My First HU Homecoming

One word to describe my first Howard Homecoming: Monumental

The Howard Homecoming festivities were monumental. Every event was huge. Coming into Howard University, I had no idea what to expect. I had always heard statements such as "The #1 Homecoming in the Nation", and " A celebration like no other". However, I am not surprised. I could tell that I was in for a treat once I experienced how LIVE the Midnight Madness Event was. Seeing practically our entire school together in Burr Gymnasium was great! I loved seeing all of the different organizations, especially mine which were the Gentlemen of Drew Social Club and the Freshman Leadership Academy. Luckily, they were in the same section together.

The highlight of Homecoming for me was winning the football game. I am a huge football, so seeing our team win was great to me. I think that the new coach and new players have done a great job this year in defeating big competitors in the MEAC. I know that our team only won one game last season, so just knowing that our class has turned Howard around for the better is the greatest feeling ever. I am not only speaking in regard to football. I am speaking about the positive impact of our class as a whole. I wish our class the best in regard to having a high retention rate moving into our next semester and year.

Howard University Homecoming Blog Post

This past week was homecoming week, and yet I was unable to attend 90% of it. Mostly this week I have been focused on tons of tests and essays.  So besides the daily dinner break, there has been no homecoming for me.  Essentially I guess there are no complaints since I am in fact a student first, and a playboy second.  I have heard that there were many entertainers here on campus such as Young Jeezy, and Wale.  There has been many people from all over the world flooding the campus lately, and its pretty cool knowing that so many people love Howard this much.

All in all there were many festivities such as the talent show, step show, and poetry cipher among other events.  Next year hopefully I will be able to set enough time to actually enjoy these events as opposed to only hearing about them from my colleagues.

Our Time To Shine

Well it's been 2 months and 4 days since I've seen the Beautiful West Coast in my home of California. In this small amount of time, I have accomplished so much and love the atmosphere of Washington, DC. It's crazy to think that I almost went to Morehouse. I can honestly call this place my second Home.

Alas, the time has finally come. My first Howard University Homecoming Week. I have heard so much about this being the best homecoming in the Nation! I hope that is Truly the case. I can't wait to experience this. I hope the Class of 2015 has an amazing time. This is our time to shine. I am also proud to serve the COAS Freshman Students as Vice President of the Class Board. Thank you to all who voted!

Week Eight: Transitions

10:19pm

“I feel like my life is cleansing its colon
and it feels good
but odd
cuz its not used to not being so clogged
so it almost feels lacking
but now my brain is trying to catch up
and understand that it’s not empty or lacking
but just ready to be refilled with something better”

This was the best way that I could describe to my best friend, who seemed to be letting me go as we both have been making this drastic move from home to college, how I felt about losing her: through a Facebook message at 3am, since she had been failing to answer my calls. Not a day goes by in an all-female dorm that you can’t hear someone complaining about a boyfriend who “forgets” to call, or a friend from home who has chosen to “act new” now that they have all left their high school’s hometown. A common theme, however, exists among all of these stories of frustration, aggravation, and hurt feelings: transitions.

They say that experience brings maturity and that mistakes must be made along the way in order to gain it, but how, I ask, is it that so many of us “young people” at such a pivotal time as this seem to be lacking the basic tools to deal with this grave shift towards adulthood. Is it so simply dismissed as being that “we all go through it,” and “it will pass,” or is there more? I’m keen onto the generation that has raised me and my peers. They knew far better than the rest of us just how much of a sink or swim potential this “away-from-home” college experience held for us as first time freshman.

I have seen some of my peers so homesick to the point that they literally packed their bags and went home, withdrawing from this school altogether, and others who claim this time to be the greatest that they’ve ever had; yet, not near one whom I’ve spoken to can hold a thirty minute conversation without mentioning a friend from home, or that small taco place on Belvidere back by their house, or their hometown’s sports team. We were expected to so suddenly drop anywhere from 17 to 20 years’ worth of our lives and with full-faith move on to something new. But how? Should we drag our childhoods on our backs, never forgetting every burden and goodtime they held? Or should we leave it all behind, running full-speed as fast as we can? I suppose learning the balance between the two is what it’s all about. Learning to manage this transition that I keep being reminded of, one which I would rather avoid and that seems to do nothing but overcomplicate my life before it finally decides to give, purging the unnecessary troubles, must be what college is all about, for the classroom is not even the half of it.

Freewrite Blog

Well the midterms are over and the first quarter of freshman year is finished. This week we are given a free-write blog, and I am honestly stumped on what to write about. So in the spirit of midterms, I will write about my first quarter of freshman year. Howard has really exceeded my expectations of an HBCU. The bond and closeness that resonates on this campus is astounding. At first I thought this was just a "party" school and that work rarely was fairly given. Yet I was wrong. Although Howard has many parties, it has just as many intellecctual scholars. I will say that I have met some of the smartest people in my life so far here on this campus. It really does let me know that I made a great decision when choosing this amazing school. I cannot wait for the rest of the upcoming months.

Thank You Howard, and your residents :D

Review of "Miss Evers' Boys"

The play “Miss Evers’ Boys” is set in 1932 Macon County, Alabama, where the federal government launched a medical study known commonly as The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Blacks with Syphilis. The study selected 412 men infected with the disease and controversially faked long term treatment, while instead only giving them placebos. Nurse Eunice Evers narrates the story of four sharecroppers, Caleb Humphries, Ben Washington, Willie Johnson, and Hodman Bryan, detailing her experience as a knowledgeable role-player in the study as well as a loyal caretaker to the men. At the time, the study was justified by its efforts to determine if blacks were similarly impacted by the overall effects of the disease in the same way that whites were. The experiment was not stopped until 40 years later when a Senate investigation was initiated. The plays perspective gives personal accounts of the harsh consequences of the Tuskegee Study, revealing a side of our history which few take the time properly account for.

Week 7 - The Reality Check

The message of this week's presentation was very effective. We were questioned with statistics that regard all of us as Black People. There are many statistics that "supposedly" define us as Black people. We are better than the world thinks we are.

The media depicts Black people as very negative people. Along with that, people assume that we are worst than we truly are. It feels as though this woman had a very myopic approach though. Despite us being viewed as a poorly represented race from the past, I do not want to be another bad statistic. I have been told to be atypical in everything I do. Do not, for one bit, sleep on the beauty of Black People.

Through it all, I am still a humble young black man. I realize my call to order, purpose, and promises of which I have made to my family.

I will defy ALL negative statistics. I will be atypical.

Week 7 Blog Post

I honestly forgot the speakers name for this week, but she was a very eloquent speaker. This woman described the problems that faced African Americans, by way of stereotypes in America. She also called for the furthering of minority education.

It seems as though these lectures are starting to become repetitive. Each speaker is presenting the same information but in a different format. It feels as though this woman had a very myopic approach though. For example: she evaluated how White Americans are the ethnic group that abuses cocaine, yet she failed to realize that 72% of America is white. This of course means that the highest consumption rate will be in large part to the majority of the population, ie White Americans. What she said was common knowledge, yet she presented this in a very bias approach. She also did the same for Education. She also lumped asians, and non white hispanics as black when presented her data.

The speaker presented the speech with great intentions, but in my opinion she fell pretty short for those already educated about the sociology and psyche of America.

African Burial Ground Review

I have just returned from New York, and boy am I tired. The reason I went to New York was to visit the African Burial ground. The African Burial ground was quite intriguing, yet I had went before and I really did not learn anything new. I will explain some of my favorite parts of the trip.

What I did like about the African Burial ground this time was that I had more time to look around the memorial. I also was able to watch a libation ceremony where Dr. Carr spoke and was followed by drum circle. This time also there was an event going on during the same time we were there called “youth week”. I was also able to see a poetry slam with some really beautiful poems spoken from the heart. This time was also a bit different because I was able to learn not only about the Africans buried there, but also about some Native American history from a showcase hosted there.

I will not go into detail about what I learned and saw on this trip this time, because I already have been twice in the past 3 years (this time third). Yet, there were still some things that were a bit different than the times before.

Miss Evers' Boys Review

On Wednesday I went to go see the Miss Evers' Boys play. I went on opening night because it was pay with what you can night, and of course I am very frugal with money as a college student.

I must say that I was impressed and that Miss Evers' Boys was a great play. It was in some ways different from the movie, yet the production from the Howard University students made it worth watching. The play was about a Nurse named Eunice Evers who took oversaw and befriended some of the african americans during the “Tuskegee experiment” in Alabama. The play dealt with deception and conflict. The deception was the treatment of the African American patients of being tricked into believing their disease was being cured by the nurse. The conflict of the play was the Nurse Eunice knew what was occurring, yet she never told the patients right away about what was going on with their treatment.

Overall the play gave me a sense of enlightenment as well as subtle bits of comedy. I would recommend many people both young and old to see this great movie.

“The Eloquence of the Scribes”: Initiation, Expectations, and Mastery—Continuing the Legacy of Howard University

If there was a week that emphasized education then this was the week. The lecture was given by Dr. Alvin Thornton. Dr. Alvin Thornton highlighted the importance of education among the students of Howard University and the African American community. This time was also given to stress the importance of past generations. We as Howard student should be very proud to continue this long genealogy of intellectual thinkers and hard workers.

In order to be a part of the “best and brightest” of Howard, I will strive to improve the conditions of the world that we live in today. This improvement does not only have to be accomplished academically, which will help, but it can also be improved socially. Academic research will help to understand what the masses dissatisfaction will be. Through academic research I will be able to understand how to fix these problems that the masses are dissatisfied with. Yet, through social interaction I will be able to grasp an even closer understanding of the problems occurring within individual lives whom in turn lives the dissatisfaction every day of their lives.

Lets talk about what it means to be a citizen of the world. Caring for other humans and solving problems is what it means to be a citizen of the world. My citizenship in the United States gives me an academic advantage over most other citizens in this world, because I have more opportunities available to me. If I use these opportunities to help the other citizens of this world, then this will inform the world of my national citizenry and the applications we used to help better their own country. We as world citizens seem to digress from these aspects.

A representative thinker of Howard that inspires me to “till and turn over the soil” is Dr. Charles R. Drew. Drew's hard work for the betterment of humans gave us an improvement in our health by means of blood transfusions. Citizens that follow Dr. Drew's ideals can also help , even if not medicinally. Students from Howard University will help lead this charge. Many others will follow, as we are all citizens of the world, Thank You.

Me, HowardU, The World

To be a student at Howard University, you stand on the shoulders of the alumni who come before you. We must contribute to the prestigious legacy. What can and will I do to be a part of the "best and brightest" of Howard? I chosen to start now. I was admitted to the Freshman Leadership Academy, floor representative for my residence hall's (Drew Hall) executive council, member of the California Student Association, member of the Howard University Political Science Society, and currently running for the position of Vice President for the COAS Freshman Class Council Board. I want to ensure that I can make a strong impact as a freshman while maintaining the highest grade point average that I am capable of earning.

As one citizen of a large, yet small world of billions of people, I realized that I must not limit and confine myself to local community. As a political science major, I plan to get involved with international affairs. This will enable me to be able to unite the greater world community; something the world has always been struggling with. Nothing is impossible. “We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.” - Vince Lombardi

In my life, I have been inspired to be atypical, and do the impossible. We ourselves are the main ones who develop self-doubt. I will be apart of the progressive movement.