Black Lives Matter!

Hello Concord Family,

Hope you are all doing well!

It feels so good to be back to writing my blog again, with all that is going on in the world and within our own state it has been important for me to take time and reflect. I usually focus my blog on school and academics which I will talk about in this post but there is a cry for change going on that I must talk about also.

It feels so weird to say but I am officially a Junior in college, I do not know where time is going but it all feels so surreal to me. When I started this year, I had goals for myself to push myself to be even better then I was before. I can say that I am really proud of myself and I feel like this semester has been my best semester grade wise.

Now that I am a junior, it feels like is finally hitting me. As I start to focus on taking my LSAT and applying to law schools, I am excited to enter Junior year in the fall and to learn all over again. I don’t know what Junior year will entail but I know that I will continue to push myself to the best I can be academically.

Nelson Mandela once said, « No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love. For love comes naturally to the human heart than its opposite. » With all that is going on, this quote really speaks to me. Not long ago we all found out that George Floyd a black man was killed by a white cop. Hearing this news broke my heart and left me feeling empty. Everyday us black people are treated unequally and constantly face police brutality. Being born black is not a crime and it is high time people start treating us equally.

We have come to the point where not only do we demand justice for George Floyd but we demand equality and justice for every black person in this country. Enough is enough and the cry for change has started and it is making waves.

I am extremely proud to be a black woman, I will continue to fight for the equality of black people because we are humans as well and I will continue to be an advocate for change.

The world is changing, people are finally standing up for what is right. The fight will continue and us black people will be treated with respect and equality.

I hope everyone is doing well at concord.

Until Next Time,

J’so!

Quarantining

Hello Concord Family,
I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe and healthy.
This past month of April was spent at home quarantining with my family in order to flatten the curve of Covid-19. April was a really hard month for me, trying to adjust to having online classes and having to stay home for a long period of time.

Online classes have gotten a little easier, but for me having online classes was hard because it felt really disorganized and very uncertain. I will say though that, for the past few weeks I have gotten the hang of doing school online and having to in a way teach myself a lot of things.

As April comes to an end, this means we are already getting towards the end of the Semester and going into finals. Even though this year’s finals will look different, I set goals for myself at the beginning of the semester that I am trying to reach. Even if things are a little uncertain right now, I still believe that I can make this semester my best one yet.

I cannot believe my Sophomore year is coming to an end already, it was nothing like I planned in my mind but I still learned a lot and grew a lot.

This month has been really uneventful for me, as I have just been focusing on my classes and being home to stay in the moment with my family and make the best of this really hard situation, we are in. But one thing I have learned, is to keep hope that things will get better with time and hopefully we can all find our normal again.

I hope everyone is doing well and keeping hope alive to get through this though time we are in.

Until next time,

J’so!

“Be Strong”

Hello Concord,

Wow, what a crazy few months is really been. Never did I expect that entering 2020 would lead to such a dark and trying times. The last few months have been filled with nothing but uncertainty and that somehow makes life really hard. In a span of a few months, to weeks and days our lives took such a drastic change that I believe no none saw coming.

As February ended and we went into March, I had so much planned to look forward to. I was excited to spend time with my family and traveling a little, I looked forward to events happening on campus that we have all been looking forward to the whole year. Even though plans were being made in already moments of uncertainty, there was still hope that everything would be back to normal by the time we got to spring break. It seems that is not the case.

One of the hardest parts of having to deal with corona virus, is having all classes online. That transition has been extremely hard for me, I found that the balance I just finally figured out just disappeared in a way. I truly have been having a hard time keeping up with my assignments and making sure everything is turned in on time. In a way, everything is overwhelming on top of having to deal with anxiety and fear of what corona virus can bring.

One thing that really pained me throughout dealing with this virus, is having friends that our seniors and seeing them dealing with the uncertainty. Seeing them get sad at the idea that they might not walk at commencement after having spent four years looking forwards to this moment, high school seniors that won’t get to go to prom and graduate and many more things that every senior has looked forward to.

It seems COVID-19 came out of nowhere and put our lives to a halt. For now, I say we continue to be strong and hopeful that this virus would go away and we can have a sense of normal back. This uncertain time, I feel like has brought us closer to our families and people we care, made us more aware of our priorities and opened our eyes to many things because you realize life is short and never know what can happen.

For now, let us stay strong and hopeful, stay inside as advise and take care of ourselves.

Until Next time Concord,

I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy.

J’so!

 

Springggggggg!

Hello Concord family,

Hope all is going well on your side!

Woah! I only have one word to describe this semester; and it is busy. I have never felt so busy in life. In a way is good because I am definitely keeping myself busy but at the same time is bad because I am consistently having to do something which can be tiring.

So far, this semester is treating me well and I am really excited about that. I can’t believe I am in the spring of my Sophomore year; it doesn’t seem right but time is not slowing down for anyone. I am really happy to say I am finally taking classes for my major which feels up the majority of my schedule and I am so excited about my classes; it makes me realize that I am on the right path.

This semester, I am taking World Politics, Research Methods for political science, Public Policy and Introduction to Ethics. This has my schedule all over the place but at the same I am learning so much. For the four classes I have, I really like most of my professors and they really care about us as students. My classes make me really excited about being a political science major and it is such a diverse field that there is no one right path to take.

Academically things are going well and I am happy with how things are going. Once again, I have really important goals for myself and I am hoping with hard work I can reach them and make myself proud. Once again is all about balance, that is something I am continuing to work on. With just one month into the semester balance is a priority, is not something that comes easy but the more you practice it the easier it gets.

This semester has a lot to offer and I am excited to see where it takes me. College is going by fast and at this rate I am trying live in the moment while also being a student.

I hope things are going well at Concord, on my side academically and socially things are going really well.

Until Next time,

J’so!

All Done!

Hello Concord family,

Sorry for posting so late, since school has ended, I have just focused on spending time with family and catching up.

Well, just like that 2019 has come and gone and it has been nothing short of adventurous to say the least.

To end 2019, December became such a busy month for me. It was already finals and everything seemed to be happening at such a fast pace that I found myself having a hard time keeping up with it all. As my classes came to an end, I reflected on them a lot and went back to what I learned as a student and how it class has made an impact on me. In doing that, it also helped me to know what to study for in order to do well on my finals.
I had two finals, those were in my philosophy and my political science class.

For my public speaking class our final was a speech which was nice because it lessened the workload, and in my English class our final was a paper. Even though the finals for each class were in a way spread out and different it was still stressful to prepare for. No matter what finals are finals, you either pass or you don’t. For me I knew I had to try my absolute best to pass and get the best grade I could possibly get in each class.

I am happy to say my finals went well, and I am mostly happy with the outcomes of my grades.

And just like that the fall semester of my Sophomore year was over. Everything went by so fast that as I am seating here and writing this, I am also taking time to reflect on how fall semester went. It truly just felt like it went by in blur, which it did. Time is going by fast and sometimes I wonder where all the time is going.

I enjoyed my classes, each and every one of them gave me some new understanding in their own way. I am really happy to just be thriving in college and to be on this journey.

As we enter 2020, I am excited to enter spring semester and focus more on the classes geared towards my major. But overall, I am excited to continue on this new journey of growth.

Fall semester is done, I am ready and excited for the next part of what the rest of my Sophomore semester will look like.

Stay tuned for more to come Concord family.

Until Next Time,

J’So!

Crunch Time!

Hello Concord Family,

It is officially that time of the year again and I am honestly so surprised at how quick time keeps going by. I cannot in any way believe that my first semester of Sophomore year is almost over. This semester has been one for the books so far. I truly have been focused on just making sure my grades are good because I have a goal for the end of the semester and with hard work hopefully, I can reach it.

As midterms came to an end, I was mostly happy with the outcome of my midterm grades. With the end of midterms that truly means is crunch time. This is the time where we are getting into the holiday season and assignment are due left and right. It feels like crunch time because there is just so much to do before winter break, everything is fast paced and every assignment counts just as much as the other

In my philosophy class, it feels like we have little assignments due for every class session but is the only way to keep up and be done on time. As we are on our last unit everything seems to all be wrapping up. English is actually ending quicker than I realize, in the last two weeks we’ve read two books and as we enter December, we only have about one full class session left. Then is conferences and we get to meet with our professor and rewrite one of our papers for our final. Political science is also coming to an end, we are just focusing on ending the unit, working on our research papers that are extremely important and then gearing up for finals. In public speaking it seems all we do is write and give speeches, and that is exactly what is happening now. We are in the process of writing our last speech and presenting as our final.

Things are wrapping up and once again I am just trying to live in the moment and soak it all in. Time is going by fast and especially as we get into our holiday season, I am looking forward to wrapping up with school and spending time with my family.

Well that is all there was to my month of November Concord family, just catching up on school work and gearing for finals. As December comes, I can’t wait for what it has in store.

Hope all is well at Concord!

Until next time,

J’so!

 

 

College 101!

Hello Concord family,

Wow! October flew by like nothing else. October marked the second month of my Sophomore year in college. All I can honestly say is that all of it is going extremely fast and quick.

I spent October just staying focused on school and starting to look potentially at some internships as well. October meant midterms for me and also having my African Nations Student Association kickoff party as well, it was a busy month to say the least. I had midterms in my Philosophy and Political science class, in my Public Speaking class my midterm was a speech and in my English class she was nice and decided to not give us a midterm.

But overall, I really spent time studying and making sure I receive the best grade I can. Especially being a Sophomore now, things are beginning to settle down as I declare my major and begin to really focus on what I want to do. I am happy to say midterms went well for me with the grades I received I was happy and I was glad that my hard work was paying off.

I would say that the class I am really focusing a lot of time on is Philosophy. Even though this is the intro to Philosophy, some of the concept are hard to understand and my professor does not make it easy to understand the class either. But I am continuing to work hard and push through the best that I can. Academic wise overall things are going well and I am continuing to push myself to be the best I can be.

Otherwise, I am continuing to battle racism and acts of hate on the Saint Thomas campus. Is an everyday battle but I hope one day we people of color will be able to feel comfortable on this campus.

I myself am doing well, no sickness as of yet and I am enjoying time with my friends and all the clubs I am part of. Once again it feel like first semester is flying by and everything is coming really fast.

I hope all is well at Concord.

Until Next time,

J’so!

Adventure Time!

Hellooo Concord Family,

It feels so good to be back to writing my blogs. But I apologize for the delay, September has been nothing but a month of busy with school and settling in.

Before I got into September, I took time to reflect on summer and all that I did. I spent summer being Summer intern at Concord which was definitely one of my favorite things about summer. I took time to catch up with my family and travel a little bit. Towards the end of the summer, I spent more time with my family and I also moved which was extremely busy but great too. Summer was fun and a great way to relax and catch up with my loved ones.

September for me meant I was back in school and I was gearing for a really busy year. I am still taking sixteen credit which makes me a full-time student. Out of all my classes, I am really enjoying my political science class because it truly goes into my major. The professor is really nice and makes the class so enjoyable.

I am also taking a public speaking class which means I am giving a lot of speeches in class more often. But I actually like it because with the major I am going into. Philosophy and English which are the other classes I am taking are enjoyable and nice as well but I favor my other two classes more. Overall, classes are going great for me and all my professors are really good.

Other then my academic life at school, I have been really busy focusing on being on two executive boards for the clubs I am in. It has been really busy balancing e-board meetings, leading and planning meetings but I am learning a lot from it. The people I am also working with are amazing and I think that plays a huge part in our success.

For now, September has just been about settling into school and getting back into the groove of things. I am already in my Sophomore year which is also going by fast already. One of my big goals for this semester is to stress less and just take things one at a time. I am excited for what Sophomore year has to bring and all the memories to be made.

Hope everything is going well at Concord, September was a busy month getting back into the groove of things.

Until Next time,

J’so.

End of a chapter!

Hello Concord Family,

A chapter has indeed closed for me, in the form of my first year of college. I remember being told as I started this college journey that the first year of college would go by fast, that is absolutely what happened. As I reflect on this year, first semester was by far the easiest for me academically and socially. As I got into second semester, I had a hard time academically and my health was not at its best either.

The Month of May brought on high stress but also an ounce of happiness into my life. I looked forward to the Black Excellence Gala that celebrated blackness which I was part of. But not only that I was announced as one of the new executive board members of the Black empowerment student alliance. That was definitely the highlight of my month, to be on the executive board of BESA is a great honor but to also be on the executive board of the African Nations Student Alliance is an honor as well. I am very pleased to serve on the 2019-2020 executive board of both clubs.

Academically, second semester of my first year has not been the easiest for me. I started my second semester with nonstop sickness but not only that as we got into spring allergies kicked in for me. With classwork, studying and exams it felt as if I was being drained in school. I struggled with finding balance but also generally struggled in some classes. For the first time, I doubted myself when it came to what I could handle.

No matter how much I struggled, I still enjoyed my classes and the lessons learned in each. Theology of death and after life thought me to accept the concept of death and not fear it, Sociology opened my eyes to all to the theories and concept of our everyday lives and how we as society functions, Biology pushed me to gain a greater understanding of how the human body works and helped me in growing collaborative skills within a group and Justice and Peace Studies once again thought us about how unjust our world is and no matter how many times we think we are moving forward segregation still lies deep within our country. I may not have thrived as best as I wanted grade wise in these classes, but I definitely learned a lot from them and enjoyed getting to know all of my professors.

The lesson I am taking from this semester is to keep working hard and even though my grades were not what I wanted I am using it as my motivation to work hard and get even better next fall. I will continue to work hard and will continue to show everyone that I deserve to be in college, and I will trust and believe in myself.

May has been hard for sure but also sad to move out because it was over. I am already looking forward to moving back in next fall and experiencing it all again. I am happy to be home and happy for summer to begin to travel and work at Concord this summer. As May comes to an end, it wasn’t an easy month, but it was one to remember.

As June comes, I am looking forward to starting work at Concord, taking my driver’s license test and also looking forward to turning 19 later in June. I can’t wait for June and what it has to bring my way.

Until next time,

J’so!

Pollen invasion

Hello Concord Family,

Well, April came and went by in a blink of an eye for me, but it left a lasting effect in the name of allergies for me. April came with the end of spring break for me which meant back to school hoping all my sickness from March would be over with. But what I seem to forget, is that with April comes really bad allergies. So, all of April I have been battling stuffy noses, watery eyes and non-stop sneezing. Safe to say I’ve have an eventful April to say the least.

The whole month of April for me has been relaxing in the way that there wasn’t much going on just focusing on school and more school. I spent the first week back from spring break taking two midterms, which was interesting because I rather take a midterm before break. The midterms were for theology and sociology, the theology midterm went okay and the sociology one was pretty good. I was extremely proud of my midterm grade for that class because I was struggling a little bit but after the midterm, I got my groove back and started to move forward. I don’t know what happened with theology, but I didn’t do as good as I expected but I used that as motivation to work harder. The rest of my classes are going pretty well, and I am doing good in those classes.

As April came to an end, I was reflecting on this semester and there is something about this semester that has been making it harder academically for me. I’ve been stressing out more and school work has just been harder. I know as college goes on it will get harder but still it has been a harder semester for me. But I’ve been using the stress to find that balance of school and everything else going on in my life. On the bright side, the end of April meant choosing my classes for fall and that in itself was an adventure, but I am happy to say I have a set schedule for next fall.

April was an alright month for me but as we get into May I am using it as my motivation to keep working hard and end this semester with a bang. On another note, oh my god! my first year of college is close to coming to an end. In a blink of an eye it went by so fast, in just those few months I’ve learned and grown a lot. I don’t know where time is going but is sure going by fast.

Well concord, hope everything is going well over there, this was just a quick look into my very boring month of April.

Till Next time,

J’so.