School of Communications Students Give Back

            Washington DC- Students in the Howard University School of Communications, have spent the Fall 2011 semester volunteering all around DC in an effort to give back to the community they live in.

            Over the semester the Square One Administration, the current School of Communications Student Council, created volunteer events for the students to participate in. They partnered with a number of organizations around DC such as the Washington DC Humane Society, DC Central Kitchen, Operation Write home, and the Stoddard Baptist Nursing Home, and spent countless hours working to help these organizations with whatever they needed.

            The first event of the semester was the DC Walk for the Animals, where School of C students helped vendors take down their booths, pack up their supplies, and clean up at the end of the event. DC Central Kitchen, which provides thousands of meals for the District’s homeless, enjoyed having the students peel and chop hundreds of pounds of carrots and cauliflower. In the month of November, the students wrote over 150 holiday letters to soldiers overseas to encourage them and raise their spirits during the holiday season. For the most recent event, and the last one for the semester, students used construction paper, glue, glitter, and pipe cleaners to fashion holiday cards for the elderly residents of the Stoddard Baptist Nursing Home, the oldest African-American nursing home in DC.

            Unlike what many may think, the students were excited to volunteer and showed up to the community service events ready to do good. Members of the Annenberg Honors Program, the honors program in the School of Communications, are required to complete 20 hours of community service per semester, but they said that they did not feel that the obligation was unpleasant.

            “There were a lot of fun community service options this year,” Said Antonya Bruno, sophomore Public Relations major, “they seemed to be well thought out and there was a large variety of things we did that helped the community.”

            Darius Thomas, sophomore Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology major, and the Vice-President of the School of Communications Student Council also weighed in with his thoughts on this semester’s community service.

            “I loved the community service this semester,” Said Thomas, “they were well attended and creative. I look forward to seeing more creative community service next semester.”

Nerdy Girl Confessions

I'm bored. So I decided to create a list of things about me that most people don't know:

1. Solving equations gives me chills... the good kind.
2. Party in the USA and Our Song are lowkey my SONGS!
3.I'd rather read a good book than party.
4. One of my favorite things to do is update my resume.
5. <------ This is my favorite number.
6. Realizing I can read, write, and speak a little Japanese excited me.
7. One of my biggest goals is to know French, Japanese, Arabic, Spanish, Russian, and Mandarin by 30.
8. I'm 20 years old and I STILL HAVE my V-card.
9. I'm a huge fan of country music.
10. A sizeable portion of my money goes to buying books.
11. I always wished I could wear glasses, so I got the non-prescription kind.
12. An intelligent and witty man is LEAGUES more attractive than a pretty boy.
13. I saw 6 out of the 7 Harry Potter movies at midnight and went in costume.
14. At one point in life I understood binary code.
15. I still watch cartoons... and laugh even if I've seen it before.
16. I love anime and draw anime characters when I'm bored.
17. I used to do people's math homework in high school for fun.
18. I think well written essays are an underrated art.
19. I prefer to be atleast 20 minutes early for all of my classes.
20. I procrasinate because doing homework last minute gives me an adrenaline rush!

So yes, I am a nerd, and while I may not create social networking websites in my off time, have a pocket protector, or regularly get shoved into lockers, I'm quite proud of my nerd status.

P.S. One day I'm going to get myself a Segway!

A Long Reflective Thought

What should you do when your heart wants one thing, and your pride refuses to allow it?

When you pick up the phone and look at the person's name and your heart is saying, "Do it. Say what you want to say. What you need to say. Type I miss you and hit send." but your obstinate pride just won't let you hit the buttons? It's Black or white, mutually exclusive, I can't salvage the relationship without sacrificing my stand and admitting that I might have been wrong. Which I wasn't. But at some point you stop caring about being right and just want the person back...

So what do you do?

 It seemed that we were talking less and fighting more. Not playful fights; yelling, cursing, I never want to talk to you again fights, that always ended with me coming back because as much as I can't stand to lose, I hate conflict with someone I care for even more. And after months, I felt drained, like I was fighting upstream to something that was no longer there, or had never been there at all, I'm not sure... either way it had to end. It was becoming a distraction, one that as a college student I couldn't afford, I thought about it in class, with my friends, at home before I went to sleep. I needed to know where I stood. I decided to try a little experiment. A "let's see what would happen if I did this" kind of thing. One of my friends posted a blog in which he said, "...it starts with a balance shift. When a relationship dies, one person (or maybe no one) finds themselves more invested than the other. It's usually one person calling more than the other, or one person suggesting to hang more than the other." And when I thought about it, it had gone from him wanting to hang out more than me, to me starting every conversation, making every call, wanting to hang out more often. And I thought, what would happen if I stopped, cold turkey, just stopped communicating with him completely? If the relationship was fine, he would notice and ask what happened, why I seemed to fall off. He would initiate conversation to pick up the slack, carry the weight. If it wasn't, he wouldn't notice, and if he did, wouldn't care. So I did it. Not a single word. Complete radio silence. I expected a few days to go by, no one sees that kind of thing immediately, or at least, that's the excuse I gave myself. Then days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. Obviously, if you can go months without talking to someone you spoke to on a daily basis, that person, and your friendship, means nothing. A hard pill to swallow, but it went down, and I moved on... mostly. It comes in waves, days when all I think about is that person, morning to night, every minute, and then there are weeks that go by when they don't cross my mind. I suppose it will be that way for a while yet. In any case as much as I talked hard and said he didn't matter and I didn't care, part of me missed, or still misses at least, how things used to be. And I thought, as my birthday came up, that even if we hadn't talked in a long time we could put the pettiness aside for my special day, that he would text or call or Facebook wall post, anything to say I care enough for you to cross my mind... but he didn't. And then I said, he's busy, surely too busy to remember on the day of, but later I'll get a "Happy belated bday! Sorry I missed it, forgot, whatever!"...nothing. And as much as my mind is saying, unforgivable, dead that dude and don't give it another thought. And as much as my pride is saying, weak, just the fact that your thinking of talking to him again and begging for the friendship you long for is sad. My heart is saying, I still and always will have a special place reserved for him.

In any case, my feelings have changed, somewhere between summer break and my change in age a fundamental shift occurred. I can feel it, deep down, something saying that even if we both tried, it will never be exactly as it was, like how celibacy will never make you a virgin again no matter how long you do it. I've reached a place where there's no animosity, no longing, just a quiet ambivalence that I can live with. The blog went on to say, "I believe once a relationship gets to the point where it's dying there's no way to go back to the old relationship you remember, even if both parties are invested...I guess when a relationship dies we need to let it or at least accept it. Like life, it's unhealthy to hold on to dead things." Real talk if I ever heard it.

Here's the original blog I took from by Pretentious Voices: http://pretentiousvoices.blogspot.com/2011/05/on-death-of-relationships.html

La Langue D'amour

What happens when you become a summer time insomniac? I write poetry, but to step it up a notch I'm going to start writing poems in French. Help expand my creativity with my favorite language.

Je Rêve de Toi

J’ai besoin de toi.

Vous parlez à mon cœur.

J’aime comment vous vous sentirez.

Vous me rapprochez.

Dis-moi tout.

Ne rien dire.

Vous vous couchez avec moi milieu des étoiles.

Je souhaite cela allait durer éternellement,

Mais ces doux moments ne durent jamais.

Bise-moi avant vous quittez,

Avant je me réveille.

TRANSLATION:

I Dream of You

I need you.

You speak to my heart.

I love how you feel.

Come closer to me.

Tell me everything.

Say nothing.

You lie with me among the stars.

I wish that this would last forever,

But such sweet moments never last.

Kiss me before you leave,

Before I wake.

Commentary on A Dream Deferred: A Truly Random Thought.

I don't know why this crossed my mind but...

What actually happens to a dream deferred? Langston Hughes once asked this question; he asked a few questions really.

A Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

 What happens when someone is told they can't? When they try as hard as they know how, and fail? When it seems that every door is closed and they can find no way out? What happens when their dream is deferred? Humans are born innately resilient; we are instinctively designed to survive. If attacked we defend ourselves, if in trouble we help ourselves, if hurt we console ourselves. As a race and I mean human, the definition of “race” today is a baseless biological distinction, but I digress, we have gotten over and through SO much. Thousands of years of slavery, genocides, famines, earthquakes, hurricanes, death, despair, depression, there is literally no end to what we have endured and continue to endure. So why would we watch our dreams, our goals, our wants and needs go unfulfilled without trying to figure out a way to achieve them? Look at the word that Langston Hughes used: deferred.  To defer means to put off to a later time; to postpone. He didn’t ask what happens to a dream eliminated, or a dream eradicated. He knew that even if we could not achieve our dream then, at some point it would be realized. Hughes makes it seem as if the dream dies; as if it slips away passively and noiselessly, drifting into obscurity as the person who created it moves on. But I beg to differ. When a dream must be put aside, it doesn’t go quietly; it boils beneath the surface waiting for its chance. It sits at the back of your mind, making sure it is not forgotten. It whispers to you in your sleep, wrapping around your thoughts and making its presence felt. I think it is an ember in your soul, seemingly gone, but not quite out, biding time until it can become a righteous flame again.

A Dream Deferred

By Taylor-Rae Collins-Headley

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it burn

Behind the eyes like the sun?

And fight

Until the battle is won?

Does it churn

 Beneath the surface with passion and heat?

For it knows

Neither surrender nor defeat?

Maybe it rises

Like a phoenix in flight.

Waiting to ignite.

Love...Hmm... Can I Use A Lifeline?

I’m about to reach two decades on this planet and I don’t know what love is. I’ve loved, and been loved, but I don’t understand love. Not the kind you get from and give to your family, that automatic feeling of never ending love that would make you take a bullet without a second thought, even when they upset you. That feeling that would never go away no matter how far you stray and for how long. Not that love. And not the love you have for and receive from friends, that feeling of loyalty so strong you never need a reason to do something for them, even when you fight. That “holding hair in a hangover, it’s three a.m. and you’re crying, I’m down for you even when the police roll up” love. Not that love. I’m talking about that significant other love, that “you’re mine and I’m yours” love, that exclusive, illusive, consuming type of love. The one people sing about, write about, talk about. Not the “I can spend the rest of my life with you” love, the “I can’t see my life without you” love, there is a difference, I mean that love. I want someone to break it down like Algebra, into simple concrete steps that never fail to give you an answer if you do it right. Or like chemistry, you mix this chemical with this chemical and BANG, love. Or even like English, if you don’t understand it, use context clues and a dictionary ‘til you get it. But there’s no solid definition of love, or how it should feel, or even what it should look like.

When it’s good, love is like a drug. You get addicted to the high you get. You float around suspended in happiness thinking of that one person when you’re apart and adoring him/her when you’re together. You sit around thinking up new ways to make them happy, new jokes to make them laugh, new stories to interest them. Hearing their name makes your day better. Seeing them lifts your spirits without a word. You’re hearing them speak but the whole time your thinking, “I love the way your lips move when you say things I don’t pay attention to because I’m just thinking about kissing you.”, and then you realize that they asked you a question and you have no idea what they said. You look forward to every day simply because they would be a part of it. It’s damn near magical.

When it’s gone, love is like withdrawal. It even has physical symptoms, your head hurts, you feel nauseous, you feel a weight on your chest, you feel tired and unhappy; I’m surprised there’s no entry on Web MD for a lovectomy, when all or part of someone’s love has been taken from your body. It’s like everything loses life, food loses flavor, colors aren’t as bright, smells aren’t as good. And that’s not poetic, it’s real. I took a break from someone I cared about and it was rainy and gray every day after, cafeteria food was flavorless, which is the norm, but it seemed a lot less tolerable when I was unhappy, and I felt like I was just going through the motions of every day. And don’t get me started on music. You don’t notice how many love songs are on your iPod until you’re trying not to hear one. And every break up song has more meaning, try listening to “Unbreak My Heart” by Toni Braxton, or “I Need You Bad” by Jazmine Sullivan. Now every word is your life story and every chorus is coming straight from your mind.

All of a sudden he or she was the best; the smartest, the funniest, and you will never find another person like them again. So you sit there cycling between depression and anger until you step back and realize how ridiculous it all is. Think about it. Was this person really as faultless as Jesus when you were with them? Or are you idolizing them now that their gone? I’m guessing the latter. And sometimes it wasn’t working for you, but you had invested so much of your heart into it that you didn’t even notice. How do you know when that’s the case? Look at your outgoing calls and texts to that person… now look at the incoming from that person… if it’s pretty heavy on your side; you’re the only one invested. When’s the last time you hung out with them and the sun wasn’t down?  If time has gone by without communication who usually contacts who first? I don’t have to tell you what answers mean what. When you give 100% and that person is giving 50 or less, it’s not going to work, and obviously the relationship wasn’t working for one or both of you if it fell apart.

But is this love? You feel high and wonderful and great, and then you feel awful? Why is there no consistency? As far as I know, love feels like a life sentence in Gitmo… except you alternate between spa treatments and water boarding.

Dueces! OR How to Break Up in Two Paragraphs and a Sound Track!!!

What’s the best way to break up with someone? I mean, you spend all of this time mentally preparing yourself to cut this person out of your life and then you get to the big moment, when you actually have to tell them you don’t want to know them anymore and… nothing. What words would convey the idea? There’s the always popular “Kick rocks, DUECES!!!” but that’s if it ended badly. What if you just need to move on and it’s not them, it’s you? That’s cliché at this point, so it would sound horrible to say it, but it’s the truth, it really is you and not them. Should you be direct? “It’s not working, it’s over.” Indirect? “See, I think it would be a wonderful idea for both of us if we slowly began to see less and less of each other until we didn’t have a relationship at all…” Professional? “To Whom it May Concern: I think of myself as a company and I’m downsizing, I apologize, but you’ve been terminated.” Intellectual? “It seems our mutual interaction with each other has reached an impasse and has become stagnant, it would be in the best interest of both parties to dissipate the existing arrangement.” How exactly can you do it without hurting the other person? My personal favorite is the compliment sandwich. The compliment sandwich is where you compliment the person, criticize them or deliver bad news, and then finish with a compliment. For example, “I love that sweater on you, but I can’t go out with you any more… you’re still a great person though!”. Nah… that doesn’t really convey the message… Maybe you just have to say exactly what you’re feeling and put everything openly and honestly on the table. Then they can understand everything and have closure, be alright with everything ending.

Now that you have the substance what about the delivery? Definitely not a text message, that’s just awful. End a relationship with someone in 160 characters (on a blackberry), GO. NOT THE MOVE EVER. Facebook and Twitter… are you kidding me? Twitter: So I’m leaving you and our #relationship is over, it's just not workin, no hard feelings but I'm unfollowing you too... #dueces #itsbeencool ß exactly 140 characters… AWFUL. And Facebook, there’s always that awkward moment when So and So is now single comes up… and the other person didn’t know. What about a letter? I mean written sentiment does come from the heart… but it still feels impersonal, as if you couldn’t look at the person to say what you needed to say. This is the move if the person has the ability to talking you out of leaving and you need to make a clean break. A phone call is the move if you can stand to hear the person’s unhappiness but couldn’t look in their face. The best way would have to be a face to face conversation, you know, you say what you have to, they say what they have to and then you make the final decision.

Break up sound track for inspiration! Here are songs that all say the same thing in different ways: IT’S OVER!

1.      Dueces- Chris Brown (of course)

2.      Yahh Trick Yahh- Soulja Boy

3.      Already Gone- Kelly Clarkson

4.      Loving You No More- Diddy & Dirty Money ft. Drake

5.      Going Under- Evanescence

6.      Kitty Kat- Beyonce (for girls lol)

7.      Green Light- Beyonce

8.      It Ends Tonight- All-American Rejects

9.      In Love With Another Man- Jazmine Sullivan

10.  Blame It On Me- Chrisette Michele

11.  Pretty Wings- Maxwell

12.  Take A Bow- Rihanna

13.  Irreplaceable- Beyonce