My friend Bobbi Broome a visual artists, filmmaker, and photographer took these amazing pictures of me and you should all check out more of her work on her website here.
I hope you enjoy the many pictures, I couldn't choose just a couple to post so I decided to give you all.
Enjoy!
I am officially a senior in college.
Life is coming at me like an 18 wheeler on a highway, and so far I am the deer in headlights debating where to move and which way to go.
People are continuously asking me "what are you going to do once you graduate?" the honest answer is I have no clue. The answer I give is "I'm probably going to go back to NYC and find a job there." The answer I want to give is I want to move to Brazil for a year learn the language and the culture and travel around South and Central America. But, I have no idea how to make that happen.
Until I do, I'm just going to continue telling people I'm moving to NYC.
These beautiful pictures captured again by me wonderfully talented friend Jermaine Jackson and you should check out more of his photography here.
I'm going to keep this really short since it's the first week of classes and I am already overwhelmed with the amount of work I have to do.
So, in short. I loved Afropunk. I loved the people I went with, and I loved getting to see performers I had been wanting to see for a while. I especially loved getting to rage out with other black people who were in to punk, rock, and everything else.
Hair was done by me and both outfits are made entirely by me (with the exception of the sheer shirt).
The only negative thing that about Afropunk is that there was too many white people.
For it being advertised as a black space the amount of white people there was uncomfortable. Being an ally is great but it would also be great of black spaces were respected. Same thing with pride parades. Let people have their space.
Check out the photographer here.
Since we last spoke... a lot has happened.
January-May New York:
- Explored a new city
- Lived in East New York, Brooklyn
- Volunteered at New York Fashion Week
- Secured a paid internship at LoveShackFancy (learned so much)
- Made some valuable connections
- Mastered the subway system
Biggest takeaway from living in NYC:
It is seriously a city of so many opportunities. There is always so much going on and so many things that can be taken advantage of. Although, I'm not sure if living there is for me, it's a hard city. Disgusting smells permeated the subway stations, rats were a common sight, it is extremely expensive, and I had mice in my apartment. But, the fashion industry is almost totally located in NYC and if I want a job thats where I'll be.
June-August South Korea:
- Explored a new city
- Lived in Itaewon, Seoul
- Secured an internship at Sae-A Trading/Manufacturing
- Mastered the Korean public transportation system (proud of myself)
- Took two classes at Dankook University during the International Summer School Program
- Made some potentially lifelong friendships
Biggest takeaway from living in Seoul:
My biggest takeaway was trying to balance working, going to school and trying to do touristy things. Time management, which isn't really my strength was put to the test. And I... tried my best. I wouldn't say I conquered my time management problem, I was still extremely tired and had low energy but I made it.
What's Next:
- Back to Kent State University (which I haven't been at for a school year)
- Starting a Depop (@talesofalame)
And more, I don't wanna give everything I'm working on away just yet.
Dress: LoveShackFancy
Shoes: Dr. Marten
For my final adventure of 2018 and to ring in the new year I went on an adventure with my family to Thailand.
2018 Review:
As I sit and reminisce on my past year it was filled with adventure. Out of the 12 months of the year I was abroad about 7 months. Which is pretty surreal to think about. The only thing I'm sure about in life after college is that I want to live abroad and getting this little taste of it was amazing. Travel wise I got to accomplish many of my goals and visited many of the countries on my list. Academically I did okay, my current GPA is a 3.295 which I'm most definitely not mad at. As for my personal goals they kinda fell to the wayside. My procrastination, anxiety, and lack of self discipline were my downfall. But, at least I'm self aware enough to realize my downfalls and act to fix them.
2019 Outlook:
I'm going to be pretty ambitious 2019. I probably won't be doing as much traveling. But you know me, I can't stay in one place for too long. My main theme for this year is Focus. Focusing on my goals almost fanatically, religiously. Senior year is 8 months away, Graduation is 17 months away if I want to bring my future self to life it's going to require a lot of focus.
