For a few years a man named Matt Emerzian has been changing the country with his movement called Every Monday Matters. After one of our own students, senior, Sydney Holmes, heard his great cause and even better call to action, she decided she had to do her part and bring Every Monday Matters to Pitman. This new club invites all students on campus to join and help make a difference in the world today.
Matt Emerzian was very successful in the music industry working with Robert Kardashian and Bono from U2. Then one day he woke up having a severe panic attack. Severe enough that he thought he was having a heart attack and went to the emergency room. After the attack he became unable to live alone and his parents moved in with him. Emerzian went to a therapist who gave him a book and prescribed community service every Saturday morning. He found himself loving his Saturdays more than any other day.
When he caught himself picking up a piece of trash off the ground at work, he finally realized how much the service was affecting him. Soon after he picked up the trash, a coworker started arguing with him over the trash and asking him why he did it because it was not his trash, he was offended and got into an argument. After that, he decided to write a book called Every Monday Matters, which also became a national movement.
According to Shawn Parr a journalist for fast company online, “EMM is in over 1,200 schools in 43 states, impacting the lives of hundreds of thousands of youths.”
Every Monday Matters is about making Mondays less dreadful, but the core issue inside Every Monday Matters is trying to teach people that they themselves matter. We have all had that point in life where we wonder what our purpose in life is and this is designed to teach us that what we do matters, and that we matter.
The bigger issue that this club tries to teach is that we need to spend our time not just thinking about what we do but how that affects others. We are all very powerful people and the things we do affect people. We have an effect on people and we want to make sure we are sending out positive and helpful vibes to other people. Mondays are the key day of focus because everyone claims to hate Mondays and we are trying to break people out of this habit.
Sydney Holmes, one of the activity commissioners on campus, decided to bring Every Monday Matters to Pitman. After hearing Emerzian speak she felt she needed to be part of the movement.
“The first time I heard Matt talk about his story I was deeply touched. I have also seen his work in action and it’s a truly inspiring way to change the world” stated Sydney when asked why she decided to bring the club to our school.
Since this is a new club on campus they would like to get as many new members as they can, the more the merrier. Meetings will usually be on Mondays two or three times a month in Mr. Fisher’s room. Let’s get together and make a difference in the world, one Monday at a time.