Life’s tough… get a helmet

When you’re younger it never crosses your mind things won’t turn out the way you imagine they will. When you’re younger you imagine your future ten different ways in a hour. You watch friends and family and strangers fail and succeed, making notes in the back of your mind what they did right or what they did wrong. A child is able to see the world in front of them clearer than anyone else because they’re allowed only to observe; there’s no distraction from doing. All with the hope that with enough knowledge and research and planning you can be successful.

If you want to make God Laugh
then tell him your plans

The scariest part about growing up isn’t realizing we have no control over what happens. That’s a given; we’ve known that all along, our entire lives. We see example after example that anything can happen at anytime, everyday. The scariest part about growing up isn’t waking up one day realizing how far you’ve deviated from your dreams. We wake up, we make choices, we work to survive- it’s what we do. The most terrifying part about growing up is realizing you never saw it happen. Worrying about things that we knew would happen and couldn’t change made us accept decisions, not make them, and miss life, not live it.

Let go of the life you thought you would have,
for the life you currently have

I don’t trust my own taste in men. Every guy I’ve ever fallen for coerced me into dating them with humor and persistence. Every guy I’ve ever thought  I would fall in love with has been a waste of imagination and fantasy. FOR THIS REASON, I resigned myself from wishing for the guys I thought I wanted. I don’t look for them, I don’t chase them, I don’t react when I see them. I let it be. The guys meant for me will happen in time and I trust that. If I can believe this about men, why can’t I believe it about the rest of my life?

SPOILER ALERT: I can. And I will.

It doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m doing because I will end up where I’m supposed to be- we all will. We pretend that our dreams and fantasies are truth, but they’re not. See, there is no certain place we’re supposed to be. There is nothing we’re supposed to be doing. Thus, if there is no wrong place, we must accept wherever we are as right. Everything is happening exactly as its supposed to because there is no comparison. We’re all exactly where we’re supposed to be.

The sooner we can live and let live, you’ll realize how happy you already are. Are you really mad Drake is making 25 million by 25 and you’re 26 on the struggle bus? No, because you don’t even like rapping. Are you really mad you’re not Kim K? NO because you would never want a sex tape, especially with Ray J, two failed marriages, or to live everyday remembering you lost REGGIE fucking BUSH (and there’s really no coming back from a loss like that, poor thing). We emulate these people because they can do one thing better than everyone else and thats live. They take sex tapes and make millions of dollars worth of lemonade.

MLK Day

• Today I will watch all of the movies I try not to watch too often because of the anger that builds up inside of me.
• Today I promise to watch those movies and to try not to let it change the way I feel about white people tomorrow.
• Today I will remember those who fought for me.
• Today I will take time to bask in the blessing that is my life today.
• Today I will find a way to help make a better tomorrow. And I will do that everyday for the rest of my life.
• Today I will take all my pride in being an African American woman and flaunt it.
• Today I will reflect on the journey we’ve made, and the journey we still have to go.
• Today I will ask myself how I’m helping others.

Today will be no different than any other day. Everyday I am the same African American woman.

That moment when you’re working and you realize you’re smiling. Find something you love, then do it. Do it well enough and you might even get paid.

Growing up is weird

Everything I understand as I get older:

Is it possible

I recently read an incredibly well written article questioning whether or not you can choose who you love. Love, this eternal passion we’ve romanticized beyond capability, was broken down into an attainable feeling. Is love a science. Are a discussion of set questions, 4 minutes of gazing into one anothers eyes, and an open mind the key to finding love? Can we choose who we fall in love with?

Well apparently, yes. Yes, we can.

Is it possible we never truly fall in love with anyone, but instead we fall in love with the ways others perceive us.

Every relationship I’ve ever had, granted only a few, have made me feel like I am the spirit child of Beyonce and Kim Kardashian. The guys have always believed me to be intelligent, strong willed and beautiful. In actuality im only averagely smart, and moderately pretty. All that mattered was that in their eyes I was that girl. When I was with them I had the confidence to wear leggings everyday, bold lipstick colors, and do math problems for fun.

There are starving children you say? No worries, ill solve it!

Isn’t that how love should be? Being in love should mean bringing the best out in one another. Otherwise, whats the point in spending your entire life with another person. As the saying goes, I can do bad all by myself. I want someone to do wondeful, beautiful things with.

But I diverge from the topic. Perhaps we’re too hasty to assume more people can’t bring out the best in us. Instead of assumimg it isn’t love because you didnt get that feeling at first sight, lets give it the old college try. Let’s all just pretend that anyone we meet could be the one and see what happens.

I mean, if you had asked me ten years ago if I would marry Matthew Lewis… well I would have been offended. I probably would make a very clever but nerdy joke like “I would neville marry him” … lolz. Look at him today though- Obviously, I would be the one missing out.

If you’re confused about that entire reference then we will never be friends and you should just move on to the next paragraph.

My point is that I believe we all have the ability to find love if we just put a little more effort in. Open your mind, maybe your legs, and go out there and make someone love you.

The Turning Point

When a blog becomes more than an assignment. When blogging becomes your entry back into writing. When you remember why you love words.

Its time to share.

I love reading because, good or bad, everyone has a story. Stories you might never otherwise know. Picking up a book is like uncovering a secret, or meeting a new friend, or sometimes just learning about a friend you thought you knew. Words open up doors to endless possibilities.

Reading is hope.

Im a young African-American woman, pursuing her M.S. degree in the town she grew up in. I have no boyfriend, no career, and no claim to fame. I am not the smartest, prettiest, funniest, nicest or most interesting person you will ever meet. I have one brother, my parents are still married, and im overweight. I watch too much netflix, im a master of nothing, and I like puppies and giraffes. I never fully mastered any one instrument or sport. I often wish Drake would fall in love with me. I dream to one day write a novel. Im nervous I will never meet my full potential. Im self conscious of the way I look. I become overwhelmed with fear that ill never find someone to settle down with. I worry someday I may settle. I want the house with the wrap around porch and white picket fence- but I want 4, all on separate continents. I want to find love, but find every reason to deny it with great guys I meet. I am not a great christian. I want to be the popular girl with beautiful friends, but cant stand to be around most people for more than 2 days at a time. I rushed a “white” sorority. I want to help people, but worry I dont care enough. It took me years to love my curls as much as my straightened hair. I preach about awareness and being informed, but the colbert show is all the politics I can take. I am not original, creative, or memorable. I am not special. Somewhere in there is a story. An unoriginal story albeit, but there has to be a story. And if in the process of finding it this serves no more purpose than as a way for loved ones to remember me or old friends to creep on me, so be it.

Lets begin.

“Free monitorin…

“Free monitoring tools confuse the market. They make it look easy. It isn’t”- Zach Hofer- Shall, Forrester

I think this quote in a nutshell explains the importance of being a social media professional. We are currently living in an online world, and the internet is only expanding. If we think social media platforms play a role in our lives today, then they will own us in the future.

This is why social media monitoring is essential for businesses. Once upon a time if someone thought negatively or positively about your brand, only the people who personally know them would know. However, personal circles have grown. Depending on your social networking reach, your opinions and ideas of a brand could be shared with millions of people at one time. And with the power of “likes”, Retweets, and reblogging, a small comment can blow up. Now, if the comment is positive this is great marketing- it’s what you dream of. However, if the comment is negative, you need to know how to stop it from spreading and literally ever second counts.

Don’t be fooled though, social media monitoring is not easy. If you’re able to master the right tools though, it can become your best friend. Hootsuite University is a social media monitoring tool that teaches you how to gain the most out of Hootsuite. It’s hard and time consuming… but you learn a thousand tricks that make monitoring simple.

To be a professional in any business you’re going to have to know how to use social media and how to decipher analytics, The best thing you can do to set yourself apart is also know how to successfully monitor the networking sites.

Hootsuite Certified

Hootsuite Certified

Not even being “Facebook Official” as ever made me feel as official as being Hootsuite Certified. I received my Hootsuite Certificate this weekend and now I feel reasonably qualified to perform any social media task. Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration… But I do feel qualified to monitor social media for company, which is a small accomplishment in itself.

I have been using Hootsuite for about a year now. I started when an internship I held asked me to update their multiple Twitter accounts. So when i learned about becoming certified I thought it might be a waste of time. Like, excuse me, I know all I need to know!

As usual, I was wrong.

Benefits of becoming Hootsuite Certified:

• Learn all tricks you can do with Hootsuite
• Learn how Hootsutie can assist with multiple social media platforms
• Begin thinking like a social media professional
• Learn how to effectively create your brand presence on social media
• Let professionals know you’re Hootsuite Certified- You are capable of monitoring their social media platforms
• Feel like a boss

I honestly can’t say enough good things about Hootsuite. It makes life easier, and it only takes two seconds to sign up. If you want an edge up on your resume, get certified- Hootsuite Certified.

 

Rutgers Coach Mike Rice Fired

Recently Rutgers coach Mike Rice was let go from the University due to his abusive coaching style with his players. Videos arose of Rice physically harming players as well as yelling offensive comments at the players during practice. It’s not a pretty sight.. but was it worth him losing his job?

Where exactly is the line drawn between a Coach being abusive and a Coach being aggressive? Coaches like Bob Knight have been admired by others for his aggressive tactics in coaching. While other coaches like Jim Leavitt, who physically assaulted one of his players during halftime for not performing adequately, lose their jobs. Woody Hayes went years abusing his players before anything was said. It in fact took Hayes punching a player for anyone to even mention his abusive nature. So why now is Mike Rice being attacked for his coaching style?

Violence in sports has been a reoccurring problem in college athletics. While most the coaches ultimately lost their jobs, why does it take so long? And what is the criteria? Does a Coach have to punch a kid before action is taken? Is mental abuse simply a Coach being too tough?

There is a difference between a Coach being tough and a Coach abusing his players. The sooner Universities are able to distinguish between the two, the sooner this problem can end.

Dear Social Media, I believe we have a crisis

What is a social media crisis?

a.) When your ex- bestfriend hacks your Facebook page?

b.) When Twitter exceeds it’s limit and you can’t refresh your timeline?

c.) Any issue that arises in social media or that becomes amplified by social media and results in a negative impact on stakeholders, brand reputation, brand bottom line, or a client.

Surprise! The answer is C.

A social media crisis is any event or issue that arises within a company, organization, or for a celebrity via social media that poses negative risks to the brand. With social media growing as quickly as it is, a social media crisis is close to inevitable. All a crisis takes is one customer/ user of the brand expressing negative content about a brand on a social media platform. If not addressed properly, the content is liable to spread like wildfire. However, there are varying levels to a social media crisis.

There are 5 stages to a social media crisis:

It all begins with a triggered event. This event could be unprofessional conduct, an offensive social media update, or a comment from a disgruntled customer. Through social media this event is amplified, which means others have become outraged by the incident as well. By this time, the brand at fault needs to respond with an apology or explanation. You want to make sure that the whole brand is on board with a single message being sent. Soon you will find a few parodies, a couple of articles making light of the situation and addressing the concerning event with humor. By this time you can assume that the incident is blowing over. As a company you should learn from the experience and set new policies to prevent this situation from reoccurring in the future.