Yes, There is HOPE for African Americans

I know its late, but its been almost a week since Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. I figured that I'd delay talking about it since the day after everyone was gonna have something to say. Words can't describe how I feel at this point and time. I know that everyone says that its not about race, and I agree. In fact when I voted, I put my race on the back burner and looked at both of the candidates solutions to the issues and decided that Obama had the best plan for higher education. Im out of state so anything that will help ease the pain of paying for tuition is great. After he won, I still had his viewpoints at mind, but something else took over. WE AS AFRICAN AMERICANS HAVE ACHEIVED A MILESTONE. . . . .ONE THAT WE WERE TOLD THAT WE WOULD NEVER HAVE. His winning the election gave me hope, that for one racism didnt have as strong a hold on the country like it used to. Dont get me wrong racism is still around, but to see an African American in the White House is a sign that times are changing. The other thing that came to mind was that nothing seems out of reach now. It shows me that a little boy who has a dream can make it come true with a lot of hard work. I really didnt get to celebrate like everyone else (running along McKeldin Mall and to Route 1) cause some of my friends were mad, saying that America is gonna become socialist and that Obama's going to mess up this country beyond repair. Whatever, I still have a reason to be happy because all the blood, sweat, and tears, all the deaths and unneccesary beatings, all the threats and arrests, all the pain of the ones who came before me and my family, has all paid off. Ima finish up with a something that I seen that makes a lot of sense to me.

Rosa sat so Martin could walk. Martin walked so Barack could run. Barack ran so WE COULD FLY. LETS FLY TIL OUR WINGS FALL OFF

This Weekend

This past weekend was great. At first it sucked really bad because Halloween was cold as crap, but got better on Sat. I went to spend the rest of the weekend with my aunt and my cousin. I havent seen my cousin for about 7 years so I figured that it was time to chill with him. At first I was kind of nervous because I didnt know how he was. Most of my cousins from the city are stuck up and after about 5 min of being around them, I'm ready to leave. He was different though; in fact, we were basically just a like. The train ride consisted of us catching up with each other. After that we went to his brother's house so my aunt could see me and so I could meet his brother. We ended up chilling there for about 2 hours playing video games with his nephew and brother. After that we went to Chinatown to catch a movie. I have never been to Chinatown before so it was a new experience to me. After we left, we went back home and ended up watching Superbad until I passed out.

This morning we went to church. This church was also a new experience because it was atleast three times bigger than mine. It had to had been over 300 people in there. After church we picked up another cousin of mine and went to Pentagon Square. Over all this weekend end was better than any weekend I have been here. Most people would think that I would be boring because i didnt go out to party, but I was with family and to me that is better than partying any day.

Damn I Did It Again

I cant believe that I let that happen again. I think the girl that I really like is in a relationship with someone else. I dont know for sure, but it damn sure seemed like it. Im not hating on their relationship, its true. In fact Im glad that she found someone she could be happy with, and would rather her be with someone who she wont mess around one. Im mad that I always find a girl that I really and truly like, and play the friend card. How in the hell could I have missed the signs. I made up a handshake between us. She offered a spot for me to sit where she was stretched out. I turned it down out of respect for her cause people like to talk. Yup sounds like a real true friend. Like I said Im not a hater because Im truly happy for them if its true. I guess I have no choice now but to play the friend role that I rehearsed all to well. But I aint trippin because she's just one of the many girls in College Park

My Music Preference Has Changed

My preferance in music has changed a little over the last couple of weeks. When I first got here, all I listened to was Lil Wayne. Thats all we listened to back home. I guess you could say we were jock riders because everytime a car drove past all you would hear would be Weezy. I'll be the first to admit that I was one of them too. I own about 3 official albums of his and about 30 mixtapes. The thing that turned me off was that every mixtape that I had been getting had the same songs. That's fine except for the DJ's always said that it was an "exclusive" or "world premier" when I had heard it last month on a mixtape that I already had.

Maybe its also changed because I have been exposed to music that If I listened to back home, I woulda been laughed at. Rock isnt all that bad, like I thought. Ask anybody back home and they will tell you that I hated Rock. Now Im starting to like it a little better because I see that its not all headbanging music. Reggeaton and Latin music is hot too. I never listened to it before because I couldnt understand what they were saying. Now I just listen for the beats because some are even better than American Hip-hop's beats. Finally, old school rap is good because its not talking about shooting or dealing drugs

My friends have helped me have a greater appreciation for music because they listen to all types. I didnt start listening to Rock until some guys from my floor were blasting it in the lounge. Also my Muet 200 class has really shown me to appreciate different genre's of music

Friday Night

Friday night I went to this step show in Ritchie Coliseum. It was worth every penny that I paid plus more. I had never seen a step show before, so this was something totally new to me. It had to have taken alot of hard work because everything was on point. The steppers were in sync with each other, the steps matched the beats and music, and they even incorporated skits into the routine. It made me think about joining a frat because I was in the crowd with Blue Phi and it was like pure brotherhood, everyone was close. Even though some where on the other side of the staduim, the were still united because when one side shouted, the other responded.

Later that night I went to a friends house. I didnt really have that much fun and was ready to leave within 5 min of being there. Before I got there I was really pumped up, I felt like I could run a mile. After I got there I was like this sucks and I'm ready to leave. I think the only reason I stayed was because a girl that I knew was there. It got to the point though that I left when I was ready with the girl's sister because she was ready to leave also. I was kinda bummed cause I felt that I before all my friends, but I'm glad that I did because the girl's sister didnt know anyone from my school.

Overall Friday night wasnt a total waste

Nicknames

I have several nicknames so anybody feel free to call me any of them. I have Travi which my brother and sister started out calling me. When they were younger they couldnt talk that well and couldnt say my name, so my mom shortend it for them. My brother calls me Travis now, but my sister still calls me Travi when she wants something. My cousins all call me this and I thought that it was just a family name until my friends Liz and Lauran started calling me this. Im also called Trav by mostly everyone, I dont know why because its not as cool as the last one, but its more i guess its more formal. Atravesado is the next one. One of my Latino friends back home started calling me this. When I asked her what it meant she just said that its my name with ado at the end. It was kinda weird at first, but the name stuck and soon everytime I would talk in spanish they would call me that. I have plenty of other that I refuse to put down. (Thanks grandma and grandpa for giving me embarassing names and for Ashley who gave me names that got us both in trouble at home). Like I said feel free to call me any of them or make up any of your own thats not degrading.

Sleepy

Im so tired, that I cant hold my eyes open. I dont understand why because we got back early last night. I even went to bed at 3, which is a change from the usual time of 4 on weekends. I really didnt do anything different. I went to this party and didnt drink like always. The only thing different I did was dance a little. I just know that when I got back to the dorm, we were just chillin. I started falling asleep in the lounge, so I went to my room to hang with my roommate and some other friends. Next thing I know is that I wrap my coat around me and Im out. When I wake up, Im all alone, even my roommate wasnt there.

To make matter worse, I almost slept through church service today (Im so proud, I actually didnt oversleep and miss church). Hopefully, I wont be this way in class tomorrow and will actually stay awake in English class (Just playing Natalie, I always stay awake during your class).