And all that other dope shit
"The best thing you can do for a person is inspire them. That's the best currency you can offer: inspiration. So, when a person can rely on you for that, that empowers them in every realm of their life. Being inspired. It empowers them in their relationships, in their business, in their art, in their creativity. It empowers them because without inspiration, you're dry."- Nipsey Hussle (1985-2019)
It's Graduation Szn (season), my favorite time of the year. Even more so because I, along with many others, had the opportunity to walk across the stage after many sleepless nights, study sessions, anxiety attacks, and stress-induced weeks. I can finally say that I am done with my masters program; I have received my Master of Education in Higher Education. It feels good to say that; to put "M.Ed." at the end of my name; to not have to wake up and do homework (though at times I forget) and to know I have completed this step in life and have another chapter to start.
This part of life is both exciting and stressful because I don't know where I will end up in the world and while I've been commended by others because of the risks I've taken, I admit I'm always scared as hell. I haven't gotten many calls back from jobs (yet), I'm anxious about waiting around, and trying to find ways to fill my time. Yes, I know I JUST graduated, but if you know me you know it's hard for me to sit still. Either way I am learning as I go to trust the process; it's something we say to students or those younger than us all of the time but it's easier said than done.
So in an effort of trusting the process of what the future brings, I decided to dedicate this blog to reflect on the past year I've had. I think it's important for all of us to understand and remember where we've come from in this season of change and to remember we are enough. Since I spent most of my time up until this point buried in books and typing way too many papers, I can talk about all of the wonderful things I've done in 2018 and fill you in since it's been so long. It's kind of crazy that I still found time to do as much as I did, but we make time for what we want, right? Lets go:
Travel
Looking back to 2018, I did quite a bit of traveling, despite it being a busy semester. Let me break it down:
In January, I traveled to Toronto to bring in the new year. Got to explore more of Toronto, despite the cold ass weather, and was able to party with the best of them all night. It was hype to "run through the 6 with my woes" literally. We did a New Year Eve (NYE) party bus and toured a few nice clubs in the city. We ended the night in this club that was seemingly in the basement counting down to the 2018 year with new friends. I had a wonderful time, but I might stick to warm weather to bring in my new year.
In March, I traveled to Miami and the Bahamas on a cruise for a wedding of the century. I was asked to be a bridesmaid in two of my good college friends' union, and I couldn't have been more happy to be a part of this special time in their lives. I've known the bride for 8+ years and the groom for 10+ years, as we have marched in the band together at Kentucky State University. Because of this, this trip was a hype ass reunion; most of my college friends were back together in Miami to turn up and have a great time. Of course we hit South Beach, of course were deep and had the livest squad out there, despite most of us being almost or in our 30s. Who would we be if we weren't hype? These have been my friends for 10+ years so it was such a sentimental trip. We spent a few days in Miami before boarding our cruise to Coco Cay and then Nassau, Bahamas for a 4-day cruise and to witness our friends join together on St. Patricks Day 2018. It was honestly one of the most fun trips I took in 2018 because I was surrounded by love. #NunnBetter
In May, I traveled to Chicago with my other great friends, Alexis and Alana to see our favorite podcast show, The Friend Zone, live. We were only there for the weekend so I didn't get a chance to do much exploring but I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with them. We did do brunch, had a nice cozy AirBnb and we had some much needed girl time. It was great seeing them because we don't see each other as often as I would've liked.
In June, I traveled to Philadelphia, PA with one of my oldest friends to attend the Roots Picnic. Philly was all vibes; I thoroughly enjoyed every part of the city, the food, and the festival. The Roots Picnic is a festival hosted of course by the band The Roots and features up-and-coming as well as big name artists. It was a variety of music, podcasts, and food provided. My bestie and I got to see artists such as DJ Drama, Goldlink, 6lack (whose name is pronounced "Black" by the way), T.I., Black Thought and of course, The Roots, live and in action.
Picture this: we get front row for the main act, The Roots. FRONT ROW. Dave Chappelle is the host, and he comes out to introduce The Roots. The band starts up the music and 2 Chainz comes out to perform. Just as he's getting into rapping, it starts raining. Like HARD. And the hosts pause the show so that the raining can stop. My bestie and I are front row so we are getting soaked, but enjoying it cause, The Roots. Then, the hosts come on the mic to say "The Roots Picnic has been cancelled." What?! I was so upset, like it was unbelievable. But I'm glad I got to experience the other line-up, it still made this trip and festival worth the wait.
Also in June, I traveled to Africa. I can't stress how hype that experience was, but I talked about it in two entire blogs, so you know how I feel about that.
In September, I traveled to Las Vegas. Now, I've been to Las Vegas a few times, and I've always enjoyed it but my boyfriend and I were able to do some pretty cool things while there, like road trip to Los Angeles, CA, visit the Hoover Dam, get on the High Roller (pictured above), and hit up old Vegas, better known as Fremont Street. The drive from Vegas to LA was beautiful, I would love to do that again. Being in the open sky with the desert and mountains as the scenic route was definitely relaxing. LA was pretty dope too, though we only made this a day trip. I would love to continue to explore LA so that might be on my destination bucket list for this year.
The High Roller was dope; an observation wheel that shows you all of Vegas with all you can drink for the duration of the ride. We met some cool people, took a couple of shots for some birthdays and had a great bartender.
In October I went back to my first alma mater, thee Kentucky State University for Homecoming. If you know anything about historically black colleges or universities (HBCUs), you know homecoming is a big deal. It's also filled with nostalgia. I hadn't been to K-State's (as we call it) homecoming since 2014, so not only did I have the feels from just being back, but homecoming in and of itself is just a wonderful thing to experience because of all the love, friendships, and turn up you're surrounded with during a very action-packed weekend. You barely get sleep, you see people you haven't seen or talked to in years, you realize you're old because you're attending the alumni party and you realize, in some cases, that the years at your school were some of your best memories. I reminisced heavily that weekend; I thought about all the memories and lifelong friendships I created on that very campus. I had so much fun remember old times and creating new memories with these people I call my friends. Everything about #KSYUHC2K18 was perfect.
It was surely a great way to end my year of travel. Though I wanted to take a New Years Eve trip to bring in the 2019 year, I'm glad the trips I took in 2018 ended in love and friendship.
Podcast Collabs
So in 2019 I got the chance to try something new and step out of my comfort zone a bit. Two really great friends of mine asked me to be on each of their podcasts and I agreed because I've always wanted to do a podcast, but I was also honored to be part of their greatness.
My boy Tyronza Hicks aka Ty has a podcast entitled The Opinionated Bruhtha Podcast which he talks about whats going on in the world today and his take on life. He featured me to be on his show in honor of Women's Month back in March. He may not have known this but this was my first ever podcast, and while I had a lot of fun doing it, I was scared as hell! Ty is a pro at this, and a really close friend so the vibe was there! I met him at Grand Valley (GV) as a fellow graduate colleague and have been cool with him since about 2017. We talked a lot about current events and about self-care which is extremely important nowadays. Ty is doing his thang in the podcasting world so please check him out!
Another great friend of mine just launched his podcast and I'm so happy for him!
Marquis Taylor and I go way back to 2009 and he just recently asked me to be part of his podcast, Detroit Worldwide, which showcases the talent and journey of Detroit natives and how Detroit has influenced us to be great in this world and within education. Again, I had a lot of fun doing this. We talked about my educational journey and Detroit's role in my path. It had me reflecting on thing about Detroit that I hadn't actually considered. I thoroughly enjoyed talking about being a first-generation college student and also recent M.Ed. graduate. Please, please check him out, he's doing great things!
Graduation
Man oh man, by far one of the biggest accomplishments has been receiving my masters degree in Higher Education last week. It's still surreal that I uprooted my life to attend school at GVSU, had all of these wonderful opportunities and experiences including traveling to Africa, speaking at a national conference (ACPA), and countless other opportunities to step out of my comfort zone with great friends. I'm so glad I took this risk, it was well worth it. I came here not knowing anyone and will leave with an extended family and so many skills that I can take with me to my next position. I am truly thankful for my GVSU family for the unconditional love and countless opportunities that I've had while here, and I'm also thankful for my actual family for being supportive of the journey towards this accomplishment.
So that's my recap. It was a wild year but such a fun one, and now that I'm out of school I hope to keep things more consistent with you.