Blog

The past 12 months have by far been the most interesting in my life thus far. From personal accomplishment in my own life, my career, and my music, to being regulated with set backs from doors closing to bridges burning.

Coming to Terms is the concept I came up with for the title of my project…that as of now is still an album 23 years in the making. As the year progressed the concept seemed to turn into the theme of my life at this point in time.

-There is a clear distinction between my family and my relatives.

-I finally said peace to UCR as a student and as a staff member.

-Being a poet and conscious emcee doesn’t mean I cant still make a club banger with a message.

-I love making music, spoken word, and performing but I also want to work in student affairs.

-Sometimes you have to go backwards in order to move forward.

-Putting out old flames for good…

This was my first full year out of college, and i can honestly say i don’t miss school. However, I do talk about going back to school all the time but its not because I miss school as much as it is a necessity to obtain a masters degree in order to advance in my field.

I’ve been working in student affairs for almost a year now and I have to say I love this field. Its has been a blessing to have the mentors I’ve had and to be encouraged by people that I’ve looked up to throughout my college career. If it wasn’t for them I probably would have taken the path of becoming a teacher and more likely than not gotten tired of teaching the same lesson 6 times a day. Thankfully I was brought into student affairs and was exposed to a whole new realm of education and inspiration…but as much as I love working in student affairs I’m not exactly happy with where I am with it right now…but you have to start somewhere and that is why I am so grateful for the opportunity to be working at USC. With this stepping stone I intend continue my growth professionally as well as getting back into the classroom as a student.

As for my career with music…I have really been soaking it all in. I try to get a hand in as much as possible and at times it gets a little over whelming. So let me recap what that all entails. I did the performing circuit for a couple months as a spoken word poet, had somewhat regular studio sessions to start brainstorming/working on my solo project “coming to terms,” i started a record label (which might not fit the typical mold of record labels), I wrote/composed for some other artists, and i think the best part of it all was all the amazing and talented people I’ve met along the way.

Just reflecting back on the year as a whole, I feel I had a very successful year. Opportunities were presented and I capitalized. New friendships were made, and old friendships were strengthened. I saw struggle and witnessed perseverance. I experienced the power of change by positively influencing one person at a time rather trying to change the whole world at once. More importantly, i stopped trying to reinvent the wheel.

My goal for this year is to obtain stability and balance. In order to be successful i must find that balance between work, school, music, and loved ones in order to maintain my progress towards achieving my personal and professional goals while still keeping my sanity.

To those who know…1 year down, 9 to go…

I’m 23, and life has just begun.