Growth is something that is inevitable. From the moment we are conceived, the growing process starts. This is only growing physically, which happens to everyone as time goes by. But what about growing mentally? At young ages many people are stunted mentally and emotionally, which prevents our mindsets from growing in a healthy manner. Growth to me is being able to put myself in situations and/or predicaments that broadens my mindset, therefore making more room for my own personal growth. I keep an ever growing mindset by never getting too comfortable in my current situations. When you get too comfortable, growth is something that almost becomes impossible. I always strive to keep myself challenged by learning new information and allowing myself to not get offended when I am critiqued, because that also stunts growth. I always think positive and never believe that one little inconvenience is the end of the world. To keep a growth mindset is to never be afraid of growth, as it is always something positive that influences me for the better.

The Proud Family has an episode titled “Romeo Must Wed” that impacted me. In this episode, Penny’s school is having a play based on William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, in which she plays Juliet, and her crush, Kwok, plays Romeo. This was the first time ever in my life that racism was introduced to me. Kwok’s parents told Penny’s parents that they did not want Penny and Kwok to be friends anymore after the play. Penny’s parents assumed that it was because of race since Penny is black. Kwok’s parents were of Chinese descent, and they had arranged for him to be married from before he was born and did not want them to be romantically involved. Even though in the show it was a big misunderstanding on Penny’s parents’ side, it still was enough to impact me and make me aware of other people’s cultures, as well as racism.

Being a highly influential figure is something that can be both a blessing and a curse. With great power, comes great responsibility. It is important for you to be wise, to spread positive messages to people, and to use this power of reaching the masses with good intention, while also setting an example by your actions. In today’s world, there is a lot of injustice happening before our eyes that gets little to no coverage. One of these many injustices being human trafficking. As someone who actively uses the social media platform Twitter, everyday I notice more missing persons on my timeline, more specifically who are women of color. It is not crude to say that most people that go missing in this country are women of color. This is no coincidence for many reasons, the major one being that the abductors know that this country does not care much for black and brown people as they do for white people. They take advantage of the systematic racism that has been put into place to disadvantage people of color. A lot of the time you see people getting away with their crimes, or getting off easy, which is unfair to the victim and their families. If I were a highly influential figure, I would stand for the justice of these people. I would also stand for the assailants to get the punishment that is appropriate for the distress that they have caused.

Track List of the vibes/mood of my college experience so far: 1. Intro: Should've Cherished You (Freshman Year) 2. Buggin' Professors 3. 4.0 GPA 4. Work ft. 11:59 Deadline 5. The Midterm Interlude 6. 2020 Remix ft. COVID 7. Grad Dreaming The name of the playlist is "Never Give Up". The artists' name is "Schoolgirl Hue"

What exactly does it mean to be optimistic? According to Oxford's dictionary, to be optimistic is to be hopeful and confident about the future. To me, being optimistic is me trying to survive in my own everyday life while fighting my negative thoughts. It often feels as though I am fighting for my life in my mind. Ever since I can remember, I have always had a challenging life and have felt like the odds were against me, even before the pandemic. No matter how hard I try to think positively about the outcome of my life, I cannot seem to stop thinking about everything that is wrong with it. Nowadays especially when you can see that there are people that flow through their lives so effortlessly, it makes you think to yourself, “What is it that I am doing wrong?” or “Am I really good enough?”. What has helped me to stay optimistic through these tough times that I live in is remembering that I am young, and that my life has not really started yet. A wise man once said that comparison is the thief of joy, and I can attest to that. I am trying to unlearn the habit of comparing my life to others that I see on social media because most of the time it is not realistic. It has taught me to only have positive thoughts and to say positive affirmations to myself every day because it all starts in the mind. There is no way to be optimistic without having a positive mindset for yourself first.

Something that I love about myself is my character as a person. A lot of times people give me compliments telling me that I am pretty, but to me, it will never compare to getting a compliment saying that you have good energy or good character. I take so much pride in the way that I carry myself not only as a woman, as a good Samaritan. Not many people in this world care about genuinely being a good person, this is something that I have noticed ever since I was a child. Me having good character was not something that was taught to me, it was something that I had in myself all along, which is a flex. The challenges that life threw at me made me a good person with morality. I always try my best to influence others into being the best them that they can be, because when you look in the mirror it is not only about what is on the outside, but what is on the inside as well. I love being able to be satisfied with how I am on the inside as a good person.

My favorite scientific discovery hands down has be electricity. It was discovered by Benjamin Franklin in the 18th century. Electricity is my favorite scientific discovery because over the years look how much it has advanced and allowed so many things to be possible. My whole physical existence depends solely on electricity, especially now with the pandemic and having to spend more time at home. All of these things are stuff that my generation depends on to get important tasks done. It also helps with other issues such as climate change, food production, protection of ecosystems, and strengthening the economy. The higher the use of electricity, the higher it improves education, entertainment, health, protection, comfort, and productivity. Electricity has allowed for a lot one of the most technological items to evolve, the computer. The computer, in my opinion, has to be one of the greatest inventions known to mankind. The computer has given us so many opportunities to do stuff, and it would not have been possible without electricity.

My favorite piece of art is The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli. It was painted in Italy sometime between 1484 to 1486. It is my favorite painting because I love paintings/sculptures from the renaissance period in history, and I love Roman mythology. The painting depicts the goddess Venus on the beach right after her birth as a fully grown woman standing on a scallop shell nude. The detail of this painting is very beautiful, and it gives a soft, feminine, and romantic feel to it that I love. Venus is an iconic goddess because they named a planet after her (Venus) and I am also into astrology and Venus is known as the planet of love, beauty, prosperity and many more. This painting is a painting that I would have to say that I have seen the most people recreate. Whether if it was a recreated artwork or a real-life recreation.

My dream life looks like me being fully immersed into my career while also being fulfilled by it. I will be surrounded by great people that love me and that add some sort of value to my life. I will be managing my career while also having multiple streams of income so that I can live comfortably, while also sharing wealth with others that need it. I really love the world of fashion so having my own fashion/clothing line is definitely something to be included in my dream life. Travel to get new experiences is going to be a routine thing for me, without it having to cut into my everyday life. I will be able to try new foods, experience new cultures, and just be able to live life freely and responsibly as well. Down the line I also want to get married and have children because I want to be a mother one day.

One way in which I try to have a positive impact on the world is by random acts of kindness. As someone who is struggling with depression and mental health, it always uplifts me when I receive and random act of kindness. You never really know what people are going through behind closed doors and what your kindness can do for them. I personally remember compliments and how people were nice to me when I needed from years ago. It just goes to show you how powerful words really are and how they can make a positive change for people. When people feel good about themselves, they perform good in their lives. It all starts in the mind with your emotions. Every time I am out, and I notice that someone is feeling down or even if I like what someone has on or their hair, I dish out a compliment. I also show acts of kindness to everyone around me because that is how I personally would want to be treated. You would be surprised how much of a positive impact it would have to the world if most people had this mindset.

The most helpful piece of financial advice I have ever received was to start saving and putting money aside as soon as possible from a young age. I got this advice from a financial seminar that I attended for my Principles of Management class. The speaker of the seminar really stressed how important it was to do this because he said that it was his biggest regret because he us now in his 40s and just now starting to do it. It was basically stated that even if you put $20 aside for the week, and invested about 7%, you will end up with $15,047.44. The whole point of this method is to start as early as possible because the earlier you start, the more you will save. Saving and investing is the key for long-term comfortability. Budgeting is also something that is important that comes into play with you saving your money. For example, when purchasing a car, it is better to get a used car, rather than purchasing a brand new one off the lot because as we all know, the value of the car goes down as soon as you drive it off the lot. Also, be mindful of your monthly expenses which will include, bills and monthly subscriptions. The less monthly subscriptions that you have, the more money you will save. It is important to make use of your student discounts as much as possible, and to always check for codes and or student memberships before you purchase or subscribe to anything.

On December 25, 2020, I had lost my cousin Derick Gedeus to an accident that happened in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He had a bad reaction to drugs that he took and jumped to his death off the highway. His death was very shocking to myself and my family because it was unexpected. Ever since COVID-19 came into play last year, funds have been low, and it has been hard paying for college and I did not know if I was going to finish because of this. His passing caused me to focus on finishing college and to work harder, which is what matters the most to be right now in my life. My cousin went to FAU, but he sadly did not get the chance to finish. He would have been the first person in our family who would have graduated college. It made me realize how short life really is and how we must cherish the time that we spend with our loved ones because you never really know when it is going to be the last time that you ever see them. It made me want to fight to achieve getting my bachelor’s degree in Finance to be a first-generation college graduate not only for myself, but for Derrick.

My experience as a Black woman has been a remarkable one. I am so grateful to be a part of such a culture rich in talent and creativity. I honestly do not see myself being another race. I can remember at a young age being taught that I must always be better at what I do because other races will have an advantage over me, which is the color of their skin. Being a black woman is really a blessing that some people try to make unfortunate. People like to stereotype black women as being loud and angry, but I feel like we sometimes give off that kind of energy because of how life is so unfair to us, not only from other races, but within the black community. Being the first daughter in a Caribbean household, I had to ‘grow up’ and mature at an early age because there was a lot of responsibilities that was put on me. These experiences shaped me into being an independent young lady that is very goal oriented. It has shaped me into being hardworking and very disciplined. It made me want to be the best at what I do and made me value my education a lot. I am a first-generation college student in my family, and to me it was a big milestone. I will use my experiences to fight for social activism by letting other black women know that it is possible to do whatever you want to if you put your mind to it and believe you can achieve it. After I graduate, I plan to start my own foundation that is for black women to help them get the help that they need that I never got to make it easier for them to pursue an education. I will uplift black women using this method to work with them to bring about a change in the society that we live in for the better.