Summer 2005 Professional Gatherings…A Recap
This summer has definitely been one for networking and preparing for the future. It has been the summer of intellectual gatherings, power networking and wearing sophisticated suits. I cannot complain. I am where I want to be. This is my life….
NAACP CONVENTION
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People held their 96th National Convention in my hometown, Milwaukee, Wisconsin last week. I had a wonderful time representing Howard as the Vice President of our youth and college chapter. Some highlights from the convention include: a forum on the psychology of racism, the traveling blacks in wax museum, Julian Bond’s opening/closing speeches and meeting NAACP members from across the nation.
Excellent programs and sessions were held. I volunteered at the Health Symposium which was hosted by the Cream City Medical Society of Wisconsin. I assisted with seating the members of the dais and passing out programs for the attendees. Timely and essential information was disseminated. It was great to be in the presence and talk with leaders in the current healthcare/ health policy sector.
The ACT-So competition and Awards show were phenomenal. Whoever says that the youth of today are going to hell in a hand basket should have seen those individuals. They displayed their talent in a plethora of areas: performing arts, visual arts, science, math, business and the humanities. As you can tell, I was impressed. The competition was about developing the person as well as the talent. With that focus, no one is a loser. All youth should participate in ACT-SO. It is a terrific program.
Summerfest, the nation’s LARGEST/LONGEST music festival was also in town at the time of the convention. There were two weeks of performances, both from local and national artists, on 12 stages. Each night in the Amphitheatre, a major headlining act came as well. The food is delicious. Every year at Summerfest, I get a flowering union, fried turkey leg and a super slushy. I missed seeing Talib Kweli but I did get go see Fantasia perform. She put on an energy-filled show.
All in all it was a great trip. It was refreshing to go home, spend time with my family and friends and sleep in my own bed and eat my father’s fried chicken and ribs.
AMP UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM
This past weekend I attended the Alliance for Minority Participation’s undergraduate research symposium. While I won’t bore you with the details of my research, it was fun to travel to Hampton University to present it as well as see what research other students are doing at other schools.
Now that I have been to Hampton, I further assert that Howard is the better HU. I like Hampton’s campus and their facilities, but the surrounding area has nothing on Georgia Ave. It is so quiet. One has to travel so far to get to places that are open late. My friends and I went to the WORST IHOP EVER. Our CLOUDY (not purified) water was poured from a faucet that was used to wash dishes. The cook was a smoker. He left almost every 10 minutes to smoke. PLUS he had a cold and would sneeze and blow his nose while he was cooking. We were worried about the healthiness of our meal. But we didn’t get a chance to try and ingest it. We were served BURNT pancakes the first time. Mind you, we spent about an hour waiting for the first batch. The second batches of pancakes were undercooked. It took them ten minutes to cook those. The hurriedness showed…BOO! We didn’t wait any longer for the third batch. We left a complaint for the manager and called it a night.
We went to “Club Walmart” after IHOP. I was crowded. I didn’t expect that at 1:30 in the morning. That was interesting experience. I never thought there would be such a place that sold peaches, thongs, guns and hooker wear. Yes, Walwart sells hooker/stripper apparel. The platform shoes that light up when you walk were there. Crotchless panties were there. Revealing, sheer dresses were there. What was worse was the fact there were girls at the symposium wearing those shoes, thongs (I am VERY SORRY TO MY EYES FOR SEEING THAT! Shakes head and sighs…) and short, sheer dresses. I was very concerned. I didn’t know if I was going to a professional affair or the club. Despite their attire, they hand good research.
THE AFTERMATH
My enjoying the “good life” hasn’t come without some stress and strain. Dr. S covers a chapter a day during our lectures. I missed a great deal of material. I was absent two days when I attended the NAACP conference and another day at the AMP Symposium. The day after I returned, both times, we had exams. BOO!
It took perseverance and Fanta orange soda (Sidebar: My suitemate says that she thinks I’m addicted to orange soda since I drink it so much. She wants to send in a letter so I can become the orange fantana. Can’t you see me doing the dance and singing ‘Want a Fanta? Don’tcha want a Fanta?” Wouldn’t that be great?...lol/smiles) to pull all-nighters just so that I could begin to feel prepared. My first exam grades weren’t the best but they were ok. I am not going to drop the class. I must make the best of it.
I’m glad that all of my traveling to conferences is complete. Next, is the College Democrats of America (CDA) Convention this weekend. Thankfully, it’s in DC so I can go after work and class. YAY!
NAACP CONVENTION
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People held their 96th National Convention in my hometown, Milwaukee, Wisconsin last week. I had a wonderful time representing Howard as the Vice President of our youth and college chapter. Some highlights from the convention include: a forum on the psychology of racism, the traveling blacks in wax museum, Julian Bond’s opening/closing speeches and meeting NAACP members from across the nation.
Excellent programs and sessions were held. I volunteered at the Health Symposium which was hosted by the Cream City Medical Society of Wisconsin. I assisted with seating the members of the dais and passing out programs for the attendees. Timely and essential information was disseminated. It was great to be in the presence and talk with leaders in the current healthcare/ health policy sector.
The ACT-So competition and Awards show were phenomenal. Whoever says that the youth of today are going to hell in a hand basket should have seen those individuals. They displayed their talent in a plethora of areas: performing arts, visual arts, science, math, business and the humanities. As you can tell, I was impressed. The competition was about developing the person as well as the talent. With that focus, no one is a loser. All youth should participate in ACT-SO. It is a terrific program.
Summerfest, the nation’s LARGEST/LONGEST music festival was also in town at the time of the convention. There were two weeks of performances, both from local and national artists, on 12 stages. Each night in the Amphitheatre, a major headlining act came as well. The food is delicious. Every year at Summerfest, I get a flowering union, fried turkey leg and a super slushy. I missed seeing Talib Kweli but I did get go see Fantasia perform. She put on an energy-filled show.
All in all it was a great trip. It was refreshing to go home, spend time with my family and friends and sleep in my own bed and eat my father’s fried chicken and ribs.
AMP UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM
This past weekend I attended the Alliance for Minority Participation’s undergraduate research symposium. While I won’t bore you with the details of my research, it was fun to travel to Hampton University to present it as well as see what research other students are doing at other schools.
Now that I have been to Hampton, I further assert that Howard is the better HU. I like Hampton’s campus and their facilities, but the surrounding area has nothing on Georgia Ave. It is so quiet. One has to travel so far to get to places that are open late. My friends and I went to the WORST IHOP EVER. Our CLOUDY (not purified) water was poured from a faucet that was used to wash dishes. The cook was a smoker. He left almost every 10 minutes to smoke. PLUS he had a cold and would sneeze and blow his nose while he was cooking. We were worried about the healthiness of our meal. But we didn’t get a chance to try and ingest it. We were served BURNT pancakes the first time. Mind you, we spent about an hour waiting for the first batch. The second batches of pancakes were undercooked. It took them ten minutes to cook those. The hurriedness showed…BOO! We didn’t wait any longer for the third batch. We left a complaint for the manager and called it a night.
We went to “Club Walmart” after IHOP. I was crowded. I didn’t expect that at 1:30 in the morning. That was interesting experience. I never thought there would be such a place that sold peaches, thongs, guns and hooker wear. Yes, Walwart sells hooker/stripper apparel. The platform shoes that light up when you walk were there. Crotchless panties were there. Revealing, sheer dresses were there. What was worse was the fact there were girls at the symposium wearing those shoes, thongs (I am VERY SORRY TO MY EYES FOR SEEING THAT! Shakes head and sighs…) and short, sheer dresses. I was very concerned. I didn’t know if I was going to a professional affair or the club. Despite their attire, they hand good research.
THE AFTERMATH
My enjoying the “good life” hasn’t come without some stress and strain. Dr. S covers a chapter a day during our lectures. I missed a great deal of material. I was absent two days when I attended the NAACP conference and another day at the AMP Symposium. The day after I returned, both times, we had exams. BOO!
It took perseverance and Fanta orange soda (Sidebar: My suitemate says that she thinks I’m addicted to orange soda since I drink it so much. She wants to send in a letter so I can become the orange fantana. Can’t you see me doing the dance and singing ‘Want a Fanta? Don’tcha want a Fanta?” Wouldn’t that be great?...lol/smiles) to pull all-nighters just so that I could begin to feel prepared. My first exam grades weren’t the best but they were ok. I am not going to drop the class. I must make the best of it.
I’m glad that all of my traveling to conferences is complete. Next, is the College Democrats of America (CDA) Convention this weekend. Thankfully, it’s in DC so I can go after work and class. YAY!
posted by SdotK at 9:25 AM
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