Spring Break

Hmmm!!! What am I doing for spring break? I really have no clue till this moment. My brother and I had planned on going to California but the plans were cancelled. He attends school at the University of Texas in Arlington, TX and he scheduled off from work on the week his school was letting out for the break (which was the week of the 15th). When I found out that Texas State's spring break vacation is a week prior to theirs, we had to cancel the trip because my brother did not want to go alone.

That was a bombmer for me, as I was so ready to take off. I have never been to California, but I will go pretty soon. My brother is moving down to LA to be an actor so I will definitely have another chance to visit him when he settles in this summer. But what happens to my spring break, I guess I'll just go down to Fort Worth and live that boring one-week life talking on the phone with my friends about the same o stuff. It sounds like, "Yo dawg watchu wanna do today... Iono fool watchu wanna do?" At the end of the day, I'm still at home just watching TV or a movie. Or I might just spice it up and go down to Gonzales to visit a good o friend. I know she'll be happy to see me!!! She is already all over me here in school! :-)

LOVE YOU MUCH

PARENTS, ARRGGHHH!!! THEY ARE NOT ALWAYS RIGHT, BUT I STILL LOVE 'EM

Why do they always try to make you feel as if you can not make wise decisions? "You do not need a cell phone!" or "You do not need a car!" I heard these sayings so many times and it made me so mad that I could not do anything about it. It all stopped though when I got a job. I was so happy because no one could tell me what not to use my money to buy. I was not the wasteful kind of person though, so when I did buy a phone my brother, who is also my guardian was proud of me and offered to help me make a payment if I could not meet it on time (That has never happened though and I've had my own phone plan for over a year now).

Another thing my brother told me to never think about getting was a credit card. I heard so many lectures on it that I could be a credit advisor if I wanted to. I went ahead and got one a month before I came to college though; not in disobedience, but because I just got tired of not being able to buy certain things such as a car or even apply for a student loan because of no credit history. As I have mentioned before, the credit card is not bad for me at all because I manage money so well. If you are also the kind of person who truly knows how to take care of yourself, my advice is to go ahead and do up to your ability. Don't get me wrong, I accept advice, but remember that the word advice itself means opinion, someone else's opinion that is!

Why is it so hard to change?

Adjusting to new styles and techniques has always been very easy for me to do. As an elementary school student in Fort Worth, TX, I was not the kind of person who had to study to make straight A's. I was more of a one-time understander; meaning, if I was told something once, I would understand and have no reason to go over the learned material. As my grade level increased, I was still able to retain much information but I would have to go over testing material a few minutes before the test to maintain good grades.

In the case of schooling in Nigeria, this was not even an option. So much information was given that I was forced to study if I had it in mind to pass. To my benefit, I was still young so the transition was not so difficult. Because of the intensity of the course work, I had to study all the time but it became part of my daily routine. I could no longer go a day without picking up a book to review what was learned in class or to even read ahead of the class, which was highly encouraged.

My study habits all came to an end when I returned to the United States in the 10th grade. Information I learned back in Nigeria in the 7th grade was just now being taught in the 10th grade in the United States. This, in addition to the fact that all I had to do to pass a course was to copy what had been written on the board and turn it in, drove away my necessity to study. Throughout my high school years, seldom did I pick up a book to review before a test.
This is what is now killing me as a college student because I have lost my study habits. I've been trying so hard to pick it back up but it is very difficult. I hope it comes back very soon though because I seriously need it.

1997 8-and-under basketball championship

Well, you might ask why I am always talking about sports, this is because it is in my blood. My first thought of playing basketball was in the first grade. It started with my immediate brother Phillip, when some man came knocking on our front door and asked my parents for permission for him to play. Even though I also had an interest, I wasn't worried about that particular day's visit by the coach because I expected my parents to say no. I was totally wrong!! My parents agreed to allow my brother to play and I wanted to play as well. I was only six-years-old though and the team was an 8-and-under team. This really meant a team for 7 and 8 year olds, and also 9 year olds if their birthdays came before the 8-and-under deadline. After all the crying while the coach was there, he said it was up to my parents to say if I could play or not. My parents also agreed and that was the beginning of my athletic career.

I played with the MLK (Martin Luther King) Wildcats' 8-and-under team for four years. My first three years was playing a guard's position and that only changed my fourth year because the coach needed me to play forward because of my height. I took the team to so many playoff games and even championships. Even though I have forgotten some of these games because they were so long ago, there is one I will never forget unless I am totally brainwashed. It was the championship game in 1997 against City-wide Allstars. Their team was not as good as ours, but they had one player who was so good that he played with an 16-and-under team. He was a short guard that ran all over the court and continually scored. When my coach saw that no one on our team could stop him, he pulled me from playing forward to guard this kid on defense; so I was still playing forward when we were on offence.

I was able to slow down the pace a little bit, but the human body can only take so much. This kid was more like a machine. This was the closest game we had all season. The outcome of other games we played for an average was usually 77-30, but this game was so tough that the score was 18-16 in the fourth quarter. This remained the score throughout the whole fourth quarter and everyone pretty much believed that the Allstars overturned the undefeated season's title of the Wildcats. Being the best ball-handler on the team, my coach brought me back to be a guard for the last play of the game. With 12seconds left, and the Allstars' crowd already going wild, my coach signaled for a time out but I was so focused on the court. I brought the ball down court and saw that I was not going to make it to the other half before the buzzard rang so I lounged the ball from half court..... Buuuhhhhhhnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!! The buzzard went off and all eyes followed the ball; nothing but net, and the Wildcats remain undefeated!!! We won the game 19-18.

This game was so important to me because it was my last with the 8-and-under leauge but I was so happy to win it for my team. I was given MVP of the game and also almost broke my leg from the team and crowd jumping on me. I have tapes of that game, so if you want to see me in action as a little kid, let me know and I'll make you a copy!!! LOL

A BACK AND FORTH EDUCATIONAL LIFE

Being able to attend school in another part of the world (Nigeria) was such a good experience; even though it started out as a horrible site because I did not want to be there. I knew nothing about this country except for the fact that I was born there. I was also very young when I went, so the main reason why I did not want to leave was because I would miss my friends dearly. The other reason was because I had heard so many horrible things about the country. I was in the fifth grade when I left the United States to start another life in Nigeria and the first thing that made me hate the country was because I was placed in the fourth grade when I got there. This was all because I could not read and write my native language, they therefore had to start me off from the beginning.


After so many months of anger because I was in the fourth grade, I started to loosen up because I could really do nothing about it. I began to make friends and learned the system of education in Nigeria. Hearing that I could test out of the 6th grade, I bought some books to prepare me for my big examination which would put me back in the right grade. I buckled down and did so much studying that I never thought about eating, but it all paid off. I passed the test and was skipped to the 7th grade. I attended a school named Oritamefa Baptist Model School from the 7th to 9th grade but later transferred to Wesley College of Science; a high school which prepared students who had some portion of science along their degree paths. I loved that school so much but it was very hard.

I completed the 10th grade at Wesley College only to return to the United States and be replaced in the 10th grade. This was due to credit transfer. Back in Nigeria, for example, Mathematics is kept as mathematics and not broken down into Algebra I-II, Calculus I-II, and so on. Therefore, I was only given credit for some portions of math and had to retake other portions. This bugged me out as well but still yet, there was nothing I could do. I then went to summer school and caught up on my credits and that is how I was able to graduate with my right class.

**Give Him Another Chance**

I use to be cool with this dude I met back in high school because I saw that he would take me places. We talked to eachother all the time; on the phone, in text messages, and even in letters. We had this conversation one day and he told me he would always be there for me... stupid enough was I to believe him!! Don't get me wrong, we had good times together. Especially at basketball games where all the hot girls were. He would tell me, "Don't look at the outside because what you see will only take you so far." I took his word and never tried to talk to a girl because of her looks.


Then I said to him one day, "When will I find a decent girl to walk with down the park on a cozzy night, or the girl who will just be there when things are not right? Or the girl who will never try to destroy my reputation, or even just that girl who will stick with me in and out of every situation? I guess he felt my pain so he introduced me to this girl. She was good looking, intelligent, oh my goodness, she was a pearl! We went out for a while but things went in different directions. So we had to break up because she felt that I wasn't what I mentioned. I then asked my friend, "Why did you let this happen when you could have been a prevention?" and he said, "Sorry kid, I just hooked you up, I had no intervention!"


I didn't talk to him for a while and actually said I would never talk to him again, but come to realize I wasn't suppose to look in the past but to only look ahead. I therefore gave him another chance with help from God above, and to disclose who my friend is, most people call him LOVE.

What can ever change my religious beliefs?

When you are in need of money but refuse to do anything illegal or wrong to obtain it, what is the next step to take?; considering the fact that you are a college student whose main purpose of attending school is to get an education. You also have to keep in mind that your financial aid support from the government did not cover all your semester's expenses. So will you break your long-going religious beliefs and find the money "By any means necessary," or will you go out to look for a job? Working at a decent hourly paying job is not an option though because you are struggling enough as it is with school work.

Now you have an internal conflict because you don't know what to do! "Will I start robbing people or should I try to buckle up in my studies and get a job?" I would say do all you can to improve in school while maintaining a job but the ball lies in your court. The question now is, can anything make me drift away from my religious beliefs?