The 2011 Year End Review

As I sit back in my little apartment in historic Bowling Green, Ohio, I am starting to reflect on this year and how much I have learned. I have lived in Ypsilanti, Detroit, and now Bowling Green---> all this year! Upon graduating from Grad. School at EMU, I had no idea where I would start my career at. I wanted to go down south.....but clearly that didn't happen. However, I did go SOUTH of Detroit :-) I am back at my alma mater Bowling Green State University working as a Multicultural Admissions Counselor. I love my job because I am able to interact with students and educate them on all the opportunities Bowling Green State University has to offer! From September to late November, I did ALOT of traveling, recruiting students. We call this Travel Season. Travel Season went very quickly and I really enjoyed going to different high schools & college fairs across Ohio and in Detroit! Alright, thats enough about my job and me kicking off my career.

I just want to touch on a few topics below and bare with me and my "randomness"

Friendships

I have started to evaluate alot of my friendships this year, and not that I am about to start cutting people out of my life but I have realized people change. If you have saw the movie "Bridesmaid's", you would understand the humor in my statement, "people change." Sometimes people change for the better and/or worse. Sometimes people don't even realize they change.

I am the type of person to maintain relationships with friends via text messages, phone calls, emails, twitter, facebook, etc. I am also a firm believer that communication works two ways. It is a two way street. Enough said. 

Also I have realized friedships change once people get involved in relationships. Sometimes they remain constant and sometimes a bridge starts to exist. Some of my friends are REALLY great at balancing their relationships, friendships, and families. However, some people have not been as successful as others.

Lastly, I believe this is all apart of growing up and recognizing people's strengths and weaknesses. I would encourage people to just learn from it and move on.

My famous quote: "I will not be renewing your friendship contract next year"

Family 

You can not chose the family you were born into. Some people really enjoy being around family and others really enjoy being around other people's family (ME). Lol. I always tell people "sometimes you have to love your family members from a distance." This quote can used in alot of situations when an issue or a problem arises but you have to be mature enough to make a decision that YOU feel comfortable with. I don't want to go too deeply into family because it is a very intimate topic and even though I am a family oriented person, I am choosing to just stay outside the box. 

Music 
We need not to address my taste in music but I will highlight that I have broaden my horizon this year by listening to artists I would not normally listen to. For instance, Adele, Marsha Ambrosius, LMFAO, Frank Ocean, Childish Gambino, and others. I would call myself a "music head" and just really enjoy listening to all types of music. Some of my favorite albums this year would have to be:

1. Watch The Throne- Kanye West and JayZ
2. Last Train to Paris- Diddy Dirty Money
3. Nostalgia- Frank Ocean Mixtape
4. Miguel- All I Want is You (This was released in 2010 but I didn't put it into rotation until 2011)
5. Take Care- Drake
6. J Cole- Cole World
7. Lil Wayne- The Carter 4 (I am usually NOT a HUGE Wayne fan but I really like this one for some reason)
8. FAME- Chris Brown 
9. Childish Gambino- Camp

I also had the oppotunity to attend the Watch The Throne Tour in Detroit and sat in the 10th row with one of my best friends, Branden Snyder. I had an AWESOME TIME and definitely a highlight of mine from 2011!


**These are actual pictures I took while at the concert**

Whats Next?
2012 is literally around the corner and I always start to feel some kind of way at the end of a year. It's a mute feeling but I am always ready to embrace the new year. I am really interested in seeing what opportunities may arise for myself and my friends. I am really big on networking with people because you never know what opportunity could present itself. We will all be turning 25 next year so I am sure there will be MANY parties,celebrations, and gatherings to attend. I am promising at least one blog update every 2 weeks next year, if time permits. Lastly, enjoy your holiday, be safe, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!