Update Post

So I havent blogged in forever =\ My once a week rule went completely out the window...please forgive me!! This is just a quick update post. Im still in school (got A's on my first 2 tests by the way!), still coaching (the girls have learned their competition routine. first comp december 11th!), and still working.

I went to my school's homecoming last week...I had so much fun! I definitely thought I was going to go down there and party like it was my senior year again....i was beyond wrong lmao. Every night I was tired at like 12:30 and every morning i was up by 9. I think I'm getting old =[

Here are some pics of that weekend!

Me & my linesisters <3

All in all it was an amazing weekend =]

100 Days Till Graduation

Ive never blogged about this but here goes. At my alma mater it is tradition for the senior class to celebrate "100 days till graduation". Actually....I think I have to take it back even further. My alma mater has a tradition of naming its classes. The names are Onyx, Quintessence, and Ogre Phi Ogre. Each year the freshman class takes the name of the senior class. My class is Onyx 8. When I was a freshman the seniors were Onyx 7. Last year [my senior year] the freshman were Onyx 9.

Back to the 100 days celebration. Onyx 8's 100 days was absolutely ridiculous. Our class decided to wear all black everything since we're black diamonds [the most PRECIOUS stone!]. I started my day off at 8am. Me, my roommate, and some friends went to breakfast [you cant drink on an empty stomach!]. Next we went to the liquor store. We each got personal bottles [smh]. My drink of choice was patron. The $25 bottle. It was all for me. We were a little behind schedule so we rushed back to my friends house. We had to be in the student center at 12pm for the festivities and it was about 11 when we got back to the house. We had to drink fast!! I finished that entire bottle all by myself...in under an hour.  Straight liquor. Salt. Shot. Lime. I went hard that day.

We walked over to the student center and it was fucking insane. Everyone was so emotional...we had waited years for this day! DJ Tay James even came back to DJ the event for us [he's a hampton alum and  justin bieber's official DJ now!]. The 45 minutes that I remember were freakishly amazing. Then I woke up in my bed...and it was 6pm. Supposedly i got carried out of the student center and someone drove me home. Super embarrassing but at least I wasnt the person throwing up on stage lmao. Its college...you only live once right? That was the first time Ive EVER been that drunk. And I never want to be that drunk again. The good thing is I had no recollection of being sick and since I was drinking quality liquor I didnt have a hang over at all.

I truly went out with a bang. I had the time of my life [from what I remember]. It was awesome. Im awesome. My class is awesome. We partied like rockstars.

***OH and i forgot!! the old guy towards the end of the video is our president lmao. someone told him that our 100 days celebration was really a birthday party for him!! They gave him a cake and everything  hahaha!

"You can call me Whitley, I go to Hillmannnnnn"

Well my name isnt Whitley, but i did go to the fictional school from A Different World, Hillman College. It was based off of my real life alma mater Hampton Institute/University. I absolutely LOVED my HBCU [historically black college and university] experience. I wish I could have experienced HBCU life in the 80s...Hillman College looked too live!

PS: Indirectly, I am Whitley! Since I was named after the lovely actress pictured above--Jasmine Guy!

This is my girl Te'mi (also a Hampton U alum). I know there have been a million Marvin's Room remakes in the last few days, but her lyrics are so real. They speak to me. Check her out ;-)

So my first friend at Hampton University, Chelsea (also a recent HU grad), got the opportunity to interview Ciara at the 2nd Annual Sprite Step Off. So proud of her. My classmates are making a name for themselves already! =]

And I still love Ciara even though she says she wouldnt be in a sorority. It aint for everybody CiCi!

Today I came across my mom's college yearbooks. I found some pretty interesting pics in there lol:

My cousin (far left), a friend (center), and my mommy(far right) their freshman year at Hampton! Check out the hair lol

The original class of Onyx: Class of 1984!! This is also my class name (ONYX 8!!)

My daddy right in the center =] He was so handsome.

Oh Hampton.

The Black American Color Spectrum.

Today I woke up to a not so intense debate about light skinned girls. I dont care much about the complexion debate....but i like to argue so i joined in. I guess you can say i was playing devil's advocate.

I grew up not realizing how strongly people truly felt about complexion. I was in no way ignorant, I understood the history of complexion debates, but I thought that it was limited to light and dark skinned. I didnt know that there was an 'in-between' stage when it came to color. And quite frankly, it didnt really matter to me.

It wasnt until I became a student at Hampton University that I started questioning my color. Id always thought I was light skinned...hell Id always been referred to as light skinned. My peers however introduced me to a new term.."brown skinned" LOL, what?? To me this was not a historical term....at all. I mean in the past you were either light or dark....a house nigger or a field nigger. Right?


I believe the term 'brown skinned' has done nothing but confuse us. Who created this color spectrum? If you divide complexion into three parts, isnt it only natural to divide it further? Wouldnt that make me 'dark-light skinned' or 'light-brown skinned' on the Black American Color Spectrum?

And then an even greater question arises. WHO CARES? Ive never let my complexion define me. Why is it that so many people do? I love my skin...i think its the perfect caramel blend of amazingness lol, but it does not make or break me OR the love that I have for myself.

But perhaps this same confusion about my complexion has helped me. Ive managed to maintain my jovial attitude about the whole issue. Peoples comments rarely make me mad. In fact if I do choose sides during a complexion debate 9 times out of 10 its just for fun. I dont care what people say about light, brown, or dark skinned girls because according to the categories on the Black American Color Spectrum, I dont fit into any of these places.

Im somewhere floating in the air between light and brown, in the small section where caramel would be if it were allowed into the debate.

Let me also point out that color issues are hardly just a Black American problem. Sadly this debate is seen in many other cultures as well. In fact in some cultures its not unheard of for ones family to disown an individual for being "too dark". In Indian culture darker people are viewed as stupid and extremely inferior. Dont be fooled into thinking that Black Americans are the only people who are SOC (stuck on color).

Live Well, Love Well, Leave Better.

I went to a memorial service today for Theo Smalling, a fellow hamptonian. it was beautiful.

I realized something today. While in college, you dont realize that people have lives at home. You dont realize that the people you encounter on a daily basis have people back home who love and support them. That they are someones son/daughter,cousin,friend, even hero. You dont realize that by simply attending school, by making it thus far, they have made their parents/families overwhemingly proud.

We dont think about that.

The people ive encountered at Hampton University actually had lives before becoming Hamptonians. WOW. And the majority of them will have lives after they leave HU. WOW.

And then i realized. We dont REALLY know one another. You have no clue what someone has gone through in the past. You dont know their aspirations for the future. All you know is now.

The things you do now have the potential to create lasting impressions. You can change someones life after a 5 minute encounter. You can unknowingly make someone smile everyday. People can fall in love with your now, and may carry that moment into forever.

Each and everyday, you should live to your full potential. Think to yourself, if today was my last...would my family be proud of the person ive become? Would they be proud of both the then and the now?

*Would I be proud of myself?*

Theo's basketball coach said something that i think i will carry with me forever. Something I wish to pass on to my own children, and to anyone who will listen. Live well, love well, and leave better.

Whatever you choose to do in your life, make sure you leave this world better than it was when you got here.

Silver && Gold

so...im sitting here at 11 o'clock on a friday night blown outta my mind. i really wanna go out and have some fun!

i realize now that i need new friends. i mean, id still keep the old...but i need to start branching out. i need to be comfortable hanging out with different people. i need a change.

and i mean female friends. ive never been a catty girl...ive always had a plethora of girlfriends on deck...but not in college. i found a group i was comfortable with freshman yr and i settled.

thats one of my biggest regrets. i never got out there and networked. sure i have a ton of "school" friends..but none that i can call up on the weekends and say 'ayy girlie..lets go out!'

i want that. badly...sigh...i hope its not too late.

'make new friends, but keep the old. one is silver and the others gold."