A New Life

New Life

It was average day. Slept in because class was cancelled that day. A break from school is always a plus. My suite was quiet that morning. Got dressed and headed to the café with a few of the girls. The café was filled with excitement. Today was finally the day. My emotions were completely unstable that day. I was nervous, scared, excited and empowered. The air was cold and the skies were grey. After breakfast at the café, I went to the Thompson Center, where the festivities were taken place. The line was long, but I that didn’t nearly bother me, as it would have any other day. Volunteers stood around with their clipboards, answering questions while sipping on their cups of coffee and hot chocolate distinctively 40 feet away from the entrance way.
When I reached the front, I gave the volunteer my name and ID. She flashed a smile at me, suggesting that she was proud that I was here, and she was more than happy to help me complete this new but oh so inspirational task. The room filled with chit chatter, and minor chaos. All in 2 minutes, I was done. I placed my gloves on my hands received a souvenir on the way out.
Later that night, my suitemates and I cooked a big meal, and sat around the television. Anticipation, fear, excitement, pride… each individual had a different demeanor that night. My eyes were glued on that number. The number that needed to be 270 or more. Some of roommates paced back and forth up and down the hall, “I can’t look.” Dee, was the 1^st to see it. “We WON!” Everyone screamed in disbelief.
No less than 3 minutes later, everyone on the campus of Winston Salem State University was on the yard, celebrating our new president Barack Obama. There was no organization, no plan, no intent that night. We were just happy. There was no stopping what was already started. Us college students, enjoyed our time to appreciate, celebrate, congratulate, meditate, pray, rejoice….this moment.
The election on November 4, 2008 of our first black president was not the end of injustice, racism and inequality, but the beginning of a new life.

17 years and counting

First Tuesday of the semester, I walked in the classroom and sat in the first row far to the right of the classroom. When the professors came in, they told us to stand up, and move the chairs in a circular shape, they told us that we were going to conduct this class in a circle, where we can all see each other and get to know one another. From that day forward, we sat in a circle every class. We had name tags on our desk like we were in kindergarten. It was a great learning environment and it truly enhanced my participation and ceased my fear of talking up in class. (102)

I usually sit in the front row of all of my classes. My first college professor told me that’s how you make the Dean’s List. This particular class, I didn’t make it early enough to get a front seat. Sitting in the 2^nd row, I began to take notes. The professor was very vague and unemotional. He would crack a joke but barely smiled. He was biased in every topic we covered. And he knew not one student’s name. I highlighted my entire book, and wrote almost a book of notes. I failed the exams, and couldn’t understand why. Complaints raged across the classroom, but the heartless bastard could care less. He didn’t care if we all failed and I failed.(101)

Have A Nice Day- 338

Whenever a customer comes into my store, I make sure that they are acknowledged . “Hello, How are you?” is my usual approach. This subject is  very imperative to me, as it should be to you.
When you leave the store, you often see messages either on the bags or on the exit door. “Thank you for Shopping with Us”, or “Have a Nice Day”. These messages that should be spoken by associates are substituted by common things that are left with the customer as he or she leaves.
No matter what store or service establishment I go into, I expect to be greeted and/or offered help. This will ultimately decide if I make a purchase or not. It may sound silly but its true. One day while at the mall, my friends and I enter into a  T-mobile store. There was only one customer in the store when we entered. One store rep just walked into the back and there was another one at the counter. We walk in, then start looking around at the phones. It was obvious that we were in the store due to that annoying sound you hear. I was making my way to the counter, because the purpose of this visit was to troubleshoot my phone. Now five minuets has past, and the rep has yet to look up from the computer and ask me if I needed help. I looked at my friend, and she rolled her eyes, because she already knew what I was going to say. “Let’s go”.
I’ve had my bad days, sick days, and days when I don’t want to be bothered, but I completely put those feelings behind me when I’m at work. I’m serving the people who are basically the consumers of our products; products that make revenue for my company; and  the company that pays me weekly. Not only is the customer always right, but the customer is why the associate has a job.
Next time you walk into a store, pay attention to how you are  treated. And for those who work at these stores, think a little differently of how you treat your boss.
There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else." --Sam Walton, Wal-Mart Founder and American Business Man.

 I believe in good quality customer service, it’s the only way for a company to succeed. 

Generation Double o G

Generation Google

Six letters can describe my generation, and we have Larry Page and Sergey Bin to thank. In 1998, they took the meaning of a math term “1 followed by 100 zeros”, and created Google.

Search is how Google began, and it’s at the heart of what we do today.

When I was growing up, I remember my parents having a set of Encyclopedias. A-Z. It was a wedding gift. Kind of lame, if you ask me…but it served it purpose. I use to Xerox the pictures for projects and it was a pain when the books were out of order. But the suddenly, the world change, we (my generation) were introduced to the World Wide Web, then eventually introduced to Google.

Although I can’t remember the 1^st time I used Google, I know I immediately fell in love. I do know it was before Bing and after Ask Jeeves. I told my friends all about it. I used it in my bibliographies in middle and high school. I used it to solve problems and answer questions. I didn’t necessary have to ask my parents, teachers or friends about simple things, because I had Google. When someone ask me about a place, object or service I simply to tell them “Google it”. It’s the best answer! Its a popular response, it’s even a hip hop song by Teyana Taylor—“Google Me Baby”.

My generation is so dependant on Google and the internet alone, it’s almost impossible to go without. We communicate, pay bills, shop, watch TV, research and stay up on the news with the World Wide Web. And with Google, life is just simply better.

Annie Brown Kennedy Dining Hall a.k.a The Cafe

My Freshman year I  attended  Winston-Salem State in North Carolina. While adjusting to my new school, I soon learned that there was one particular and popular place that everyone would meet; the Café pronounced (calf). Not only did this place give us breakfast, lunch and dinner, it was place to meet, study, gossip and just have plain ole fun. You would see the same guy, you were scared to talk to in class, or the ugly guy you danced with the night before at the club. The café gave me a bubbly feeling, it was warm and fuzzy. It was a feeling of having a home away from home.
   

I have so many memories from the café. The aroma of Fried Chicken Wednesdays and Fried Fish Friday, would lure us away from class, just ensure we had space in line. The sound of music blasting from the speakers would automatically liven up everyone’s spirit and by the way the kool-aid was great. Sororities and fraternities would entertain us with mini step shows and the models would and rip the runway.

The irony of this particular place, is that I never knew it was named “Kennedy Dining Hall” until I searched the school‘s website. When I did small research, I came to find out that Annie Brown Kennedy was the first black lawyer in Winston-Salem State. This was such an inspirational finding.

The café means a lot to me. It holds many memories that I will never forget. I met some very important people there at the café. I met some of my closest friends. Friends that I still have today, friends that I call my family.
   

Kennedy (247)

    My Freshman year I  attended  Winston-Salem State in North Carolina. While adjusting to my new school, I soon learned that there was one particular and popular place that everyone would meet; the Café pronounced (calf). The irony of this particular place, is that I never knew it was named “Kennedy Dining Hall” until I searched the school‘s website.
     Not only did this place give us breakfast, lunch and dinner, it was place to meet, study, gossip and just have plain ole fun. You would see the same guy, you were scared to talk to in class, or the ugly guy you danced with the night before at the club. The café gave me a bubbly feeling, it was warm and fuzzy. It was a feeling of having a home away from home.
    I have so many memories from the café. The aroma of Fried Chicken Wednesdays and Fried Fish Friday, would lure us away from class , just ensure we had space in line. The sound of music blasting from the speakers, would automatically liven up everyone’s spirit and by the way the kool-aid was great. Sororities and fraternities would entertain us with mini step shows and the models would and rip the runway. We knew the workers by name, and they knew what we liked.
    I have had some great moments during my freshman year, but some of the greatest moments were in the café. I miss my Winston  family, and I miss the café.
  

Battle of the Brands (380)

I met Joey while at work  this pass Monday. Joey and his mom specifically came in the store to look for baseball cleats. Immediately Joey ran straight for the “Nike” cleats. His mom gave me a worried look. I went to the stockroom to bring out a less expensive pair. When Joey tried on the cleats, his face completely took a turn. He liked the cleats, they fit perfect, but they weren’t Nike. Joey begged and begged his mom to let him get the Nikes, not for the fit or the purpose but because he feared that he’d be teased in school.

The pressure of having brand names are creating a superficial version of reality for children. "One of the effects of this is that we lose touch with what is really important and focus instead on how we look and what we wear."--Thompson, Mociac Magazine

Joey is only one of many adolescents that suffer with this version of reality. The fear that these kids have is out of control. Looking back at my school days, I don’t remember having the fetish of brand named items. Maybe in middle school, I was a bit worried about keeping up with the “fashion” but honestly that was nothing more than a white tee shirt, self-ripped jeans and white or black Ked‘s.

Self-esteem, peer pressure, drugs, sex and alcohol are all issues that adolescents will no doubt face while in school. But where does this fear of not having the “right” clothes come in? Experts say that pressure functions as a type of "bragging right," prompting kids to display how much one owns, and how much he or she has to spend. Ones style should reflect ones personality, if everyone wanted the same name brand, and to look alike, there would no variety.

This obsession, as Thompson describes it, is really changing the focus, well being and even healthy lifestyles of children today in school. Also it causes anxiety attacks(similar to what I saw with Joey that day), stress, low self-esteem and even popularity struggles. The school environment is changing for the worst. This false reality of “people liking you based on the name brand you wear”, is pressuring kids to focus on the wrongs things.

Branding A Generation

I met Joey while at work this pass Monday. Joey and his mom specifically came in the store to look for baseball cleats. Immediately Joey ran straight for the “Nike” cleats. His mom gave me a worried look. I went to the stockroom to bring out a less expensive pair of cleats. When Joey tried on the cleats, his face completely took a turn. He liked the cleats, they fit perfect, but they were not Nike. Joey begged and begged his mom to let him get the Nikes, not for the fit or the purpose but because he feared that he’d be teased in school.

"Adolescents get stuck in a very superficial version of reality.” "One of the effects of this is that we lose touch with what is really important and focus instead on how we look and what we wear."-- Mosiac Newspaper

Joey is only one of many adolescents that suffer with this version of reality. The fear that these kids have is out of control. Looking back at my school days, I don’t remember having the fetish of brand named items. Maybe in middle school, I was a bit worried about keeping up with the “fashion” but honestly that was nothing more than a white tee shirt, self-ripped jeans and white or black Ked’s.

Self-esteem, peer pressure, drugs, sex and alcohol are all issues that adolescents will no doubt face while in school. But where does this fear of not having the “right” clothes come in? Experts say that pressure functions as a type of "bragging right," prompting teens display how much one owns, and how much he or she has to spend.

Is this obsession, as Thompson describes it, really changing the focus, well being and even healthy lifestyles of children today in school? I believe so. The culture is changing rapidly and is changing for the worst.

Blaming anyone isn’t going to solve the problem. Whatever the solution might be, whether starting at home, or with enforcement of uniforms, something has to stop the branding of this generation.

See Spot Run (254)

A Beka Book CurriculumSee Spot Run

    “See spot run”, I spoke. I lifted me head and looked at my mother, she went ballistic. She screamed and kissed me almost twenty times. More than likely I was a bit confused. My teacher Ms. Coley, had us practicing this phrase all week. When each student was able to complete this “achievement”, she too expressed how proud she was of us, we even got stickers

    I already talked, but I was far too young to remember my mothers reaction, but I’m sure it couldn’t have been worse than this. My mother rewarded me in some type of way, to show me that “See spot run” was a big deal.

    Something about short vowels, long vowels, consonants… you know all the components that make a word, yeah we did that right after chapel, and right before recess.

    I went to a private school at the age of three, they had the best lunch EVER! The people were nice, the rooms smelt a little funny, and we did a lot of singing. Little did I know this place of “baby-sitting” was called school. In K-3, that was Ms. Coley’s class, there were massive amounts of  posters, blocks, crayons, fat pencils, hand sanitizer and Kleenex.

    But it was something that I did in that classroom, that changed my life forever. There was a booklet, which was paper thin, literally it had about two pages. On the front, “See Spot Run”; flipped the page, “Spot can run. See spot run.” I learned to read.