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The day I made my earthy appearance
Honestly, my birth was one of the greatest things to happen to this world. I was born at the famous White Plains Hospital in White Plains NY. It's so funny how I was born at 7:22 am yet I hate the morning, like I hate it. I was the easiest of my mom's 3 births, which isn't a shocker because I'm the oldest. I weighted 8 lbs and 10 ozs, I know I was pretty fat but it's okay, that's just the baby weight talking. -
The first time I jumped off a diving board
I was 4 years old in daycare and we had swim class in the community center right next door. I've always liked the water because it can keep me occupied for hours...literally. Our swim instructor Mr. Antonio took pride in teaching young kids to swim. He asked who wanted to be first and jump off the diving board into 13 feet of water. I was the first one to raise my hand, pretty crazy, I know. Ever since that day I've always loved going to the pool and/or beach to have a great time. -
#BlessUp
People think getting baptized is just getting your body dunked in a pool, however, there's so many religious aspects to it. Growing up in a Baptist Church, being baptized was symbolic of accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior. Having a relationship with Jesus, who I believe is coming back again for his people is very important to me. I start and end my days with prayer, that's what I grew up around and then I was able to experience for myself that prayer definitely changes things. -
The Passing of the Best Grandma Ever
My great grandma was my favorite person on earth. Sometimes life feels like a dead end without her. We all used to take a trip to Walmart Supercenter in Fishkill every Saturday and then go to Crack Barrel after. When my grandma moved to Florida my family practically lived there in the summer time, we would go to the library in her complex as well our favorite ice cream place, Simka's Sweets and sit at the little river at the end of the complex to look at the alligators, I miss her so much. -
Moving to the 845
Moving to Brewster honestly changed my life for the better. I started out as the only black kid in almost all of my classes, but I didn't let it stop me from being in all AP and honors classes. It most definitely wasn't easy, some of my teachers felt that I wasn't in the right place. On the first day of school I got asked if I was lost before they even took attendance not realizing I was supposed to be in there. It hurt at first but then it just pushed me to keep going and prove them wrong. -
First Civil Rights Tour
Going on the tour was an eye opener for me, an African American girl. How many people knew that Jewish people played a very active role in helping African Americans gain their freedom? We toured different parts of Georgia and Alabama. Those 3 days felt like a whole week. We were able to meet Joanne Bland who gave us her story about being a young witness on the Edmund Pessus Bridge. We also got the opportunity to mean Hank Thomas, one of the Freedom Riders during the Civil Rights Movement!!! -
My First Real School Dance
My 8th grade dance was the first school dance I've been to where I was able to dress up and get pretty from head to toe. This was my first year in Brewster so I knew I had to make an entrance. We found this blue dress in Macy's for $18!!! The jewelry was from my grandma's box that I keep in my room, I had to keep her with me. My aunt did my makeup and we took pictures right outside my house :) People left school early to get all dolled up, it was so cool to see them not in sweatshirts or jeans!! -
The Birth of Baby Sisi
Sierra is one of my 2 sisters who happens to be 15 years younger than me, I know pretty crazy. My other sister is only 3 years younger than me. I love Sierra so much but she is such a busy body, and her attitude is like mine which I'm not very fond of. When my mom returned back to work, it was kind of hard for me to hang out with my friends on the weekends because she worked overnight at the Arbor House, which meant I had to watch Sisi. Me and Sisi have the best older-younger sister bond now!! -
Team natural
As a young black girl, I always felt that I had to straighten my hair to be pretty or be accepted by other. I didn't feel pretty when my hair was twisted or braided, it just wasn't the "way to go." When I look back I can say that cutting off my straightened/damaged ends was one of the best things to happen to me, besides the fact that I did it myself. I love being able to embrace my curls and actually stand out from the crowd. Going to buy hair products makes me so excited, I love being natural. -
My first college tour
People think college is far away, it's seriously not. Going on the tour made me realize that there's a lot of planning and research that goes into picking your home for the next 4 years of your life after high school, if not longer. We only visited HBCU's, which stands for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. My #1 school is Howard University in Washington D.C. and once I toured it, I knew it was where I wanted to be. I got a letter in the mail from them, prayerfully, I get accepted. -
Bahama Mama
To be honest, not having a Sweet 16 was worth it. One of my best friends felt the same way because we ended up on a cruise to the BAHAMAS!! It sucked not being able to go with my family but we're going to make up for that next summer. Did I mention that it was my first time on a cruise? I forgot I was even on a boat, it was so fun doing all the different activities each night. Docking in Nassau, Bahamas was my favorite day because we got to spend of whole day as Bahamians!! I got a NICE tan! -
Getting accepted into NHS
Being a Junior already has a lot of pressure to it. It's time to apply for colleges and crack down on what you want to do after you graduate. Applying for NHS just adds more pressure, it causes you to zoom in on your character, leadership and service in and around the community. Not everyone can write a character letter about themselves or ask a teacher for a recommendation letter based on service and leadership. It takes a strong person to do that, I'm glad I was able to complete that task.
