“It was an honor and a privilege to represent Missouri Western.” That, Paul Granberry said, was his reaction to being selected to attend the National Prayer Breakfast and Student Weekend in Washington, DC in February 2017. Granberry, an accounting major from St. Louis, was only one of about 100 students from across the globe who attended the student weekend. The prayer breakfast was held on Thursday, Feb. 2, and the weekend event was from Friday to Sunday.
Paul Granberry
“I left home at 5 a.m. on Wednesday and got back at 9 p.m. Monday, and I was busy every day from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m.,” Granberry said. “It was amazing, and I was blessed to be a part of it.”
He said the weekend involved student leaders connecting with each other, discussing world problems and seeking solutions. They were in discussion groups of five students each, and the other four students in his group were from universities across the country. Granberry said it was a great experience and he learned a lot about leadership.
His most memorable moment, he says, was getting to see a VIP screening of “The Shack,” which wasn’t in theaters until March. He also met the author of the book by the same name, Wm. Paul Young, who spoke to the group and gave them one of his other books, “Lies We Believe About God.”
“I definitely have to see the movie again,” Granberry said shortly after he returned from Washington.
The students also toured the Capitol and saw Congress in session.
Participants must be nominated, and the weekend is by invitation only. Granberry had attended the Governor’s Student Leadership Forum in Jefferson City, Missouri in January 2016 and was subsequently invited to the National Leadership Forum in Atlanta in October 2016 for about 200 students. A man he met at the Atlanta forum then nominated him for the February event in Washington.
One of the criteria for attendees included holding leadership roles, and Granberry certainly has that distinction. At Missouri Western, although he is only a sophomore, he is involved in the Student Government Association (SGA) and the Gentlemen of Color student organization, and he serves as vice president of the Black Student Union, as an orientation leader and as a resident assistant in Scanlon Hall.
“I definitely want to help shape and mold the Missouri Western and St. Joseph communities,” he said.
Granberry will serve as a Congressional intern this coming summer and plans to run for SGA president as a senior at Missouri Western. He hopes to run for political office someday and is earning a minor in political science.
Granberry says he also wants to spread the word about his experience at the National Prayer Breakfast and Student Weekend and encourage other Missouri Western students to pursue a nomination.
“It was great to connect with leaders around the world and learn how to better myself, as well as my community.”