In.The.Black

Go ahead, Google my name; you know you wanna. I started to title my Intro blog “Who I Be,” but I’m thinking that would be too ghetto. I’ll settle for the standard “About Me” and introduce myself…

By no means am I rich. I don’t go on Tom Joyner cruises (yet) and I don’t by Coach, Loui Vuitton, or Prada (I’m ashamed to say I used to buy knock-offs at one time, though). I don’t rub elbows with Halle Berry, Will Smith (so fine), Oprah, Denzel Washington (also fine), T.I., Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, Chris Brown, Beyonce, or Mary J. Blige. Actually, I’m about $35,000 in the red from student loans, credit cards, and my car loan, hence the blog name- I’m trying to get back in the black instead of in the red. I live by myself and pay rent to my mom for the house, I drive a 5-year old Mitsubushi Eclipse Spyder, and I go to a 40-hr/wk J.O.B. (I call jobs “Just Over Broke”)…and I don’t have an I-phone. Why do people always ask if I have an I-phone? Do I look like I should? Anyway, This blog isn’t one of those, “I’m rich and I want to inspire you to do the same.” I am an African-American Generation Y-er who has a keen interest in the seemingly “small” how-to’s in young adult life. I find myself giving (often unsolicited) advice to a number of people about how to prepare yourself or your children (parents, if you’re reading this) for college and life after college. Of course, I am in this age group myself and I am not speaking from a professional point of view. My credibility comes from the fact that I RECENTLY went through the process, that I have a number of contacts that are employers and college advisors, and most of all that I’VE MADE THE MISTAKES.

Here’s a “quick” history about myself: I’ve actually lived in rural areas most of my life. My mother works for a government agency, and my biological father was an anthropologist. After my father died, my mom married my stepdad who was a pastor in a fairly small Central Florida town (I’m tempted to call it a village). Unfortunately, my stepdad died while I was in college, but will always be remembered as my encouragement to do better.

I went to a medium-sized high school where I enrolled in their dual-enrollment program so that I ended up going to high school and college starting in 11^th grade. I graduated as Salutatorian with my high school diploma and my A.A. degree from Lake-Sumter Community College in 2004. After looking at Harvard University, Howard University, and the University of Florida I actually settled on neither of these and accepted my offer to attend Stetson University. A blog about my decision to attend Stetson University should follow soon. Anyway, I started Stetson as a Political Science major and decided that politics and/or economics were hard fields to break into, so I switched to a General Business major-adding a year to my college education. I graduated from Stetson with honors (magna cum laude) in the Spring of 2007, and followed up my college internship at the Department of Transportation by getting a job there.

I was just about to say that I’m a pretty normal person, but I think I’ll just list the things I like to do and let you be the judge. I like to read novels (Harry Potter-type ones), I like to shop, listen to music, travel, and hang out with my friends. However, I only do these things if I have the time and/or money to. Lately, I haven’t been doing much shopping or traveling, feel me? That said, I’m somewhat of a serious individual. I don’t watch a lot of TV (sorry music video and College Hill fans). I don’t listen to the radio much-maybe NPR or talk radio. I don’t go out much-mostly because I’m post-college broke, but also because I’m not a “clubbie.” I’ve never been to BET’s or MTV’s Spring Break/ Spring Bling events. I’m serious… especially when it comes to money. When I first graduated college, I can’t tell you how many work at home scams (and downright stupid legitimate work at home companies that don’t pay hardly anything) I’ve worked for. I’ve spent more money on how-to guides to start a business… and just got incorporated like last week. Everything changed when I stopped reinventing the wheel. The Black community has resources, grants, assistance, and information out there; I just was too arrogant to look. So please, stay tuned… step into my world and look around!

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