Does Anyone Deserve to Die Because of their attire?

Academics:

The past week was the week coming back from Spring break. The overall weather was a beautiful transition from NOLA to Mass. Academically, it absolutely sucked! I had a load of work that were meant to be done over the break, which I obviously didn't get to as a result of my exciting adventure to NOLA. Healthcare was a pain in my behind like usual. I had to do a movie writeup on a movie called Lorenzo's Oil. Lorenzo's Oil is documentary of two parents who refused to give into the deadly affects of Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD); an inherited disorder, usually from the mother; the X gene. It affects mostly males, from the ages of 5-10. All boys with ALD unfortunately dies within 2 years of diagnosis. It is insane how sometimes you have absolutely no control of what happens in life. Then of course I had my usual 40 page chapter reading for friday; 3 questions that take about 2 typed pages and a 2-3 paragraph response, AKA "Point to Pounder". Why do I have to end up with the hardest professor in Healthcare?! Wel, he is my academic advisor so I can't get raid of him even if I tried. As for Literature and Phisolophy? Bested on my Philosophy mid-term exam on thursday. I will be an extremely unhappy camper if I do endup with anything less than a 95.  Literature? It was quite an adventure. Talking about adventure, I had to read The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland in two days period. Well that was the original assignment atleast. All I can say is, Thank GOD for SPARK NOTES! I mean, I did tried and got through about 25% of it, just wasn't having it. Portrait workshop and Figure drawing always drains me of course. So time comsuming! But hey, it what I love to do, so I can't complain much. I actually came up with my best work, working with my favorite model by far in figure drawing.   

Random:

I don't often read people's essays when I am at work (Admission's office, Admission's assistant), but when I do finally decide to do so, I come across some really awsome ones. This past wednesday, I came cross one of those essays that get you really thinking about your priorities in life. In the essay, a kid from Barthel Mass (Gardner High School), talked about the experience which almost took his life. According to him, his apendix ruptured while away for boys state leadership program. He suffered from a severe infection and was transported to three different hospitals. What kept this poor kid going? Where was his motivation to survive? Visit from friends and families, text messages and phone calls. Simple things we take for granted everyday. "It is true, we do reap what we sow" AKA the power of being a good sincere, loving person. Anyways, What did he learn? Great amount of emotion and mental strength. "That it is not take anything in life or granted because everything could change in a split second". Such a smart kid. But you know what I find interesting about this situation? It takes a near death experience or some type of tragic event to come to this realization. I know I can surely testified to that, it hasn't been that long since my personal experience. Anyways, another leason he learned was; "work hard for things you want and never let someone tell you, 'you cant". Aman to that kid! Its a constant struggle, but its all about the mental toughness.

I also came accross another interesting story in my MOSAIC (Men of Service, Academia, Integrity, and Character) meeting this past sunday. The Story of young Treyvon Martin. Whay a sad story huh? I noticed all the publication on it through facebook but never was aware of the full story until sunday. My reaction? What kind of society we live in today, where a person as young and innocent as Treyvon can't look comfortable in public? Since when has it been a crime to wear hoodies at night, in a cold rainy weather? Since when is it ok to be followed, stalked by an adult who feels the need to be a neighborhood hero? Didn't we all learn as kids to runaway from strangers? It really is a shame how terrible the American society is at times. Why do we continue to live in hate, stereotypes, and discrimination? Talking about profound questions...

Anyways, I had quite an interesting interaction with my portrait workshop professor this past monday. well, the question is, how often do a professor leave her work to come examine your traps in the middle of class? As far as i know, it doesn't happen at all. Well, in my portrait workshop class, anything is possible. While helping out a partner who is was modeling for, she randomly goes; "Oh my gosh, Thomas, look at those traps! How often do you workout?" Not really taking her serious, I asked her maybe five seconds later, "is that a serious question?" And so I told her how I workout 3-days a week for about an hour each. Then comes the unexpected, "Oh woow now I feel like I have to touch you!" HUH? I laughed hysterically with the rest of the class, ignoring her comment. About a meeting later she gets up and start walking over. "I told you I have to touch you! Ladies don't be jealous". And so she comes over and starting examining my Traps and Delts. How do you possibly react to that?! I basically just sat there and laughed my butt off. And yaeah, of course it was the same professor who put me in a really awkward position o the first day of class, "OMG we should draw you! You have the greatest face!" Such an interesting class I have. Even better, What a professor! She brings light into my life, even when I am not in the mood to laugh.

Oh yeaaa of course, Shout out to my official study buddy, whose been on my back to include her in my blog! Ryleigh Failla, aka RyRy, aka RyRy-licious, aka partner in crime at the Shields Science Center, aka "Word to ur MAMA!"    

My NOLA Experiences: The Series IV

My NOLA Experience 
Part IV: Captain Sal's fried Chicken Gone Wild!

The overall week at the Olive Tree (name of where we stayed) was quite organized. As a whole, the KRUP crew was organized into 3 separate groups. Everyone in group were assigned to the same worksite and assigned specific chores throughout the week. Yes we had to do CHORES! As group 2, we didn't have meal making chores or bathroom duties. Thank God because I surely weren't willing to wake at 5:30am to make breakfast. Breakfast was open between 7-7:30am and I only made it on time twice out of the entire week. Not really a fan of breakfast so I thought I would take advantage of every second of sleep. But anyways, if I remember right my group chores were to do breakfast cleanup, dinner cleanup, lunch prep (which I did not participate in) and sweeping and mopping. The worksite set was pretty cool as well. Three groups were assigned to three different houses, all on the same street. The fourth group was stationed at a different site where they basically had to start from scratch. Meaning they did not have a structured house, aka they had to putting in walls themselves. Imagine the rain situation, not so fun. Within my assigned house, we were separated  into 3 smaller groups. The painting, doors, and the flooring crew. Each group had about 3-4 people, whom we worked with all week, doing the same task: painting, doors or flooring.  As a flooring expert, I thought I was going to have back problems by the end of the week. I literally spent hours and hours hammering away. I got so good at my job, I started thinking about quitting school and going into the construction business. It's a great workout, physically demanding, and I heard they get paid good amount of money. After the first day of intense work, me and a couple friends decided to see what Captain Sal's was all about. Captain Sal's was a fried chicken/sea food spot just a couple minute walk from the Olive Tree. Hands down, one of the best fried chicken I've ever had, all for a great price! Talking about cheap prices, me and of course ERIC went half and half on a 15 pieces mix of wrings, brest and thighs; all for only 11 bocs.  Although so cheap and so delicious, we could not finish the dish! Two almost grown ass men who eates a ton, giving into Captain Sal's 15-pieces of fried chicken! Just when you think it couldn't get anymore pathatic, we only ate half between the both of us. Yes only about 8 pieces of chicken total. I probably ate the eight piece knowing how much of a softy ERIC VANDERPOOL is! But the point is, Captain Sal's fried chicken doesn't play! Those things are like turkey size, just waiting to get the job done.  

My NOLA Experiences: The Series III

New Orleans

                                                              Part III: Adventure Sunday
To the city we went, specifically the French Quarter. We had only 2 hours to explode the city for the first time. With a map of the city and near by restaurants, everyone went about their own way the second we stepped off the bus. In my crew was Eric Vanderpool, Sam Navarro, Alex Navarro, Antonio and Dave Trotta, some of the collest guys I've meet at Stonehill. I can not begin to stress how sick I am of seing Eric! Well not exactly, but I what did I not do with Eric this past week? I hung with him daily, played scoccer every free time we got, ate with him, worked with him, and even slept in the same room with him! Anyways, for lunch we went to an outdoor restaurant called "Timeout", where the waiters wore referee uniforms. I thought that was pretty cool.  While we waiter for the orders, a Migician came about to keep us entertained. Definately one of the coolest things I've seen in awhile. I would love to see how the mind of a Migician works with illusions but that is probably taboo in the world of Migicians. Talking about orders, I ordered my first fried chicken dish in the South. I am not sure which one I was  more excited for; the taste of the chicken itself, or the fact that the dish was called "Sweet and Sweaty" fried chicken. I am not sure what exactly the ingredient was or which part of it was sweaty, but it most definately tasted Sweet but not so Sweaty! Latered that night, we had a community time like we usually did every other night or so. Community time usually involved working in small groups and reflecting on the day as a whole, and ocassionally, specific topics were gaven. The first night happened to be one of those nights when we were gaven a specific topic to reflect on. We were to reflect on what was encouraging and discouraging about the city. My response to what I saw as encouraging concered Bourbon Street. It was literally party 24/7. It was nice to see people smiling, laughing, and loving life once again after the aftermath of Katrina almost 7-years ago. The love and respect the people of New Orleans had for eachother and for tourists were like none I've seen in the North. It was also a relief to know and see that people like Brad Pit are making a difference in the city of New Orleans; by building houses for low income families who are trying to get back on their feet. On the other side of the spectrum, it was pretty discouraging to see the amount of lust that took place on Bourbon Stret. There were sex shops, gentleman clubs, and strip clubs in literally every other store. All on one street! First of all, if I'm not mistaken, that is terrible business. Second, it was just too inappropriate, a little too much. I remembered walking by one of the stores and a gentleman extended what looked like a busniess card to me and goes, "bubbies?" Such a FORCE! It just did not seem like the kind of environment a parent would want to bring a child in. Well, atleast I wouldn't if I had a child.

My NOLA Experiences: The Series II

New Orleans:

                                                         Part II: The Adventure continues...

I was up again at 6 in the morning when the majority people on the bus were still knocked out. Looking out the window, I realized we were some where in West Virginia. I saw nothing but small square looking houses, barns, cows, horses, lots of forest and moutains. I continously saw a couple little houses in the middle of no where and nothing but mountains for miles. I was thinking, because they have so much land and such little properties, a person can literally create his/her own separate world and not have to worry about any type of rules and regulations of society. Also no theft, no robbery, no gang violence, definately no cops, good or crooke; just peaceful silence for miles. It's only you and family, a couple neighbors, animals and mountains for days. Sounds alot like heaven if you were a hill-billy! The Ignorant me would ask; why the hell would anyone want to live out there, in the middle of no where? But I didn't because being born in Liberia I've seen it all. Like they say, "been there, done that". Well not exactly because I never exactly lived in such empty space. Looking back at things, I wouldn't have mind having some breathing space after all. From what I can remember I almost always found myself living in a family house with a load of aunts and uncles and a million cousins. Thats another story for some other time. Well anyways, we latered stoped for breakfast around 8:00 or so. Me and some old and new friends from Roger Williams and Weeton decided to see what life was like at Arby's. What did I discover?   Extremely friendly people and GREAT service. Is there such thing as great service in the North? Umm, yeah maybe once in a million years! Like in a fancy restaurant or something. My favorite thing about Arby's was how they took our names down and called us up when the orders were ready. My friends and I got a good early morning laugh when the cashier called me up for my order: "Tom!" Me: "Yeah?" It was hysterical because it sounded like a mother calling her kid down for dinner. Fun fact: People down South call hash browns "potatoe cake". Well, aint that interesting? At 8pm, we took a dinner break in Mississippi where I had the best pizza of all time. Myself, Josh, Tyler, Alex, Dave, Tomas, took a quick stop a Pizza Hut, thinking it was going to be your typical Pizza Hut. Absolutely not, it was the most classy/fancy sit-down Pizza Hut we've ever seen. Not that we ever saw any prior to the trip. We ordered 1-large meat-lovers, a large paperoni and a large cheese. They were all devoured back to back as they came. It was so good I can't begain to describe the juiciness of it. And of course, it only cost us about 6 bocs each. Great service, great people, delicious and cheap food; it does not get any better than that. And oh yah, of course it was the first time I saw Black People! So far on the trip atleast. Not 1, not 2, or 3, 4, or 5; about 90percent of the restaurant was ran by blacks. In the words of my good friend Yohannes, "NO LIE!"      

My NOLA Experiences: The Series I

New Orleans

 Part I: Intro to the South

The idea of a 26 hours road trip to NOLA sounds insane, but the bus ride it self was quite an advanture. From the movies to the talent show and of course the most uncomfortable sleep of my life. I literally cramped up in every position I attempted sleeping in. I most likely woke up three or four times during the night and stayed up for about 20 minutes or more at a time, whatching people sleep and looking out at the mountains and other cool land scapes. It was slightly creepy of me but I didn't have much of a choice. Like I said it was the most uncomfortable sleep I've ever had. Well on my creepy quest, I observed that people look pretty ugly when they sleep. I myself am pretty guilty of that, especially after getting to see a taged picture of me on facebook. Yeah, talking about Karma. I was comletely unaware of it until it was posted. Aside from watching people sleep, I saw some really cool sights. First one was at 3:00am in Virginia, well I didn't exactly know where I was at that point. But, It was a giant Cross lit up on the high way. If I have to guess, I would say probably about 20ft high. It was Sammy's (my bus buddy) determination of us being in the south, if that makes any sense. The Cross was a smart observation on Sammy's part, because such things are almost forbidden in the North, as far as I know. What a shame... And of course, Sammy had no memory of randomly being awake at 3am and seing a giant cross on the high way. She didn't even remember commenting on it! Such an interesting child she is. Anyways, I slowly dozed back to sleep for no longer than an hour and woke back up around 4:30am. This time, I recognized I was in West Virginia. I continued my quest of looking out in the moutains and saw one of the sickest sights I saw all week. It was 3-Crosses lit up on the moutains, just how it is portrayed in the Bible; Jesus in the middle of two sinners. Right then I felt as if I was in a totally different world. I also came to a realization that it was going to be a completely different experience than my past advantures. Like Burke the Philosopher would say, it was a sublime sight. Vast, beautiful, and overwelhming. One of many over whelming sights that were to come.

New Orleans! Here I come!

What Can I say, it was the week before Spring Break. Luckily for me, the Stonehill Midterm Gods spared my life because I had absolutely nothing to do this week. Well, nothing too stressful at-least. No major midterms exams, no test or quizzes. Leason for the week; I should try harder to keep up with class readings because it will eventually come back and bite me in the ass. If not, it will take me years to do an assignment that could have taken me no more than two hours. Oh well, what matters is actually getting the job completed and submitted, ON TIME. Oh yeah, I also learned that Campus Police can be a bit of a JERK during times when they are needed the most. I officially have a bit of an anger towards them because one cop decided to take his own sweet time to come let me back into my room.  And why was this? Well, because he choose to sit in his car, and talk on his CELL PHONE, while I stand anxious outside my room. And of course this was all with in 30minutes of me having to walk accross campus to work. And yes I was 10minutes late for work. But anyways, can't let such a silly incident ruin my excitment for New Orleans. I looking foward to meeting all the people of this great New Orleans I've always heard about. I love giving back, I loving healping people, but I also Love FOOD! I can't wait to see how the food is like. And oh, can't forget the fried chicken of course. Such a great opportunity and I can only really thank God for that. I am humbled to get to see what life is like in New Orleans after Katrina. Next week is going to be a great blog.

Peer Mentor = Best Decision I've made at Stonehill

This past week is by far the most exciting week I have had this semester, socially atleast. Not so bad academically but not exciting either. My only exciting academic moment I would say is getting an 85 on my Healthcare quiz after getting a 75 on the last one. I made a notecards for it almost a week before and never had the time to look over it. I thought I was going to bomb it but some how I pulled off a beautiful 85 and I am not complaining. One of my major assignments for healthcare this week was to come up with a topic for my upcoming research paper. I was thinking about Physical Therapy because it is something I would love to get into at somepoint in the future, but I chose medical malpractice instead thanks to my good friend Asad. As much as I love PT I don't think it's research material, I needed a topic I was unfamiliar with, and entertaining as well.  I also had a Philosophy paper dued on thursday. Most likely one of the easiest papers I have had to do by far, at Stonehill. Why was it so great? Well first of all, I was gaven a million topics to choose from. Second, I chose the easiest topic there was. All I literally had to do was read an article called Dead Baby Joke Cycle, summerize it and gave an evaluation and my comments on it. No thesis, no detailed analysis, nothing but me talking about how disgusting and sick minded Americans who like Dead Baby Jokes other sick humor jokes are. Can't get better than that, I love expressing myself. And of course the same professor AKA the great Valazquez gave us the option to vote when to take our midterm exam. And of course we choose the 28, almost a week after spring break, brilliant huh?  I think life and education at Stonehill would be heavenly if all other professors taught that way. Highlight of my week? Going to the Peer Mentor retreat at the Cape on Friday and Saturday. How can I describe my experiences? There is really no words to use that can truely express my feelings and thoughts towards it. All I can say is, Thank God for the opportunity. Applying for the program is hands-down, best decision I have made so far at stonehill. Words to describe the people I met: Great, Beautiful, Humble, Joyful, Family, Life Partners, Partners in Crime, Freaky, Where the wind blows, Peer Mentors etc. I can go on ever ever! Everyone is so unique in their own ways but yet we have so much in common! Talking about having alot in common, Colleen Marie, I met through one of the activities. She could potentially be my soulmate, well not quite like that but someone I would be friends with for a long, long time. The most random facts we have in common, and of course she thought or atleast over heard that I was adopted. Nope, sorry Colleen, though you think it would be cool coming from Liberia and being adopted, I have a lovely hard working mom at home, whom I love to death! Well, shes not exactly home at this moment, talking about Africa, she's there since saturday for the next two weeks. But anyways, it would be nice having to work with Colleen, but the chances are extremely low because we're both first year PMs. Like I said, overall, one of the best weeks I have had at stonehill and I can not wait to see where else or how far life goes with the PM fam from here. I love my ABS family as well, no doubt about that, but totally different experiences, and thats why I love my life!