantly restored my self-esteem. Selfishness, I contend, is a virtue only the individual with self-esteem can truly understand and appreciate. Take note that true selfishness is not about short-term gain. A businessman who defrauds his customers will not be in business for long, and in retrospect, is acting self-destructively, not selfishly. It is about the creation of an environment that promotes the individual’s long-term survival and happiness. This can only be done through the creation of win-win, mutually beneficial relationships, relationships where both parties gain benefit. It is this premise that serves as the building blocks for a stronger community. Ladies and gentlemen, that is the legacy I leave here, and I cannot thank my mentor, Judge Gregorek, enough. In the name of the best within us, I thank you and bid you farewell.
Read the entire Farewell Address of our Captain Christopher "Columbus" at his blog The Capitalist Warrior.
http://thecapitalistwarrior.blogspot.com/2011/05/my-farewell-address-to-gam.html
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