“Now is the time for us to know what comes tomorrow and not wait for yesterday to tell us what we could’ve known today,” a life philosophy that student and now published author Jordan Gaither lives by.
Gaither held a book signing in the Barnes and Noble bookstore located in the Favrot Student Union Board this past Sunday. His inspiration for his book, Poet’s Elixir, was needed to be published because he felt like the people needed to know how he was feeling on his outlook on life and his people.
Although Gaither is informally known around campus as “Metaphor” and is inclusively involved in campus organizations (president of the Delta Sigma chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha and Director of Academics Affairs), Gaither spent numerous hours and a vast amount of dedication in order to compile his book.
While Gaither has a great love for his HBCU, he didn’t want to come to Grambling at first. It was his third option, but due to his academic records he had no choice but to enroll as a Gramblinite .
In life, one will always be faced with adversity and may encounter people who may not believe in their dream or aspirations. The young business management major experienced a situation like this, twice. Both Howard University and the University of Wisconsin denied Gaither admission into their respective universities, because in their opinion he wasn’t “academically advanced enough to be a student at their university.”
A man with a plan, Gaither highlighted when he came to Grambling he was going to be known as a scholar , leader and artist. “From the get go I wanted to be a leader so I joined the Student Government Association,” said Gaither. He wasn’t recognized for being a talented individual until his sophomore year, were he finally came out of his shell. Gaither has performed numerous spoken words at Lyrical Quest and was even a speaker at the Alumni Convocation during homecoming week.
Recollecting, Gaither never thought he would become an author but he always knew he would be a outstanding leader and poet.
The next book signing for Poet’s Elixir will be on Thursday, November 8th in the campus bookstore. Gaither encourages both faculty and students to receive their own book.