The JOLO Experience

#ripdayday In the last two hours and change, I've sat down and read almost every tribute to Day Day under the above hashtag and I was so emotional just reading the wonderful things people had to say about him. Although I never knew him, over 2500 posts affirm of his positive character, his work ethic, his selflessness and his kind, warm heart for others. There was little mention of his specific accomplishments but you could tell he was an encourager, a visionary, a hard worker and many other great things. The legacy he left behind reminds me of how important my character and integrity is in my day to day life. People will remember me for who I am more than what I did. It made me think long and hard about what and who really matters. How will I be remembered? What will be my legacy? #mythoughtsonthissunday #prayingforhislovedones #prayingforhisfriend #andprayingforeveryonewholostalovedonerecently

Gotta be RELENTLESS!!!! NOTHING & NO ONE CAN STOP ME!!! I'm HUNGRYYYYY!!!

Going to dedicate this month to an in-depth research & study of my faves #MLK & #Mandela #BlackHistoryMonth #KnowYourHistory #ForeverLearning

Happy belated birthday to my new shero @thelopezeffect! Ms. Lopez, the principal of @motthallbridges in Brownsville, Brooklyn, has really given me all the inspiration I ever needed to pursue my career in education and eventually open up my own school. Teaching and serving underprivileged students is my gift, my passion, my calling. Yes, radio & media came in the picture while in college and I was successful for the time that I was on it but this is what really gives me true fulfillment. Knowing that I could change the world by teaching and leading young minds to change the world. For now I'm just walking in the vision that God has given me and that is to teach.

"Who's influenced you the most in your life?" "My principal, Ms. Lopez." "How has she influenced you?" "When we get in trouble, she doesn't suspend us. She calls us to her office and explains to us how society was built down around us. And she tells us that each time somebody fails out of school, a new jail cell gets built. And one time she made every student stand up, one at a time, and she told each one of us that we matter." -™@humansofny This is why I TEACH!!!! This is why I don't call out! This is why I get up at 5am, leave the house at 6 to reach work by 7:30! This is why I don't give up on my kids even when they give up on themselves!! Cuz I never know what impact my words and actions can have on them! Sometimes it feels like my efforts are worthless but this is my desire...for at least one child to recognize their abilities & know that they CAN succeed!! If you haven't read the full story follow @humansofny and read all the captions starting from this pic. They've raised almost a million dollars for this young man's school in Brownsville, Brooklyn. I'm proud to be a #NYCEducator. Thanks for being a huge inspiration in my life @thelopezeffect. You've added wood to my already flaming fire.

#BusyBeingCreative #VisionBoards #2015

These are 2 ppl I will forever rep! Happy birthday #MLK & #Aaliyah. They both shaped my life in tremendous ways. MLK & Mandela are one of the top reasons I choose to serve in school with my students, at church with the congregation, in my community with my neighbors and wherever else. They helped cultivate an attitude in me that is set to NEVER QUIT. Whenever I get fed up, face obstacles or simply think my service is useless or isn't producing positive change, I think of the sacrifices these two made in order to do the right thing. Their legacies will never be forgotten. Aaliyah, my all-time favorite singer and teenage idol, inspired my tomboyish street style and her music influenced my dancing style as well as my love for '90s R&B music. She's the only music artist I would actually want to meet! I love her & miss her ❤️ May these legend Rest In Paradise!

Police brutality and racial profiling protect NO ONE. It's time for systemic policing change. #JourneyforJustice http://thndr.it/1wyy1d8

PLEASE, ASK ME WHO I AM...

Yes folks, Jesus is our clarity when we are confused (for he is not the author of confusion). He is our way when we're lost. Our identity is in Him. He is our Father and we are His children. When he resides within us, that's when we really live! Submit your life to the Lord today and start living!

You have not, because you ask not! Christmas season is right around the corner and I'm already listening to Mariah Carey's rendition of "Jesus Oh What A Wonderful Child". I love the Christmas season--the decorations, food, family, carols ( I love, love, love carols), shopping, giving and most of all celebrating the birth of Jesus, my Lord and Savior. Earlier this year, I set up a Christmas club account at my bank, an account that would be dedicated to saving money to buy gifts for those I feel to bless during the giving season. I'm very excited that I won't have to take a lump sum of money from my bi-weekly checks to fund my Christmas shopping because of this account!! :D But anyway, I thank God for allowing me to be the independent woman that I am. It's a characteristic that I'm proud to use to describe myself. I worked my way through my undergraduate studies, paid for, registered and insured my first car at the age of 19, did not borrow a dollar from anyone during my 6 months of unemployment and still managed to be a blessing to others. Excuse the "I" but all that right there is because of God! He always holds me down. However, there are a few items that I've been wanting for some time now and because of bills and bills, oh and now school loans (bills!) I just feel like they'll never be mine. Maybe there's someone out there on tumblr or on the internets looking to give toward a worthy need this Christmas season. Would you please consider me? :) Everything I am requesting would be used to benefit my brand #thejoloexperience which inevitably would benefit others by spreading and implementing this powerful mantra--learn. grow. [and] succeed. I'm still working very hard on trying to acquire these things on my own but you would greatly assist in the process if you were to donate these items. May God richly bless you to bless me so that I could be blessing to someone else. My list is very short and simple. 1) 32GB Apple iPad mini (with Retina display, No Cellular) - $499 retail price. I want an iPad to replace carrying my heavy MacBook around to do certain tasks. I need a iPad because it's portable and lightweight which makes it easy for me to carry around. It's a device that can store a moderate amount of music, photos and documents, and is compatible with my phone and computer which makes syncing easy and fast. I'm very familiar with Apple products and I feel that the ones that I own/previously owned all serve their own purpose. My phone is for calls, texts, apps and e-mails when I'm away from my computer. My MacBook is for basically everything, surfing the web, writing papers, downloading, etc. but I don't like bringing my MacBook around because 1. it's heavy and 2. it's valuable to me so I don't want to run the risk of getting it lost or stolen. I want/need an iPad! Feel free to donate your refurbished (like new) iPad as well. 2) Newly released iPhone 6 - $299 with 2 year contract. My iPhone 4 (the original, original!) was stolen back in June and since then I've been using my mom's old LG slide phone. I could easily use money from my savings to buy this phone but considering how long it took me to recover financially and rebuild my savings since my period of unemployment, I'd rather not. Personally, I'd keep my iPhone 4 if I still had it or miraculously recovered it. I'm not a materialistic person so I never saw the need to keep upgrading my phone if my original phone works like new. Girl, bye! But yea, I do miss the conveniences of smart phones (group texts, internet, iPhone smileys, Chase app, checking my e-mail on the go, visual voicemail, GPS!!, YOU GET THE POINT) 3) Canon EOS Rebel T3i - $599 retail price. (Currently on sale for $549 at select stores) In this age of ever-increasing technology, it's easy to forget the original purpose of certain purchases. For example, you bought a phone to make phone calls and send texts, now, most of your adult life's memories are captured on your iPhone or Samsung and stored in your photo library to probably never be developed and framed. Then when you lose your phone like I did, you lose tangible pieces of history. I went to Jamaica this past April to bury my aunt and from the nine-night (huge village party) to the burial, every moment was precious! It was something I never experienced in life! And all I have to show for it is what I posted on Instagram or Facebook. Every picture and video footage that I took is now gone with whomever stole my phone. Now, I'm going old school and using a camera to take photos of monumental moments in my life. I'm well aware of the Canon EOS Rebel T3i's capability to capture beautiful, high-quality photos that will literally last a lifetime. Thanks to my friend Tommy for the recommendation and all those wonderful reviews on Amazon and Youtube. #giving #christmasgiving #donate #worthycause #blessedtobeablessing

Which working adult does not own a smartphone and/or tablet in 2014? You guessed it...ME :) I mean hell, even MY MOM, a woman who can't power a computer without assistance, has an iPhone 5 and I don't. Well, you see, what had happened was....my phone got stolen at Chase Bank on June 7th, literally a week and 2 days before my 25th birthday (June 15th! YAY Gemini's!). Earlier that day I happened to get an unexpected early birthday gift from my job in the form of a bonus. I was so overjoyed when I looked at my available balance in my bank account because Lord knows it could not have come at a better time when I needed to get my hair, nails, and makeup done and purchase my two birthday outfits. I was going crazy praisin' Jesus in my classroom and my students were looking at me like "What is wrong with her!?". Anywho...it was when I left the bank, after managing my funds, that I realized I left my phone on the counter and when I came back just 45 minutes later...it was gone and apparently nobody saw it. In short, I went into a severe depression (I may be exaggerating just a tad) when I realized I lost my damn phone a week before my 25th. How was I going to invite my friends and family to my birthday outing? How were they going to get in touch with me? How would anyone call or text me on my bday if I had no phone? You may think, "Sorry for your loss ma'am but there's like ten million ways to get in contact with people without a phone, especially in 2014; house phone, e-mail, social media, etc." but truth is I just wanted my phone. My phone was my life. I was always on it, using it, doing everything through it so I didn't know what to do. I planned to celebrate my 25th the whole month of June by doing something every weekend. Oh, how that DID NOT take place...sigh. I was sitting at home that first weekend of June all by myself with no one, nothing because I couldn't get in contact with anyone. No one could get in contact with me. It was terrible. Now what's crazy is that after God just blessed me with a healthy bonus that I really didn't deserve, I fell into a deep sadness just because I lost my phone. It wasn't till I reached church that Sunday, 15 minutes before it ended (because honestly I didn't wanna go) did I realize that I had been so ungrateful. God had blessed me financially at the perfect time and there I was wallowing in sadness because I lost my iPhone. On that Sunday, I said you know what, I refuse to rob myself of precious life over a phone and my party will be a success, I will have fun and it will be the best birthday yet and, IT WAS! All Glory to God.. OK. So I still don't have a phone. "Why don't you just buy a new phone?". "Upgrade?","No money?", "Girl, you crazy". "You really think you gonna get that phone back?", "Your phone is long gone hunny", "How are you managing without a phone for so long?"... STAY TUNED....for #PHONELESSANDFOCUSED #THEJOLOEXPERIENCE #LEARNGROWSUCCEED

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOO IT'S BEEN A MINUTE TUMBLR!!! But I gotta go to bed so straight and quick to the point...I lost my iPhone on Friday, June 7, 2014, precisely 8 days before my 25th birthday. Since then I chose to be phoneless till now. "WHY?!" "HOW?!" are all questions that may be running through your head right now and I promise I have a series of upcoming posts that will address those questions and more! I hope this [my phone issue] is an excusable reason for my prolonged absence from tumblr, if not then #sorry "/ . No worries tho! NUFF TINGS A GWAN! Stay tuned...I may be inconsistent but I'm not as inconsistent as I was before :) #learnGROWsucceed #slowprogressisprogress #thejoloexperience