The Real Deal

International Block Party !!

2008-04-22T13:35:00.003-05:00

The international block party was a huge success!! All of the various nationalities were present in the newly created diversity center. This event allowed students to get to know one another and begin to understand the cultural differences of others. Organizations such as Chinese Student Association, Descendants of Africa, OLAS ( Organization of Latin American Students), BSU (Black Student Union) and the Indian student association just to name a few were also present at this event. The international block party was created for that reason: to connect people of different cultures together. There were games and salsa lessons for students to engage in, and it turned out well. I look forward to participating in this event next year and hope that it will continue to be just as successful.

Dunbar Village

2008-03-24T11:53:00.002-05:00

I recently heard about this situation and wanted to share it with all of you.

On June 18, 2007, a black woman was gang raped by 10 youths and forced at gunpoint to have sex with her own 12 year old son in a housing complex called Dunbar Village in West Palm Beach, Florida.The young men not only viciously punched, kicked and sliced this sister and her son with glass objects, but they also blinded her boy by pouring nail polish remover into his eyes.The young men forced this sister and son to lay naked in a bathtub together, and attempted to set them on fire (they could not find matches).The youths boldly took cell phone pictures so that they could enjoy their violent, immoral and sadistic acts at a later time. The violence continued for more than three hours, and although this sister’s neighbors heard her screams, no one called the police or came to her aid.This sister and her son had to walk a mile to the hospital, because the assailants stole her car, and threatened to kill her and her family if she told the authorities.Only four of the young men have been apprehended, while the remaining six are on the loose, doing Lord knows what in our communities. There is no manhunt for the remaining suspects.As devastating as this story is, what the NAACP and Al Sharpton have done about it will simply take your breath away: Not only did the NAACP ignore hundreds of requests to assist this woman because it was 'outside the scope of their mission', but they joined forces with Al Sharpton, and sent their lawyers to speak out IN SUPPORT OF THE RAPISTS.You heard me right.Even though there is conclusive DNA evidence and signed confessions, the NAACP and Al Sharpton are saying that it is 'unfair' to not offer bail to these four alleged rapists. They even had a press release about it.

To find out more infromation about this situation check out the website below.

http://dunbarvillage.blogspot.com/

Simon Deng

2008-03-05T16:05:00.004-06:00

Last week, the Univeristy of Illinois at Springfield had the opporotunity to meet Simon Deng and hear him speak about the current situation within the Dafur Region. Before his speech we presented Mr. Deng with our donation to the region and told informed him that we would continue to work towards creating as much awarness as possible. A co-worker and I had the opporotunity to meet with Mr.Deng after the presentation to discuss more in depth about the topic. He stated that this war had been on going a year before the countries independence in 1956. The war is based and will continually be based on the issues of religious conflicts. Those who decided against the conformity have been taken as prisoners and killed, this was particulary present in the the south of sudan. Up to 1million people were found dead in locations that were labeled as "safe zones". This comes as a shock to me because my main focus had just soley rested on the Darfur region when in actuality the south suffered the most brutal attacks. I encourage everyone to continue spreading awarness/knowledge about the crisis so we can come to a resolution. Education is key.

CRUSH-O-GRAMS

2008-02-20T18:16:00.004-06:00

For Valentine's Day the Pennyroyal resident assistants created a fundraiser to not only celebrate the day of love but to create awarness about the current crisis in Darfur,Sudan. Crush-O-Grams was the title which by the name, shows that we decided to use crush sodapop for our fundraiser. We had 4 different categories which were ( Love, Crush, Friendship and Secret Admirer) The Strawberry Flavored crush represented love, the Orange (traditional) Flavored crush represented crush, the Grape flavored crush represented friendship and the Secret Admirer was a mix of each 3 flavors. The fundraiser turned out to be a huge success, with only three days we were able to raise over $200.00. All the proceeds will go towards aiding the current humanitarian efforts in the Darfur region, we will be donating our earnings to the Red Cross who is currently in Darfur in order to provide the refugees with any resources they may need. I encourage all campuses to work towards creating awarness about the current conflicts in the African region, it is up to us to speak for them. This fundraiser was also apart of the speaker series event on campus, Simon Deng was scheduled to speak. Simon Deng who was a refugee from Sudan and a survivor of child slavery. A native of the Shiluk Kingdom in southern Sudan, Deng spent several years as a domestic slave in northern Sudan. The main purpose for this fundraiser/event was to create as much attention and awarness towards the Darfur region in order to get students active in standing for this cause and making concious efforts to spread the word in order to create change.

For more information about the current crisis and how you can help, check out this website.
http://www.savedarfur.org/content

Winter Break

2008-01-28T10:01:00.000-06:00

I know it has been a while since I've blogged....... I'm sorry:(

My winter break was amazing, I also celebrated by 21st birthday which was great! I spent most of my time downtown in Chicago catching up and hanging out with friends. Christmas and new years were both great, I bought a lot of gifts this year. I seem to have more and more friends when it gets close to Christmas time LOL. But besides that it was just nice to be around family members and to be at home. It was an interesting semester for me and many other students, while speaking to others I noticed how many people have truly lost the holiday spirit and how each year continues to get much worse. Many years ago I remember when holidays were taken much seriously, no school, no work just time with your loved ones. Now it seems as though that dynamic has changed, you walk outside and stores are open for business, people are going into the office and no one has noticed that today is a holiday. I must admit I am at fault for this as well, I think as I get older the holiday seems to matter more as oppose to the tradition. I enjoy Christmas because its time that I get to spend with my family, receiving gifts is not something that matters anymore. I think there is a difference between someone who feels they have lost the holiday spirit and someone who just realizes and appreciates their many blessings without the traditions of each holiday consuming them.

Casino Night !!

2007-12-08T10:05:00.001-06:00

WOW! I did not know what to expect at this event but it was actually great. I went in just to see the event and watch other students gamble their chips away when I realized that an hour later that was me ( lol). I did not gamble all my chips away, but I almost did. I started with 25 chips, then went down to 2, then came back up to 40 so my chips fluctuated that entire night. From that experience alone, I know that I do not see myself in Las Vegas anytime soon. But all jokes aside, this event was put on by SAC ( Student Activities Committee) for the students. There were prizes given away at the end based on how many chips you had you could receive 22 tickets to be entered in the raffle for prizes. For every 10 chips you had, you would receive 1 ticket towards the raffle. We were given one ticket in the beginning, we had the option of turning that ticket in so we could receive more chips to play with. Some students who ran out of chips cashed in that ticket to play and win more. While playing, I learned so much about the games and the chances people take in order to receive more than what they currently have. This is not something that happens in casinos but also in life, we take risks so we have receive more, at times it may be good and at times it may not be good. But we take them anyway.

SAA/BSU Conference

2007-12-08T09:08:00.000-06:00

Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the SAA Conference in Chicago. It was an event that highlights the academic achievement of students from various schools within the Chicago area. These students are selected, based on their ACT/SAT/GPA, to become potential recruits for the 3 UofI i campuses (Chicago, Springfield and Urbana). I and another student (Charles Olivier) spoke to students about the University of Illinois at Springfield, more specifically, our major programs, the honors program and student life. A banquet followed after the fair, and at the banquet, we were introduced to the keynote speaker for the evening. Joseph B. White, the President of all 3 Uof I campuses was also present, he spoke with the students about their future aspirations and their schools of choice for college. The Keynote speaker who was, both a doctor and lawyer ( not kidding), gave and excellent speech about the rewards of hard work in her life. She explained how important it was for students to step outside of their comfort zone to try new things. Even though you may fall short at times, it is important to understand that an obstacle is not a point of failure, its a point of construction for your future. So challenge yourself to step outside of your comfort zone and try new things, you have nothing to lose. I also had the opportunity to attend a conference in lincolnshire, IL it was the NBSU conference ( National Black Student Union Conference) this conference united all BSU across the nation in order to further the developement of each organization in their respective locations. From this conference we were able gain insight on programming/ fundraising ideas that would be benifical for us here at UIS. It was a wonderful experience, the keynote speaker who was also one of the founders of the Dusable Museum spoke at the final dinner. I enjoyed myself at both conferences during the break.

2007-11-13T20:51:00.000-06:00

So this past Saturday I attended the Christian Jam ptII which was great. The christian Jam is put on by an organization on campus called CSF ( Christian Student Fellowship). This is a religious organization on campus that hosts events and take part in mission work. The response from the student body was good to see. As a college student at times it becomes difficult to maintain ones religious standard whether its going to church on Sunday or taking time to pray each day so this organizations tries in many ways to bring students back to prayer/praise and workship. At the christan jam, there were a variety of performances and speakers, they gave testimonies about their experiences and how God has moved in their lives. One of the main attractions was the Living Word Fellowship praise team ( btw I attend living word fellowship, and it is amazing!) and J Mack who others may know as Jeff Mackintosh. Both performances were very inspirational. Many students from a variety of backgrounds came out to the event which was an eye opener. In my opinion, this event proved universal religion can be no matter how much we try to separte them. No matter what background or belief everyone strives to have a spritual connection in some facet. Everyone has trials and tribulations, everyone gets stressed everyone experiences pain and the one way to deal with these problems is by seeking spritual guidance and allowing those burdens to rest upon the one who can take them away. This event was introduced for that purpose.

BSU Fish Fry

2007-11-10T08:36:00.001-06:00

This year BSU decided to host the 3rd annual Fish Fry which went very well. As a minority organization we work to fufill the needs of the minority population on campus by providing programs and activities for students to attend and feel comfortable. This event has been a continual success because its a time where everyone can come together and enjoy the company of others who share the same interests/ experiences. Our Vice Chancelor, who is an african american, made it a point to stop by and socialize with the students at our event. He also got on the dance floor to bust a move! I know when I saw the response for this event, I was extremely excited not only because of the numbers but because of the interaction. Students who may or may not have known on another took the time to sit and talk or play cards. It was an event that created new relationships, and that was its destined purpose. It is important for organizations to take the time out to invest in understanding their targeted groups and provide programs and activites that cater to their interests. All too often programming is done without that in mind and as a result it fails to meet the expectation. If we could all use our organizations as a base to create programs that people want to see and be apart of, we will discover the multicultural atomosphere that we strive to cultivate. I will end with this question, does anyone belive organizations should not focus on their targeted groups to create programs?

Holloween Bash!

2007-11-02T20:05:00.000-05:00

That's right!, Wednesday October 31st was the Monster's Ball which was a huge success. Students came in costumes to dance the night away. Some of the cute costumes were the polar bear and the war hero from 300. Even as college students its great to see that we can still come outside of their element and enjoy holidays that bring us back to our youth. All day residents and faculty members wore constumes in order to really celebrate Holloween this year. During that day there was also a holloween door decorating contest, and my townhouse won! So much creativity went into the door decoration contest which was great to see. The dynamics have definately change to a positive and which such events, we have finally created an outlet for residents to get engaged and participate within the community. Holiday door decs will definatley be my speciatly so, I will update you all on the turnout! I would definately like to see more participation for the christmas door decorations, hopefully other residents will decide to get involved and begin to showcase their creativity. But know that if you are in Pennyroyal, It's going down! LOL

Homecoming Week !

2007-10-07T14:27:00.000-05:00

This was the official week of homecoming. Events such as, the homecoming parade, taigate dinner, game day and the dance were all encompassed into one week. I enjoyed myself. The Dance was the best part because you meet people you've never seen before until then. Its a great way to get everyone together. The homecoming parade was very interesting this year, there was a marching band as well as dancers who came from the local highschool community. I was also in the parade giving candy to the crowd. The soccer game took place that night with our team taking home the victory against william woods which was a great way to end the homecoming week. Fire works shot in the air after the game ended, which was exciting! This was definately a new year as far as the homecoming events go, it was much more creative and more exciting. My question would be to ask in what ways could we continue to uplift the homecoming spirit in order to create an atomosphere of excitment when we talk about homecoming? Maybe next year we could have a performer...........

Student Involvement

2007-09-10T22:53:00.000-05:00

“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”- Mother Theresa

It is September 10, 2007 we are now in the 3rd week of school which is going well. In starting the year it is very important to try and get involved in as much as you can. There are many organizations on campus that students can get involved in and share new ideas. The emcee/ hip hop event last weekend which went well, hopefully it will go on to be a great event on campus. Today I took the time to talk to some people about why it is so hard to get people out and wanting to be apart of programs and/or organizations.We know that students want to feel welcomed in the environment they are in and feel accepted, so my question is do residents feel comfortable/accepted on campus, and if so why are they not getting involved? This question is posed to anyone who would like to give their insight. In my opinion participation is one of the few ways to begin networking here on campus, it is an excellent tool for students to use in the future. In ending this post, I will leave you with this quote: "Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whold world will be clean. What are your concerns with participation on college campuses and how can we effectivly make change from here on out. Think about it.......

Also, Happy Birthday Neiyanna!!! she just turned 20!

Hey!!

2007-08-28T20:08:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my blog spot!

I want to explain my title, “ Divine Inspiration” is something I came up with in order to explain my purpose for this site. The site is created to help those who would like insight to the life of a college student as well as an outlet to inspire others to think about the many choices we make or fail to make as a result of our many daily distractions. I would like this blog page to be used by the public in order to really engage in discussions about various topics. I will post questions every other week followed by a passage and then pose a question to you all, as a college student I tend to get very busy so I will try to remain consistent with questions and pictures so bear with me.

I would like this site to help foster the importance of being true to ourselves. This is a site for students to gain a brief understanding of college choices. I enjoy hearing the opinions of others so BLOG BLOG BLOG! There is no such thing as too many blogs to me, if you have something to say, say it. Also, If you have topics that you want me to discuss send me an email and I will try to incorporate your suggestions in a blog post. It is really important to be mindfull of others and not to hurt anyone who has a difference of opinion.