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| Taking Pictures Around the Campus the Weekend Before Graduation Day |
When I first started my college career seven years ago, I had a dream to become a successful published writer and somehow be able to travel all over the United States and around the world, but I had no idea how to turn that dream into a reality. I started college at Prince George's Community College where I eventually received my Associate degree in General Studies.
During the first semester at Prince George's Community College, I enrolled in classes as a journalism major. For the entire semester, people close to me was asking me how I was going to complete my goal of becoming a successful writer. At the same time, these were the same people telling me how a lot of authors don't get their books published until many years later. Their comments really discouraged me into making me believe that I would never get my work published let alone become very successful at it. After doing some research on my favorite authors such as Nini Simone, I learned that they majored in Psychology while in college. This new found knowledge lifted my spirits and inspired me to continue my journey of becoming a published writer.
I originally wasn't planning to attend a traditional college when I started high school. I was really into modeling at the time and was hoping to attend The Arts Institute to master the craft once I graduated , but my mind changed when I enrolled in a program called, The Upward Bound Trio Program, at Prince George's Community College during the summer heading to tenth grade. Through this program, I was surrounded by a lot of people around my age and looked like me who had higher goals then I could ever imagine having for myself. This is where I thought about giving traditional college a try and my interest in modeling started to decrease dramatically. By the time I finished tenth grade, my interest in writing came back. For the next two years, I spent participating in creative writing activities such as writing songs and poetry, being a part of the yearbook team, joined the school's choir, and writing short stories.
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| Spirit Week at Upward Bound Summer Camp |
During my senior year of high school, I applied to a few schools around the country and in Maryland, but sadly I only received a small amount of scholarship money from schools or was denied acceptance. With the help from the Upward Bound program, they helped me with the FAFSA application and getting enrolled in classes at Prince George's Community College by the time the second session of classes started in September.
I would spend three years in community college and it was life changing. I was originally planning to stay at the school for no more than a year before transferring to a University. After learning that I could receive more scholarship money by graduating at a community college first, I decided to stay until completion. I never changed my major to Psychology because I learned earlier that not all the credits would transfer if the University didn't have a placement for the credits. That's why I changed my major from Journalism to General Studies.
While at Prince George's Community College, I reconnected with old friends from high school and family members who were also attending the college. I gained self-confidence with myself mentally and physically through learning about my peers background stories and compared them to mine. I learned that Black Americans, Caribbeans, and Africans were taught differently about each other and that is why there is a large divide among the entire Black community. I also got a set of poems published in the school's art and literacy magazines three semesters in a role.
Getting published showed me that it was possible for me to become published sooner than I thought and that there were actually a group of people who liked my work. It also showed everyone who was telling me how long it typically took to get published, that I was the small population who could beat the odds. Once enrolled at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, I applied to be the school's Newspaper poet and got the job. I was the one and only poet they had for the newspaper. I was the poet for one semester until they decided to take out the poetry section out of the newspaper.
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| One of the reveals for the PGCC Art & Literacy Magazine |
The atmosphere I received from UMBC was completely different from the atmosphere I received from PGCC. When it came to PGCC, it felt like a HBCU whereas at UMBC felt like a good representation of diversity working together as a community. I purposely chose not to attend an HBCU because I felt as through I had already gained all I needed to gained when it came to self-confidence and pride as a Black woman at PGCC so it was now time to expand my horizons to what the real world really looked like.
While I was gaining a lot of positive experiences at UMBC, the first semester was very nerve wracking. The old habits I used to pass my classes at PGCC was not helping me at all with my classes at UMBC. I felt all the students in all my classes was extremely smarter and ambitious than me. By midterms, I almost felt like a failure and should just drop out. That is until I had a talk with one of my psychology professor, Dr. Shawn Bediako, and he told me that all students especially transfer students had similar experiences and feelings during their first semester at UMBC. I did drop out of one class that semester though. Every time I hit a breaking point with my classes, I remembered that talk and kept pushing forward until the very end. Not too long ago, I went to an event on campus for an English course and ended up sitting next to Dr. Bediako where I told him how much that talk we had three years ago had really helped me with the future classes I would take after the first semester and that I was now considered a senior.
As you read the previous paragraphs on how I started my college career as a journalism major to graduating PGCC with an Associates in General Studies to later enrolling into UMBC as a Psychology major; you're probably wondering how I ended up graduating four years later as a double major in Psychology and English with a concentration in Developmental Psychology; well there is a story behind that too.
As I was enrolled at UMBC as a Psychology major, I was minoring in English because I didn't want to take only psychology classes every semester. While I was interested in Psychology since high school, I always had a passion and love for writing. By the time it was time for me to enroll in a college course level math class with a passing grade of C in order to take the last core class I needed for my Psychology degree, I changed my major to English on a Communication Technology track and minored in Psychology because I thought I wouldn't have to take anymore math classes, but I was completely wrong. I still had to take another math course because I received a D in Pre-algebra at Prince George's Community College; which was acceptable for graduating community college, but not for graduating UMBC or most universities.
After being a UMBC for a complete school year, I wanted to remain on campus for the summer. I found a job at Columbia Academy and made a deal with my Dad that if he paid for the summer rent for my apartment, I would enroll in the needed math course over the summer. My first day working at Columbia Academy was on Graduation day for Undergrads at UMBC.
While working as a preschool teacher aide and remaining a full-time student, I became inspired to expand my education. When I was looking at the different programs I could enroll in, I found an interest in the Developmental Psychology concentration. I though it was a Bachelor degree program, but it was only a concentration certification. In order for me to receive the concentration I had to complete a Psychology degree as a major. As I looked at all the credits I completed so far, it only made sense to just double major in Psychology and English while completing the Developmental Psychology concentration.
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| Working at Columbia Academy Took Pictures for a feature as UMBC Intern of the Week in October 2018 |
Fast forward to a year and a half later, I graduated from UMBC on May 23, 2019 with degrees in Psychology and English with a concentration in Developmental Psychology. The week following graduation, I spend going to a lot of interviews and received my concentration certification in the mail. The next week I was hired as a lead teacher in a daycare/ preschool center in D.C. called Goldie's. I've been working here for a little over a month now and my college education with my previous experiences working in a center is paying off greatly.
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| Just one of the Nature Spots on Campus |
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| At the School Library |
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| The School's Mascot. The Golden Retriever |
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| What Does UMBC stand for you say? University of Maryland, Baltimore County |
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| Graduation Day May 23, 2019 |
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| Graduation Day May 23, 2019 |
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| Graduation Day May 23, 2019 |
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| Graduation Day May 23, 2019 What's Hotter than 1 degree? 2 Degrees with a Concentration |
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| Working at Goldie's The D.C Local Fire Department came by to Visit the School |
So what's the plan now, you say?
Since the last month of college until now, I've been applying and interviewing for international teaching jobs to teach English as a second language. This process for me has been more competitive than finding a job in the states. I am also enrolled in an online course in order to gain my teaching English certificates before heading out the United States for international work. I am also planning to take the DMV test to get another permit and enroll into a local driving school. And lastly, I will be finishing up my memoir and getting that and my children books published through self-publishing.
From being in college for seven years, I've learned that college is all about what you make of it during your time there. It can become a positive experience or a waste of time, depending on the goals you have for your life. For me personally, I entered college with the mindset that I had a true passion for English and writing and it should be pursued. But, when I started focusing on getting a degree where I could get a good job and placed my passion in a folder, that's when everything went downhill. Once I regained my focus to make my passion work for me and create the lifestyle I have always pictured myself living, my experience in college changed dramatically. I also learned how to make college work for me instead of making college just work for them and the government.
My advice for current and future possible college students, do not pick a major for nobody else but yourself. When choosing a major do not pick it because you believe you will make a lot of money in the possible field. Pick your major(s) through your pure interest in the subject. Once you declare the major, find groups on campus and internships/ jobs that fits in that educational background and participate or apply for the internship/ job. This is the best way to know whether pursing that degree and entering that career field is for you. If you find out that the majority of the job does not interest you the way you believe it should, don't consider yourself a failure or that you didn't work hard enough to like the career choice because figuring out what you like and don't like when it comes to work environments is about growing into the person you are meant to be and what you truly want in life. Spend all your college years exploring your options and possibilities in all aspects of your life because being in college is really your last chance to be indecisive about your future career and it's an okay thing to do. Search for other programs you're interested in and change your major and internship that fits your new major and interests. Lastly, do not wait after graduating college to get a paying job. You never know when your going to need to pay for your way for certain things in order to get your degree. Those things can be paying what's left of your tuition, paying to fix something on your car, or paying for your health needs. Having a job while in college will make your resume look good too. Also, there is nothing wrong with attending community college. It is not like the thirteenth grade. It feels like a regular college campus just not as big as a University. You will also save a lot of money and gain additional scholarships by attending one as well. I wish you all the best of luck on your next journey as I'm entering mine. See you all next month.
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| These are the Titles I've Grown to Become Over the Years |
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| New Chapters Awaits Me |
