The End of My Berkeley College Experience

Hey everyone!!! I know I have been MIA but these past couple of months have been crazy for me!Back in March, I was inducted into 2 Honor Societies(Alpha Sigma Lambda and Mu Kappa Tau) which was an amazing experience for me. I wasn't able to take many pics because I misplaced my camera and my phone died right after I received my sashes but  you can check out fellow blogger Jose's blog to check out more pics from the event (http://www.josenavarronyc.com/2013/03/induction-ceremony-honor-society-sigma.html)

Pic of me with my Alpha Sigma Lambda and Mu Kappa Tau Sashes

Last month, I attended an Honors Program dinner where I was one of three students who received the "Outstanding Honors Scholar Award" and had to make a speech which isn't usually an issue because I love to talk but I was overcome with emotion. In that moment, if felt like all of my hard work(taking all 4 courses of the Honors Programs and finishing a 20 page paper) paid off and I was being recognized for my achievements in and out of the classroom at Berkeley was the icing on the cake.I also received my Honors cord that I wore on my robe at graduation this past Friday.

President  Cortes, Professor Hotchkiss, myself and Dr. Hargrove

Close up pic of my award:)

Graduation was definitely a day I won't ever forget! it was chaotic all morning and I wanted to look nice (for the pics of course) but get there before 9am which thankfully I did. I never realized how many different campuses there were until I saw ALL 1000+ students that were graduating and so proud that I could be apart of this momentous occasion.  I was impressed at the commencement speaker Nina Vaca's speech as well as all of her accomplishments( if you don't know who she is, Google her...you will be blown away) Most importantly, when I walked on that stage, it was as if one chapter of my life had finished but at the same time, a new one was beginning. 

Grad pic that I liked from Berkeley's Facebook Page

I am still taking my internship and I have a few more events that I am involved in at Berkeley before I say my final farewell but it feels as if I have come to the end of the road at Berkeley.

One of my mottos is "Life is an experience....enjoy the ride" and I can honestly say that I have made the most of all of the ups and downs, twists and turns that Berkeley has brought my way and received more than I ever could have imagined. My advice to everyone is to make the most out of any experience that you encounter because you never know where it may take you.

love.laugh.live.life

Spring Cleaning

Anyone that knows me knows that I am one of the messiest people around. My mom always jokes around that my room at times looks like a cyclone has struck it. Clothes, papers and makeup items are strewn everywhere and most of the time, I have so many other things going on that I just don't have the energy to clean it up. I make excuses for my lack of cleanliness by saying there is a "method to my madness" and that I know where everything is...most of the time anyway. That excuse worked for me up until a few days ago.

 I was having a terrible day overall: ran late to my internship because I couldn't find the shirt I was looking for in my messy room, was late to my after school tutoring job as well and when I finally arrived the kids I tutor were going bananas and all I wanted to do was go home to my room and just relax. Needless to say when I walked upstairs to my room, I became more irritated. The craziness that my mother and others had complained about finally hit me. How was I living like this for so long? Now it wasn't to the point where I had foreign objects growing underneath my bed or anything but it was just pure chaos. I realized then that everything around you can have a major impact on your mood and if the one place that you go to find solace is in disarray, then its less likely that you will be able to create and maintain a positive mindset.

In that moment, I decided to do the daunting task of cleaning up my room. To make the task more enjoyable, I played music and tried to organize things in a way that worked for my lifestyle. I started planning ahead and preparing possible outfits for the rest of the week and different accessories that would match. in the cleaning process I found a pair of earrings that I had misplaced, my nail file and a letter that had an important address on it. Those were signs that I was on the right track and after I was done, I was finally able to relax and take it down for the night.

The moral of this story/rant is that when one area of your life is in shambles, it trickles down into other aspects of your life. Something as simple as a messy room can change your whole vibe and have a negative affect on situations that will follow. The mess in your life may not be your room but a messed up family/friend/significant other situation. Whatever the case may be, make sure you fix it or it will all come crashing down like a ton of bricks, or better yet, a cyclone!

Must See Movies

Hey everyone!I figured I would do something a little different this time around. It seems like I have been going to the movies a lot lately(which isn't normal for me) but there are some really good movies out (as well as some not so good ones!) Here are three recent films that I found enjoyable.


The Call

Anyone that knows me knows that I am a big Halle Berry fan so when I found out she had a new movie coming out, I had to go see it. I loved her role as a 911 emergency operator and felt that she really showed a wide range of emotions throughout. The only part that I would have changed was the ending. It was so dull compared to the rest of the movie but I was still entertained. It wasn't her best movie but I would give it a solid B overall.



Olympus Has Fallen

These type of action movies where everything in sight is blown away aren't usually my thing but I was impressed by the realness of all the events especially watching at the destruction of the White House(code name Olympus). Gerard Butler did an amazing job at playing a former secret service agent and Aaron Eckhart (who I loved as Two Faced in Dark Knight) was very convincing as the President of The United States. I really have no complaints and feel that its the perfect action movie with a little bit of drama mixed in. This movie surpassed my expectations and it gets a grade of an A-.


Temptation: Confessions of A Marriage Counselor

I have seen almost every Tyler Perry movie that he has released and most of them have the same format: A woman has a troubled past/present and has hit rock bottom until her knight and shining armor(a good looking, successful man) comes in and saves her. This movie was somewhat different. The main character leaves the good guy and ventures over into the dark side. I think that this is the perfect movie that shows that the grass isn't always greener on the other side. Some parts were predictable but I thought it was a good movie overall and I think it deserves a B+ rating.


Have you seen any of these films? What did you think? Let me know in the comments section below....until next time later!

My First Audition

Hey guys! This past Friday, I went on an audition at BET studios because they were looking for a fan of their hit show "The Game" to be a special correspondent for a new segment called "Sideline Wrap Up" that would air after the show. I am a fan of the show and being an on air personality is my dream so I figured why not! As many interviews as I've done on my website and at Berkeley, I've never been on an actual audition before and even though I didn't get the job, it was definitely a learning experience for me.

I was 4th in line(arrived two hours before the scheduled call time at 10am) and talked to the other people auditioning. It's great to meet people that have the same aspirations as you do. It gives you motivation to keep going after your goals.

Before I headed into the audition room, I did a little interview on why I liked the show. It's important to be overly enthusiastic but still come off as convincing. I did the same in my audition. It was a bit intimidating having the spotlight on me and being asked random questions that could throw me off. I think I did pretty good considering it was my first audition. I know what I have to work on in the future(maintaining eye contact, talking a little bit slower) but overall, I am proud of myself. I can't wait until my next one!

Here's a couple of (funny) screencaps of me!

And here's the link to the behind the scenes footage of the audition(yup that's me walking all through the train station and through Times Square as well!)

Behind The Scenes Audition Video

Let me know what ya think!

Tips to Deal With (Finals) Stress

I know it's been a minute but I am back in action! This month has been very hectic for me because its is my second to last quarter before I'm done with school. It is a bittersweet moment for me and I am very grateful for all of the experiences that I have learned thus far. I have had a lot of obstacles to overcome and there have been times where I wasn't sure if I could complete all of my goals. Fortunately a few tips I picked up along the way helped me to accomplish my goals and get me to the point where I am now: a college graduate...well almost:)

Focus on the end result more than all the work that you have to do to get there.

I know this may sound crazy but it worked for me. When I had a 20 page paper to complete for one of my classes, I thought to myself "How am I going to finish this paper...even though its double spaced, it's still a lot of work!" I thought about how good I would feel once I completed the paper which was the last assignment in the course. I thought about how meaningful the paper would be and how the work represented how strongly I felt about media manipulation (the topic of the paper was "Beauty As a Marketing Tool") and all of these thoughts pushed me to finish my paper...and once I was done, I felt really good and realized all of the hard work was worth it.

When you feel overwhelmed, take a break and indulge in a guilty pleasure.

Sometimes having too much pressure on you to complete something can be a disadvantage. When it gets to that point it's good to do something that you enjoy doing that will take your mind off of everything at the moment. My guilty pleasure is watching YouTube videos while eating macadamia chocolate chip cookies(don't judge me!). Do whatever it is that makes you feel good and that will take your mind off of whatever is stressing you at that present time. In cases like these, distractions can be a good thing.

Talk to someone who can relate and possibly help you out

As I was writing my paper, I had times where I could not think of anything to write. I didn't just want to write meaningless information to fill up the pages(as tempting as that was) so I called my friend who took the course the quarter before and asked her for advice on how I should format my paper. She was very helpful and could relate to my anxiety which made me feel better. She also encouraged me and would check up on me via Facebook messages and texts to see how I was doing. Those little things made all the difference and gave me the extra boost of energy I needed to keep writing.

Sometimes we are inside our heads so much that we forget that our problems aren't as bad as they seem...every experience brings about a lesson and makes you a stronger individual in all aspects of your life.


Good luck to everyone on all of your final projects! talk to you tomorrow:)

A Very Special Valentine's Day Gift

The roses that I received today:)

"Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It's the one and only thing you have to offer."

Barbara Kingslover

This quote is so powerful to me as a blogger because I can drive myself crazy thinking about what sounds interesting and will entice readers and post the most entertaining/thought provoking blogs but sometimes I seem to lose myself in the process. My voice is my voice and trying to be something else in order to appeal to others defeats the purpose of having my own blog.

Since today is Valentine's Day and I wanted to come up with a "Do's or Don't List" or "The 3 best/worst V-Day Experiences" but I couldn't think of anything. Why? Because I'm usually like Scrooge on Valentine's Day. Things never go as I expect them to so I say "bah humbug" to the whole day altogether. Today was different though. A bouquet of roses were sent to my house from a special someone but along with those roses I received something else that is priceless. I received some clarity that was long overdue.

I expected the actions that happened on Valentine's Day to validate me and reassure me that things were going just the way I expected and when they didn't happen that way, I would feel like I was a failure in one way or another. My expectations were based on things that I wanted to happen but knew wouldn't based on history. I kept coming up short because I expected more from others instead of more from myself.

They say insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results and my Valentine's Day issues were no different. Once I was honest with myself, everything became crystal clear and put a smile on my face. Now looking at my roses, I can appreciate them now because I accept them as the thoughtful gesture that they are and not the overblown "Disney Fairy Tale" fantasy that I expected them to be.

I still believe in happy endings but I know now that I can't waste time waiting for someone to do it for me when I can create my own;)

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Snowed In

My view from outside my window 

I knew from the moment that I woke up this morning that my plans for today (and tomorrow) would be cancelled because of the snow. When I was little I was soooo excited anytime it snowed. I would wake up early, pray that school was cancelled and if it was, I'd shower, get dressed and run outside. Now whenever it snows, I feel trapped. I can't really go anywhere because no one wants to go in the cold, warm up their car and drive somewhere else in the cold. The only option I have is to stay inside and find something to do to occupy my time.

I took the snow as a sign to get the rest of my homework done which is what I have been doing all day for the most part. I am a procrastinator but the snow gave me no choice but to get my work done. I have one more assignment to go but I decided to take a break and catch up on some of my favorite television shows. I told you guys about Hulu Plus before(www.huluplus.com) where you can watch all of your favorite television shows for $7.95 a month. It's very reasonable and well worth it so I was able to catch up on the latest episodes of Law and Order: SVU as well as my new favorite show, Scandal( last night's episode was crazy!) Hulu Plus was definitely made for slow snowy days.

I also started reading a new book that I downloaded on my Kindle App. The book is called "Manology" and it's co-written by R&B singer/actor Tyrese Gibson and Hip-Hop legend Rev Run from Run DMC. I love reading any self-help relationship book written from the male point of view and this one has proven to be entertaining so far. I will give you all a review of it as soon as I am done!

Even though I thought this snowy day would leave me twiddling my thumbs and/or pulling my hair out of frustration, I was able to get a lot done. Guess I need to be trapped inside more often! Just kidding!

If you have any creative ideas on what to do when you are snowed in, let me know in the comments section.

Later!