Top 5 Things to Know When You Get to College

Top 5 Things to Know When You Go to College

1.    

            Read your syllabus!!!!

This important document tells you the do’s & don’ts of the classroom, your professor’s pet peeves (lbvs), and school policies. Most importantly this documentation tells you when assignments, and papers are due as well as when tests are on deck. Remember college is not like high school and your professor will not go out of his or her way to remind you when things are due.

2.      

    Office hours!!!

In addition to your syllabus giving you the 411 on assignments, it also tells you when your professor is available. Take this opportunity to meet with your professor and ask questions! Let me repeat, ask questions! Build a relationship with your Prof during office hours, especially if you attend a large to mid-size university. Please note that 9 times out of 10, you are just another number, so showing your face during office hours and building a rapport with your professor will separate you from the rest. Going to office hours gives you an advantage. Trust me, by doing this a B+ can turn into an A- real quick just by carving out time to go to office hours. Many professors have an open door policy for office hours, while others require you to make an appointment. Learn which one your professor subscribes to.

You’re going to be B-R-O-K-E!

You’ve been told a million times that, if you go to college you will make more money. This is true to a certain extent. You’ll make more money over time than a person with just a high school diploma, but before you get to that job with the great salary, you have to finish college, and while you’re in college you will be broke. Sorry to break the news to you, but everybody can’t be about that stripper life. Have you seen strippers lately? The requirements have changed, and unless you look like Blac Chyna, you’re just going to have to suck it up and find ways to enjoy your brokenness. Being broke in college is actually fun when you’re in college. You come up with alternative ways to have fun with your college pals like: yelling out your dorm windows to hear the echo, dorm room parties, running through the halls of your dorm, playing the Questions game, Frat house parties, etc… Trust me, you will make a way out of no way!

4.       

    FREE FOOD!

For some strange reason free food is always available at school. It’s like they have a special fund for food or something. If your meal plan happens to run out mid semester no need to fret, there’s a department, fraternity, sorority, or some type of organization on campus hosting some event, where food will be served.

5.       

      Meet New People!

The people you meet in college are some of the coolest people you’ll ever meet in life! College is all about new experiences, new adventures, and meeting new people. I know your friends from home are dope af, but gaining new college pals can be rewarding and enlightening. Share your differences, embrace your differences. Learn about cultural differences, not just in relation to race.  Meeting new people helps you network for future references and endeavors. New college friends help you to learn, grow, create and help you gain a better understanding of life and the world around you. And guess what? Your college friends just may ending up being your friends for a lifetime. 

What About Your Friends?

FRIENDS

In the year 1992 TLC came out with a song entitled: “What About Your Friends”. Little did I know in that same year I’d meet my very best friend in room 219 on the 2^nd floor of Pierson Elementary School. Then a few years later, I'd meet my other best friend at the House of Prayer Missionary Baptist Church. I am grateful for my best friends and my good friends. When this song came out, it was so catchy and fun. I would sing along to it on the radio and watch the video on Video Soul. I liked this song so much my cousin Shonda videotaped it for me on VHS, so that I could watch it as much as my heart desired. (Shout to you Shonda, you da real MVP) The meaning of this song when I was seven years old didn’t carry much weight, but as time has gone on, I’ve come to realize the importance of friendship. I have discovered what being a friend is and what to actually look for in a quality friend. So, if you’re ever wondering who your real friends are, how to spot a friend, or how to be a friend, take this simple questionnaire given by T-Boz, Left Eye and Chili.

1
    What about your friends?

Like for real, what about them? Are they kind? Are they loving? Are they supportive? Are they honest? Your friends are a reflection of you. Do they share your same values? Are they trying to rob the store or are they trying to start a business? What type of energy are your friends bringing to your space? Are they lifting you up like Rafiki did Simba or are they tearing you down like Scar did Mufasa? 

Do they have your back? Like literally have your back? Like that time I was at a comedy show, decided to get up in the middle of the comic’s routine, bent over cause I dropped something, showed my butt crack, and my best friend went out of her way to cover up my big ole booty before the comedian could have a roasting session. That’s what I mean by having your back. Somebody willing to help you, so you are not looking bad out here in these streets. Please note that the comedian still had a field day with my behind, but instead of just roasting me, he roasted her too and we laughed like two cackling hens!  

Me, my best fran, and Comedian Donnell Rawlings

Will they stand their ground?

     This one is simple. Will your friends stand up for you when you’re not around? When others are having a READ session and you’re the topic of choice, will your friends stand up for you, or will they read you for filth with the crowd? When others turn their backs on you, or when you’re not extra poppin’ anymore will they still stand for you like the Beyhive does for Beyonce’? Will your friends stand for you, good, bad or indifferent?

Will they let you down?

Sometimes it’s inevitable to not let someone down. I totally get that. Maybe you’re unable to make it to an event or you forgot to call back or text when you said you would. But don’t let your friends down when they truly need you. If your friends make it their business to constantly let you down, then maybe it’s time to let homeboy or homegirl go. Deuces!

.       Are they gonna be low down?

This is when it gets real. Are they gonna date your ex-boyfriend that you ugly cried about? Are they going to make up rumors about you? Are they going to lie on you or to you? Are they going to reveal that secret that you confided in them about? Are they secretly jealous of you? Are they wishing your blessings to come to an end?  Are they going to be all on the record and dancing in the music video of your demise?

.      Will they be around, or will they turn their backs on you?

Will they be around? When my mother died, I felt like I was dying too and my friends came to my aid like America does for foreign countries. Quick, fast, and in a hurry! I mean they came to my aid so quick, it was astonishing! They came complete with hugs, love, prayer, food and encouraging words. When my heart got broken into tiny little pieces by the men I loved, they talked me out of committing felonies and reminded me of how fabulous I am. They emphasized that those creepazoids just didn’t deserve me. When I was with child, my friends let me crash their parties with my big self, cry on their shoulders, rubbed my belly and made me laugh. Whenever I went on one of my acting adventures they were there. When I didn’t have the best jobs they were there. When I didn’t look and feel my best they were there. When I was broke.com, we found alternatives to have fun that didn’t require money.  True friends won’t turn their backs on you no matter the circumstance!

What about your friends?

The Savage Life of Aunt Flo...

The Savage Life of Aunt Flo…

History Note: Aunt Flo, has been around since B.C., I’m convinced she’s the reason Eve was so tempted to get a piece of fruit from that tree. She was craving something sweet…

Aunt Flo usually shows up when she damn well pleases. You may have met your Great Auntie many years ago when you were just a Tween. And as the years moved on, you learned to tolerate her visits. She appears while you’re at home, watching the not so secret life of ratchet chicks on Mona Scott Young’s favorite network.  You suddenly get the urge to eat every piece of chocolate on planet Earth; yet your stomach feels like it just went ten rounds with Rhonda Rousey. You give into that urge because the magnetic force inside of you is pulling you to that Snickers bar, like a 2 ton truck and you can’t control it. Not to mention you were doing great on your latest healthy lifestyle change and down 2lbs, but you feel like you easily picked up 10lbs due to the fact that you’ve been eating chocolate like there will be a famine in the next 7 days. All of this has made you cranky and irritable and craving more chocolate.

I mean, you knew this day was coming, because every 28 days Aunt Flo comes over to terrorize and invade your body like a rapist from an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

 She causes you to have blackheads. She makes you emotional. She interrupts your pH balance, causing you to sweat the like a teenage boy in gym class. Every bathroom break looks like a marked off, yellow taped homicide crime scene.

She brings hyper-pigmentation to parts of your skin that could do without it. She makes you tired and sluggish. Then, to add insult to injury, as if you’re not going through enough, she has you feeling and looking bloated. You be like damn Flo, WTF? 

You literally want to rip your own uterus out of your body and spike it into another universe. Your multiple visits to the gym per week have come to a halt because the way your body is set up at the moment, cardio and fitness in general is not an option.

The thing that makes Aunt Flo so savage is that month after month, although you despise her visit, you give into the fact that you need her. Like you absolutely need this broad. As a woman you need Aunt Flo as much as you need air to breathe. So you stay capping for this heffa because without her, you wouldn’t be able to bare children and her presence allows your body to replenish those eggs.  If she doesn’t show her red headed self, it could mean: pregnancy, sickness, stress, menopause or a slew of other things. If she doesn’t come visit you on time you be in straight panic mode. You be praying like, please forgive me Jesus for anything I ever said or done. Please just let her show up! She’s the ultimate oxymoron of your life. You love that she comes, actually you have a sense of relief when she roll up; but you hate her all the while because she hurts you. She physically and mentally hurts you. Then, 28 days later you anticipate her return and do it all over again.  Damn… she savage as hell!