AVID 10 Year Anniversary Dinner

I just got back from the 10 year anniversary dinner for AVID and I had an amazing time. When I got there, I immediately saw my Avid sisters Bonita and Kendyl and we walked around looking at all the other school's representation boards. Eventually, Ms. Dauka came and she brought ours too. I thought it looked great. Afterwards, my mom and dad came and we sat at the table we were directed to. The set up of the room was beautiful and everything looked so well organized. Bonita sat at my table along with Sharee and her family. After what felt like a lifetime of speeches, the food finally arrived. Dinner was delicious, the meal consisted of baked chicken, stuffing, string beans, and hush puppies with strawberry shortcake for dessert. After eating, everyone from our school's class was called to take a group picture on the starewell. Afterwards, I took a few more pictures with my friends and laughed hysterically at a few kids from a different school having what looked to be a krumping (dance) off and then left. It was a very memorable night and I had a lot of fun. :)

Me and the lovely Dona

Themis sisters for life!

:)

Me, Jamilla, & Bonita 

Me standing in front of our school presentation board.

Me and my mom

:D

Me and my dad

Dance Like Nobody's Watching

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers of the world! First, I wanted to give a quick shout out to my mom who has encouraged me to keep up with my blog ever since I learned of this assignment. Without her, I would have several days of missing blogs and the quality of my daily reflections would not be where it is today. I started off the day by teaming up with my sister to give my mom breakfast in bed and a card from the both of us. After we all had breakfast, my mom, sister, and I headed out to Centennial Park to meet up with my mom's friend Michele and her daughter Laurie. They are like a second family to me because her kids and I grew up together (from the time I moved to Maryland in the first grade) and Michele is always so supportive and upbeat. My final photography project is called the 'Swan Song' and the idea is to take one last picture of how we want to be remembered by NTHS. I want to be remembered by someone who was free and followed their dreams. The name of my series is 'Dance Like Nobody's Watching' because I wanted to interpret Laurie's dance skills with the care free nature of dancing in public out in the open. Here a few of my favorite shots.. Enjoy :)

My Avid Senior Farewell

The day has come.. It's hard to believe that after three years of sitting in the audience it was actually our turn to be on stage for our Senior Farewell. The night started with the screening of our (Themis') house video, I wish I could have played a bigger part in it but over all it was pretty good. I can at least say that I came up with the concept of it. Afterwards, we got up and took a bow and then sat down to receive our awards. This is how the rest of the night went, we would watch a video, take a bow, and receive our awards in groups. I won The Iman Oscar of Poise and Decorum. Ms. Casale, my guidance counselor, sponsored me but unfortunately she was not there that night so Ms. Cathirell read the speech she wrote about me for her. I could tell it was very heartfelt and sincere, which I really appreciated it. Afterwards, we got a few words of advice from the Avid site team. The most memorable of them for me was what Dona said about breaking the cycle of teen pregnancy because it is not an easy thing to deal with.Afterwards, we learned who won the competition and surprisingly, not be a long shot, it was Atlas. Prometheus was a close second with Themis in third and Hyperion finishing last. After the ceremony ended and I got home, I look through my Avid gift bag that I got along with my Oscar. There were a lot of cool things inside but the most meaningful of them all was our box of 'fortunes' from everyone in my Avid class. I got so many kind and encouraging messages, a lot of them from people I never would have expected. It really made my night :)

Me receiving my Iman Oscar :)

AVID Seniors Class of 2012!

My mom and I 

My dad and I

The Champ Is Here!

Today my sisters team was competing in the final match of the championships. Lady Tigers vs. The Stars; this game would decide who would win first place and win the State Championships for AAU. Before my sisters game started, the older Lady Tigers team was competing against the older Stars team and the Tigers won. My sister's team was happy but at the same time, they had some big shoes to fill. It was a very close and intense game with the score going back and forth but in the end the Tigers won! At the end of the game, the announcer recognized all of the players and awarded them with their trophy. Everyone was overjoyed and afterwards we went out to dinner to celebrate.

My dad and sister posing with the trophy.

No Mercy

Today my mom, family friend Michele, and I went to go support my little sister's basketball game with her team the Lady Tigers. It was very fun to watch but it was clear to see that the Tigers had an edge over the other team. The score was a blow out, with the Tigers winning 56-9. Michele was astounded by how well they played seeing as she has never seen my sister or her team play and it was funny seeing her reactions. Meanwhile, her daughter Michaela, almost one year old, tried to steal the show (and other people's food) by just being flat out adorable. It was a great game but hopefully the next one will be more of a challenge, as those are the more entertaining ones. :)

I Have Proof

Today, even though it was a B day, I went to school to print out my scholarship proof for Avid. We had to have them in our college folder by today and I'm very relieved I got that out of the way. With that complete, I am confident that I will once again get straight A's for third quarter like I did in first quarter. :)

The Avid Egg Hunt

Today in Avid we had our annual egg hunt outside at school. It was pretty fun. At first I only found one egg but I actually found a second one just walking back to the "cornucopia", the line we had to stand in after finding two eggs in order from the first person back to the last. Maurice had the 'grenade' egg so that means one person from Hyperion had to be cut from the games. When we went back inside we opened our eggs, each of them containing a random act of kindness that we are required to complete. Mine were to show up to class early for the rest of the day and ask how I can help and also appreciate my health and do some type of excercise. We also learned that we only have to do one blog a week for fourth quarter so that we can concentrate more on getting ready for our AP tests :)

Frankenstein

Today I read chapters one through five of Frankenstein and it's actually more interesting than I thought it would be. It can get very confusing at times though because there are several stories within the story. To sum it up it is about the story of scientist Robert Walton who finds Victor Frankenstein during his journey to Antarctica and he later learns that Frankenstein is on a mission to destroy his creation, the monster, that he regretfully created.

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter everyone. Thinking back on the holiday, it's always much more fun when you're a child because you go out Easter egg hunting, eat lots of candy, get dressed up, and have a big party with family and friends. Now since my sister and I are older, we don't really do those things anymore. So here's the most festive thing I've done today: decorate this picture with a dotted nose and whiskers and yes, cat ears. There was an option to use bunny ears but they wouldn't fit all the way in the picture so I just used these. Lol!

❤

I'm Coming Home ♫

Today I came home from spending my spring break in New York. It was such a blast but I was ready to come home and just have my own space and be with my family again. The only problem was that I was so tired from staying up all night watching movies with Seraphina and Josh that I was too tired to get up! When I finally did and was finished getting ready, I went out for breakfast and then came back to the apartment until noon when I left for my bus. Thankfully, it was on time and we didn't run into traffic and I was home by 4:30. Home sweet home. :)

Me and Nia.

Covergirl

Today I had a casting for Covergirl Cosmetics for a chance to be the face (or should I say lips) of their newest lipstick. I was so excited, I've always dreamed of modeling for Covergirl, especially because beauty is one of my strong suits. The casting went by very quickly but I left my best impression on them while I was there. Fingers crossed!

Covergirl material right here! 

Exploring The Concrete Jungle

Today was a free day for me so since the weather had warmed up and it was nice and sunny I decided to walk around and sight see for the day. Manhattan is such an amazing place with wonderful areas like Central Park, Time Square, SoHo, Garment District, and many more. I think everyone should visit at least once in their life time. It's a very inspiring and fun place to be. Here's a video of some of the top models in the fashion lip synching to Jay Z's 'Empire State of Mind. I love this :)

Spring Inspired

Today I shot with photographer Rachel B. for a girly, outdoor, Teen Vogue inspired shoot. When I arrived on set I noticed that she was an artist from her many paintings on the walls. Aside from being an amazing artist, she's also very multi-talented and did the hair and make up as well. I have only worked with two other people that can do that (but she is the first one that was a woman) and it takes a lot of work and skill to master so I definitely admire that. I had a lot of fun shooting around Straus Park and now I can't wait to see the pictures. :)

A collage with a picture of me after hair and make up and Rachel's paintings

★ macy*s

Today I went on a casting for Macy's. The wait was quite long but I passed the time by talking to some of the other models and eventually my roommate from the apartment, Seraphina, showed up at the casting as well and joined us. Before I knew it, it was my turn to meet the panel of casting directors and give them my all. I felt pretty good about the casting and hope to work with them again soon.

Blogging, Germany Style

Right now I'm blogging from my roomate Seraphina's computer. Since she is from Germany, her computer is programmed in German too so it's very different than what I'm used to. The keyboard is in a different order and everything is in German. Right now it's telling me that everything I'm typing is wrong because the spellcheck doesn't recognize English. On the plus side, I am learning a little bit of German from doing this.

The Next Day

When we woke up this morning Amber's mom made us bacon, eggs, and croissants for breakfast, which was great. After breakfast we continued to watch movies and then afterwards Amber and her friends accompanied me to get my hair done at a nearby salon. Once that was done we went back to Amber's house and hung out for a little while longer and then I decided to go home. I was quite tired and once I got back to the apartment I stayed up for about 20 minutes to hang out with Josh and Seraphina (my roomate) and then went to bed.

Amber's Sweet Sixteen

Today I went to my cousin Amber's sweet sixteen birthday party. Her mom picked me up around 5:30 and then we drove to Sylvia's resteraunt where I would be meeting up with Amber. I didn't tell her I was coming so it was a complete surprise and when she saw me she ran to me (almost knocking me over) and gave me a hug. When we went inside I met two of her friends, Jenna and Ebony, and we talked while we were waiting for our table. The wait was almost two hours but when we were finally seated, I realized why. The food was incredible! After dinner, the waiters brought out Amber's birthday cake and we all sung happy birthday. After everyone was finished eating we headed to Amber's house where her friends and I would be spending the night. We watched lots of scary movies (I was the only one who wasn't afraid) until we all fell asleep.

Dresses Galore

I had a casting this afternoon for Paco Rabanne, a well known fashion designer known for his costume designs and flamboyant taste. Celebrities like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Rihanna, and many more have all been spotted wearing his designs. When I arrived at the casting, I tried on an amazing bluish-turquoise dress and saw for myself why such iconic figures love his clothing. If I could have kept that dress, I definitely would have! After the casting, I went to the office where I met with my agents and they showed me a few dresses to choose from that they would let me have for prom. The first dress I tried on was too small but the second dress (a long, off the shoulder black gown) fit just right and I really liked it. :)

The exact dress I tried on at Paco Rabanne

Crazy Trip

I arrived in New York last night and the trip was crazy. First, the bus arrived an hour late, then the bathroom on the bus stopped working so we had to make a stop at a rest stop, then we got into traffic and arrived in New York an hour late! It was very hectic but when I got to the apartment I was very relieved because it was clean and there were only two other girls (and one was leaving in the morning) and I got the bottom bunkbed in the room and lots of cabinet space for my things. One misconception a lot of people have is that models stay in these really huge, luxurious places like they show on America's Next Top Model but in reality (when you're just starting out) models stay in small apartments with up to six or seven girls living in it at one time. However, I am very fortunate because from what I've heard from other models, the apartment I stay in is much nicer that most.

Someday though..

Spring Break

Today I finished packing my bags to spend Spring Break in New York. I'm excited to be going and I hope to be busy with plenty of photoshoots, castings, and jobs. The only inconvience about me leaving is that I have a casting Friday afternoon and since my dad has something to do around that time I will have to leave tonight, so now I won't be able to do the Junior Achievement event (Sorry Alyssa). :P