Peerless Perfexion connects freshman at State

For Darius LaMonte , a freshman stepper in Georgia State’s elite step team Peerless Perfexion, coming into college with no friends was a huge adjustment.

He, like many incoming freshmen, struggled with feeling alone. However, when he decided to become a part of Peerless Perfexion, he found a place where he felt he belonged, and he inherited a group of friends, which he now embraces as his brothers.

“I joined this team and you know you’re forced to be with all of these people,” LaMonte said. “But although you’re forced to be with them, you end up willingly making connections with them.”

Gaining it’s start in 2006, the all-male step team is a freshmen-based student organization that helps ease the transition from high school to college. It provides a safe space for young guys to grow into better men.

“When you come into college it’s a big transition from the amount of people, the time management, the character development and everything like that that a person goes through,” said Jordan Campbell, another member of Peerless Perfexion. “[It’s] a big thing that our organization focuses on.”

The type of dance that the organization is known for is “step,” which is often closely associated with Greek culture. As an art form stepping takes a lot of passion and dedication. However, when perfected, it has the ability to be very powerful and moving.

“It’s an art form that really takes a lot of time and a lot of dedication, and perseverance,” Corey Sams, the president of Peerless Perfexion, said. “It teaches you a lot about self control and self restraint.”

Although step has been around for years, over time the attraction to stepping has begun to dye down. As a student who has stepped throughout his entire life, this hits home a little hard for Sams.

“To see it dye back down, it kind of hurts a little bit because it’s kind of like, how is it that forms of dance are able to stay around for so long,” Sams said. “What is it about them that’s so powerful that they can stay around.”

This same hurt is what motivates Sams to breathe life back into step here at Georgia State. He is so passionate about it, and he also felt like having a step team of all males was important because it brought a sense of brotherhood.

“I think its important having and all male group because there’s certain things that guys can teach you that women can’t,” Sams said.

Aside from stepping, Peerless Perfexion has a sense of mentorship as well. Many of their “older brothers” are in fraternities and other leadership positions on campus, which inspires them to work harder and achieve the same level of success.

“A lot of them are really good mentors, not only with step but also in life and in school work and leadership,” Campbell said. “We’re learning to be men more than we already have learned before we came here.”

One of the lessons that their mentors help to instill into them is hard work. Being on the step team can be very challenging especially if a member has never done it before, but they learn through continuous practice that hard work really does pay off.

They guys also learn that there is a time to hang out and that there is a time for work.

“There’s a balance that you have to have,” said Jalen Jones, a stepper on the team. “If you play too much, then when it comes time for the show you probably just flop, but even though we do play a lot we learn how to make it up with the work that we do.”

Peerless Perfexion is known as a step team, but it is clear that they are way more that that. They are a brotherhood, that is learning how to understand and take on life together.

“It developed us more,” Campbell said. “[It’s] cultivated our friendships, our relationships, our people skills at times, [and] just our sense of communication and hard work.”

The Top Four Bro Codes

in Peerless Perfexion

“What happens in practice stays in practice,” Corey Sams said.

Don’t lie,” Jordan Campbell said.

“No cursing in front of women,” Darius LaMonte said.

“No snitching on your brothers,” Sams said.