N.O. senior motivated by his faith to lead by example
12th March 2012 · 0 Comments
By Edmund W. Lewis
Editor
Thomas James Nash II is the kind of young man every parent would be proud to have as a son or son-in-law.
He’s hard-working, respectful, considerate and spiritually grounded. He’s also one of the city’s top young leaders and someone who is committed to doing whatever he can to make his school, community and city better.
Not bad for a 17-year-old.
In addition to excelling in the classroom at Brother Martin High School, T.J. serves as secretary of the school’s Key Club, a high school group affiliated with the Kiwanis Club; an executive member of the student ministry team, a member of Catholics Reaching Out in Selfless Service (CROSS) and the Imani Team, a group that brings together young Black Catholics in the region.
“History,” T.J. says without hesitation when asked about his favorite school subject. “Growing up since grade school history was always fun because I studied with my mom and dad and they always found a way to make it fun. They’d tell me about different people and events that impacted my life and their lives and how I’m able to walk through doors that were closed to me before me.
“Now that I’m in high school, I just feel like it’s something we all need to know,” he continued. “As the saying goes, ‘If you don’t know your past, you won’t know your future.’ That’s something I believe in.”
While Brother Martin requires its students to participate in community service projects, T.J. goes above and beyond the call of duty as a member of the Key Club, which dedicates two or more weekends a month to serving the community. “I enjoy it a lot,” he told The Louisiana Weekly. “Being in the Key Club, it’s not about the hours… The actual enjoyment comes from touching people’s lives.
“For example, I was involved in a service project where we had to remove trash from this lady’s property that others in the community was using as a dump site,” T.J. added. “She was out there and she was just so thankful. That’s something I’m going to take with me wherever I go — just to see that thanks on her face that we came out to help her.”
As a member of the student ministry team, T.J. is actively involved in planning monthly liturgies at the school, including the selection of songs and activities.
“We’re so very proud of T.J.” Angie Nash told The Louisiana Weekly.
When asked to elaborate, Angie Nash adds, “I’m just so proud of the spiritual young man that he is today. For a 17-year-old man he is not shy at all about expressing his true spirituality and love for God.
“I’m sure a lot of kids are there, but some kids are not really as open, honest and energetic ad T.J. is in terms of sharing that, not only for himself but also to make a spiritual impact on others. He’s been through a lot as a young person but he has come through so well and I’m so very proud of him.”
T.J.’s mom credits the village that has raised and nurtured him for helping him to grow into the dynamic young man he is today. “I think it’s his upbringing,” she told The Louisiana Weekly. “T.J. comes from a strong, devout Christian family, a family that promotes social justice and unity for all. He’s gotten a lot from his parents but also from his extended family as well. He has also benefited greatly from his upbringing in the Church.
“I think that it’s T.J.’s gift,” she adds. “He has this desire to lead.”
Thomas James Nash Sr. says that he is especially proud of the sterling example his namesake sets for his little sister and others. “T.J. takes the role of big brother and protector of his little sister Àngelle very seriously,” he told The Louisiana Weekly. “He is patient with her and counsels her when his mom and I are not in the immediate vicinity and I believe that he is cognizant of the example that his sister, others younger than he and even some adults see him display. It’s an awesome responsibility that I am proud he handles well.”
Like most of his peers, T.J. was significantly impacted by 2005’s Hurricane Katrina and its devastating aftermath. The sixth-grader and his family evacuated to Alexandria, moved to Lafayette two months later and returned home to New Orleans in 2007.
T.J. says the hardest part about being away from the Crescent City for about 18 months was missing his friends and classmates he had gone to St. Anthony of Padua Elementary School with since kindergarten and all of the little things New Orleanians used to be able to take for granted. “What eased that transition was the fact that one of my friends who had become a brother went to the same school that I did in Lafayette,” T.J. explained. “While we were all devastated and living somewhere else, I had my buddy from back home so that was good.”
“Hurricane Katrina definitely opened my eyes and made me grateful for the culture around me,” he told The Louisiana Weekly. “Before the storm there were some days when I was like, ‘Man, we could just move. I’m tired of New Orleans.’ But after Hurricane Katrina you come back and it’s like, ‘There is no other place like New Orleans — I love New Orleans.’ Although I love to go and visit other places, there is no place like home.”
Thomas Nash Sr. isn’t surprised how well T.J. handled being displaced by Hurricane Katrina given his upbringing and extended family network. “Growing up in a military family and periodically moving from place to place regularly I’ve always had a spirit of adapting to change and new environments that T.J. has obviously inherited along with his mom’s spirit of adventure and confidence,” Nash Sr. said. “So in dealing with the Hurricane, TJ did not really have many negative feelings or difficulties in adapting to our displacement to Lafayette.”
Nash Sr. said T.J. was also aided by the love and support he received from church members who were also displaced in Lafayette and members of his extended family.
T.J.’s leadership extends far beyond the classrooms at Brother Martin. “When he found out about his activities as a youth minister at Brother Martin, Father Michael, the pastor of St. Peter Claver Church, said ‘If you’re going to be a youth minister at school, you’re going to be one at church,” Angie Nash said. “What a blessing it is because T.J. and I serve together. That really is a very special, wonderful feeling for both of us to be able to do that together.”
The high school senior’s speaking talents have been in high demand of late, as evidenced by his selection by his peers to give the dedication to New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond at his confirmation last year and during a teachers’ retreat last month in Convent, La.
While he was presented with a script for the confirmation dedication, he also felt compelled share his own thoughts with his fellow candidates receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation and the archbishop, his mother said. “He did a great job. After he spoke, the archbishop got up right away to shake T.J.’s hand,” she said. “He was so very impressed with T.J.”
“The teachers actually asked T.J. to be the student speaker at their retreat two weeks ago,” she added.
“T.J. really has a wonderful ability and gift from God to be able to not just make an impact, but he really makes a spiritual impact on everybody he comes into contact with,” Angie Nash said. “I think when they asked T.J. to do this they really didn’t know exactly what they were going to get but T.J. had them on the edge of their seats. He put so much thought into it — it was thoughtful, it was inspiring and it was funny. …It was something that all of the teachers and the entire school could appreciate.”
T.J. says his biggest accomplishment to date has been “making a change within myself.”
“That’s been huge because a lot of teenagers think we have it all figured out and Mom and Dad don’t know a lot,” he told The Louisiana Weekly. “When I changed within myself, that’s when I truly became a better person. I was able to stand up in front of a crowd and say ‘Hey, I believe in this and I believe in that’ and not care what everybody around me is thinking. Changing myself for the better and continuing to try to change is by far my biggest accomplishment. That change has been possible because I realized that I’m never grown but always growing.”
T.J. says that the best advice he ever received from his parents was pretty straightforward. “Just to do your best,” he said. “They’ve used more profound words than that, but that’s it in a nutshell. ‘Just do your best. As long as you’re doing your best, I’m cool with it.’”
While T.J.’s studies and activities at school and church leave him with little free time, he does manage to find an hour or two every now and then to “hang out with friends or catch a movie,” he says.
“It seems like lately I’m always doing something,” he added. “It’s not like I have to do these things for school or church, but I like to help out.”
During last October’s World Youth Day held at Loyola University, T.J. and another member of Teen CROSS spoke with seventh-graders about decision-making and the challenges facing youth today. He also talked about having the courage and faith to stand up for the principles you believe in and resisting negative peer pressure.
To underscore his point, T.J. talked about purity ring he wears as part of his personal vow to practice abstinence. “The reason I wear this ring on my finger is not unintentional,” he told The Louisiana Weekly, “I wear it on my finger intentionally so I can do this and the people around me can too.”
“He is not shy at all about sharing his spirituality with others and using his faith to impact others,” Angie Nash said. “As a mom, I’m very proud and very grateful for that.”
“I really don’t recall a physical symbol like this being readily available when I was growing up although abstinence, responsibility and the consequences involved were touched upon somewhat at home, church and school so the purity ring is kind of a new thing for me,” Thomas Nash Sr. said when asked about his son’s decision to wear a purity ring. “However, being a dad I am proud of his decision to make a promise and commitment like this and display his convictions in this manner.”
When asked about a role model outside of his parents, T.J. says that Jesus Christ is at the top of his list. “My biggest role model is Jesus Christ,” he said. “That’s the person who I want to be the most like. God will never let me down — that’s my belief. I want to live my life every day just as Jesus did.”
T.J. was one of three Brother Martin students who recently received the Br. Colin Dugas Social Justice Award for their contributions to the school and community. “It means a lot to me, it really does,” T.J. told The Louisiana Weekly. “When I think about the award and the classmates who voted for me, I’ve very thankful that they would consider me a student activist. It says to me that God is just starting with me. My friends feel like I’ve done a lot but I feel like
I’m just getting started and the major things are coming.”
After graduating this spring, Thomas James Nash II plans to enroll at Xavier University of La. where he says he will study psychology and theology.
This article was originally published in the March 12, 2012 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper
