August Announcements (Written By AmbassadorNique)

AUGUST ALREADY!

Definitely crazy to actually say that. Summer is almost over and fall is upon us. While it’s gone by fast I have been fortunate enough to have made great memories. Moving forward I have some big stuff coming up! Some parts of my life are coming to an end (working my 9 to 5) and others are just getting started! Without further or due, the updates….

We The People (UPDATE): I’M WORKING! I promise! I also understand that once graduate school starts my life will be shut down for quite some time. As I type this I am waiting for videos to sync in the background. I definitely want to plan an event where I can invite close friends and people that helped sponsor and make this all possible. This month I plan to have everything in place and by September be working on the finishing touches, transitions lighting, sound etc.

Graduate School: Wow this is approaching fast and just around the corner. I am mentally prepping by reading and finding the resources and networks that I will need in order to make it through this journey and be successful. Also I there are a few opportunities I would like to take advantage of as well.

Health: I’ve been working toward eating smarter and doing what I can to put extra steps in my day. I am very excited for my IMA membership and have started to cook more and eat out less.

Finances: I’ve been doing a very poor job of saving money and this is something I definitely want to do better at. I can however say that the money that I have been spending for the most part has been going towards things that I consider an investment to my future. Definitely need to crack open some Dave Ramsey.

Hawaii: Speaking of investments! I will go to Hawaii for 12 days on August 15th! I will visit my grandmother and Aunt on a much needed REAL vacation! I will continue to work on my film, read and EAT! Basically just scratched the last two points out. Just kidding! I will definitely work to continue to hike while I am out there and take a lot of pictures. Free housing, psh can’t past that up! J

Little Dragon: Upon my return I am excited to go see Little Dragon perform live at Showbox Sodo! I love shows and I love to travel!

Digital Story Telling: One of the things I look forward to doing is collecting the digital stories of my peers who do art around the city. I think I will use Premier and an online platform called WEVideo. I will also try to step my photography game up and look for a cool place on campus to shoot some videos.

Japanese: I hope to return to Japan next summer and therefore I am looking for a language partner.

Personal Growth: Some things I am working on personally are consistency in everything I do from everything listed above. I also would like to become better at following up on networks.

Thank you for reading.

AmbassadorNique

 

 

#BlackHero Richard Pryor

Genius! Honest, uncompromising, and courage. The ability to make audiences of thousands across racial, gender and social economic lines relate to him at the drop of a dime. The power to make this same audience laugh at the sometimes harsh realities and the ability to make them think. Most importantly the ability to look in the mirror and be honest not only with his self about his self, but with the entire world. Also the ability to change his ways and speak loudly and truthfully about his own pitfalls, growth and enlightenment. Legendary…

Lately… (Written By AmbassadorNique)

Man, I feel like I’ve been flooding the blog with posts lately. I guess it just means I am inspired more than ever to share the great things around me. Life is good and a little over a half a month in I am still on my mission to better health, a vow to continue to be educated, and to make better financial decisions. Some of my goals were re-arranged but ‘tis is life and as with anything adjustments must be made. 

 

As I mentioned in an earlier post my Japanese language class was canceled 2 weeks ago, and the Masters program that I had been waiting to apply too turned out to be not as great as I once thought it would be after sitting in their first informational. I opted out of starting a GRE prep course next month, and decided to start a less expensive one that started this past Saturday. This program saved me money and fit a lot better in my schedule. So instead of focusing on Japanese my main focus now is this exam. My biggest challenge now is relearning and memorizing math concepts that I have not had to use or see in YEARS! (HEEELLLLP!!) IMPOSSIBLE is nothing right? At the end of the day I can either make excuses and complain or I can face this issue head on! 

 

I’ve been reading a good book that was given to me by my friend Kim called, The Slight Edge. She would be a bit disappointed to know I havn’t gotten as far as I would have liked, but I will continue to read it today for quite some time I hope (as I wait for my GRE prep book to come in the mail from Amazon since I ordered the wrong year last time).  The book so far is good and touches on ways to stay disciplined and be successful in life, relationships and financially which is what I am about!

 

I’ve been going to the gym and its working out really well. My ease back into the routine is getting better. I recently had a fail moment where I went to eat out friend. After eating it I felt so disgusted that I now vow not to eat fried chicken again. At least form that establishment, Grandma’s ONLY!!

 

Today I was afforded the opportunity to attend a workshop called Nothing About Us Without Us done by Seattle community organizers John Paige and my friend LuLu. The workshop was done very well! Sadly we didn’t have much time so we were unable to go into greater detail about a lot of things. Nevertheless I really enjoyed being there and learning many new things and seeing a few old faces whom I was able to catch up with as well. I was able to get a real sense of what’s going on in the community and it seems that as much of a progressive city as Seattle is their has been a racial undertone for quite some time that continues to get ignored. One of the most interesting discussions was the discussion of red lining (in short.. the way blacks and other people of color were kept out of living in  what was supposed to be “desegregated” housing). We talked about how it still goes on today with fraudulent housing loans from banks, lack of employment, affordable housing, and gentrification. 

 

I had a great conversation last night with a good friend of mine who is from LA about African American communities, racism, classicism and education and how they play significant roles in what’s going on today. We both agreed that while there are leaders out there a lot of times they do not get the deserved credits, but instead society has a tendency to refer back to figures like Martin Luther King and not look deeper into the present leaders or the women that actually were the backbone of the civil rights movements and movements going on today, or any of the other key players. 

 

Sorry if you made it this far I know it was very random, but hopefully if you’re still reading you’ve learned something and you care…

 

-Ambassador

Growth and Transition (Written By AmbassadorNique)

Growth and transition

Monday was to the start of a new chapter. Well… At least a new quarter. I was excited about waking up an hour earlier to get into the gym and work hard, sweat, get healthy and start OPORATION SEXY!! Lol… I joke… But seriously it was supposed to be a great day. Unfortunately Sunday night came and my time management and priorities did not agree with my new workout plan. I assumed that because I was leaving earlier there would be less traffic and it would be okay to catch the later bus to the gym (not thinking that an extra 20 min would be added to my commute from my hike from the bus stop to the actual gym). Well if this was my only issue I would have been okay. I ran outside at 6:35 only to watch the bus that comes every 30 minutes pulling off from the stop that I was supposed to be standing at. My alternate route involved me waiting 30 minutes outside for a light rail train and a transfer bus… Where I was dropped off added 20 minutes of extra walking time. Safe to say by the time I got to the gym I was able to register for a locker and shoot a few hoops before it was time to head off to work.  Later that day I found out the Japanese language class I was to start the next day had been canceled due to lack of enrollment.

*Sigh…*

Wednesday… Wednesday there is always Wednesday, I said to myself… Well this time I had a ride to the gym! (YES, nothing would stop me!) Well… Wednesday is today. I still managed to wake up later than expected (probably bc I went to sleep later than expected). I ended up putting on the wrong contacts (or they were just way to dry and I had no solution on me…) and I had to return home to get my glasses shortly after we got on the freeway and I realized that I couldn’t read any of the signs visibly (Don’t worry I wasn’t driving). Meanwhile it was pouring down raining, I managed to lose my headphones somewhere in this process, Seattle traffic was only getting worst and once again… I found myself at the gym with not enough time to change, workout, shower, get dressed and make it to work by 8:30… I shot hoops again… I told myself FINE I will work out in the afternoon like everyone else. I was ready to give up…

While I was shooting hoops I thought to myself… At most you lost 2 workout days, and a pair of headphones… The route of this problem is probably my lack of sleep. The root of that problem is probably my lack of discipline to get in bed on time to get the proper amount of rest that it takes to fully function. If one is to be committed to making any changes, obstacles and setbacks are to be expected.

Moving forward, I will take the lessons I have learned from these past few days and do my best to get to bed on time. I will also become more disciplined person and work even harder to reach my goals. The Japanese class being canceled doesn’t bother me as much because I am scheduled to start an evening GRE course next month. The course is only 2 months so ALL of my focus will go into that (as it should).

There’s always tomorrow! Tonight I will do the best I can to go to sleep a bit earlier and wake up and start the day off with a smile and a dedicated attitude!

-Ambassador