The keynote speaker at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Convocation, held on Friday, Jan. 16 in the McLendon-McDougald Gymnasium, urged students to focus on their studies.

Calvin Mackie, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Tulane University, said students will pay a huge price if they don’t get their education.

“Get paid for what you know and pay for what you don’t know,” said Mackie.

Mackie said that students should follow their dreams and the dreams that Martin Luther King, Jr. had for African-Americans.

“Let no man stand between you and what you want to accomplish,” he said.

Mackie also took a swipe at role models who are not giving good examples to young people.

“I am a real model and not a role model,” he said.

“Everyone who looks like you are not your friends and everyone that doesn’t are not your enemies.”

According to Mackie, students no longer look up to the right people. He believes they look up to people who they think have the things that they want.

Mackie earned a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree from Georgia Tech and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Morehouse College, where he graduated magna cum laude. He also has a Masters of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech.

He received the 2002 Black Engineer of the Year award for a college level educator and he is a co-founder of Channel ZerO, an educational and motivational company.

Mackie said he faced many problems to get where he is now but he never gave up because he wanted to achieve his goals.