(Left to Right) Jessica, Denise, Jaleesa, & Brittany while we were shopping.

Some of my closest friends and I took a weekend trip to Atlantic City in November of 2010! It was one of our first trips together, so we knew there was an experience to be had.

We were celebrating both Jaleesa and Jessica’s  birthdays. Here are the ladies posing  while on the way to rapper Jay-Z’s 40/40 club.

Hilarious road trip video of Jaleesa doing the Dougie. We picked names out of a hat to see who would drive. Brittany won! Or lost, however you want to put it.

A pic of me in the Sheraton, before heading out to lose every single penny of mine. Even if I only brought pennies with me, I lost each and every single one their casinos!

On the Boardwalk! Wouldn’t it be nice to have this view all the time. I remember when I was younger my g-mommy (grandma) would take yearly trips to A.C. It was good to finally experience firsthand what she loved.

Wow! Well, hello there Urban Surge and friends! Welcome to 2012! I’m so eager to…

Wait.

Has it really been nearly two years since I last blogged? How unfortunate.

Welp, I’m back! And I’m so eager to share my adventures with you. Whether it’s philanthropy, work, or play, all the details will unravel here.

In the meantime, I have quite a few sexy things to post, just to catch you up on my eventful life since graduation.

In case you’re wondering just how eventful it’s been, my activities included: Gambling in AC, picking apples in VA, jet skiing on South Beach, hiking in Shenandoah, waking up in Vegas, working on Capitol Hill, visiting MLK Memorial in ATL, barbecuing in NC, spending Mother’s Day in SC and so much more…

LOL! We’ll get to everything, trust me.

The time has come for me to officially enter the “Real World.” Because I’ve been living in a fantastical one for the last four years…

Not sure about anyone else, but my world has always been real. From balancing college classes and homework, with campus involvement, jobs and internships: to struggling finances, long nights, early mornings, continuous anxiety and eagerness over professional endeavors, etc, real is the epitome of how its been.

Although I must admit, I’ve come pretty far, sometimes I wonder how much easier things would’ve been if I knew back then, what I know now. So to help make college a little easier for my fellow journalism majors, I recorded a quick video. Indulge…

New Moon Host Kurtz Exhibit

Get a Birds-eye View with “Tree Houses”

Celebrate Bloomsday

Anyhow, here’ s some work I’ve done for Media Two thus far. It’s an event posting called “Dinotopia: The Fantastical Art of James Gurney,” for The Hunt, a magazine in Brandywine, DE. Check it out.

Hanging 10ft above the ground, illuminating the street, was a piercing blue light.

A few boarded houses down that block, with a trash can chained to its front gate, was Jonathan Smith’s grandmother’s house & his home for the past six years.

He concurrently lives on Towson University’s campus, where he’s been attending school since Fall 2007. But frequently visiting his grandmother reminds him of his childhood: She pushes him to work harder for his community and to make a better life for himself.

“I come here in the summers and on holidays when school is closed, and the trash cans have to be chained so that people don’t steel them,”said Mr. Smith explaining what it’s like living at his grandmother’s house. “The blue lights are used to monitor drug action on this street and are placed throughout Baltimore city at the corners of certain street intersections.”

Mr. Smith moved out of his parents’ house to help his grandparents during high school and has lived here ever since. “I lived here when I was younger and typically chilled with my grandparents and listened to there advice. I didn’t talk to many people my age.”

In high school Mr. Smith was in the top 10% of his class and on the national honor society. And for after school activities he wrestled, played football, and ran cross country. He accomplished all this while attending an underprivileged school in Baltimore, MD.

Realizing back then that he’s always taken the road less traveled, Mr. Smith decided to go to college. Education was never that far from home considering Mr. Smith’s mother is a teacher herself.“I’m extremely close with my mom,” said Mr. Smith.

His mother was diagnosed with Mesothelioma cancer which she’d caught from Asbestos. “She made a full recovery, and most people wouldn’t even know how sick she was,” said Mr. Smith. His mother lost weight and some of her hair, but showed off a stunning new look at her 50^th birthday party.

Mr. Smith’s father is a FedEx worker and struggled to make ends meet when his mother was going through surgery. But now she gets disability which makes their finances a bit better.

Mr. Smith’s faith has played a major role in getting him through tumultuous times. Currently, he balances dancing at church with his newly found responsibilities: Black Student Union (BSU), fashion show, and the manager for a modern dance group called allure.

Other obligations and requirements that takes up his time are for his CEEP scholarship, which awards community enrichment and enhancement. For this scholarship he has to attend diversity events and complete a grad school workshop, amongst other things.

But Mr. Smith is no stranger to helping the community. Just take a look at the video above!

Mr. Smith has done a lot but admits that he couldn’t balance everything during his freshmen year, and his grades slipped. Although he is doing much better now, he has picked up a double major with sports management and physical training.

“I had a time management problem when I first came here but I’ve gotten things back on track, especially with the motivation of my grandmother,” said Mr. Smith.

Heart Walk participants making a heart

The number one killer for both men and women is heart disease.  It was projected that this year alone, heart disease will cost more than $304 BILLION, when including health care, medications and lost productivity. So why not help the cause, they’re in desperate need of it?

My mother has been volunteering with the American Heart Association for some years now with the Greater Washington Region’s Heart Walk. This year’s Greater Washington Region walk took place on November 14, 2009 and is 2.9 miles long starting from the National Mall. The Greater Washington area raised an astounding  $1,642,361 in donations this year. And I’m extremely pleased with the fact that my mother is apart of this. I’ve donated before but now I want to… have to do more!

To join the cause, donate what you can and for other ways to help or to  find out any additional information visit their website.

Grammy nominations ceremony

On December 2nd the Grammys announced the nominees for their 52nd awards ceremony scheduled to be held January 31, 2010. Singer, songwriter, philanthropist, and actress, Beyoncé led the pack with 10 nods, while pop-country artist and songwriter, Taylor Swift, followed closely behind her, with eight. Other nominees include Jay-Z and Kings of Leon with four nods, Lady Gaga with five and Kanye West with six nods.

While many people follow the nominees and development of the actual show,  many more aren’t aware of the community service  Grammy has done for music that benefits underprivilege children. They have educational opportunities such as:  Grammys in the School, Preservation Advancement, the Grammy foundation and much more.

Recently, the Grammy foundation joined forces with Campbell’s this past August and will be working with them until June of 2010 and donating money to different schools to help maintain great music programs. And one of their most popular programs is the Grammy summer camp, which gives students to opportunity to work with Grammy award-winning artists. They also have an essay competition that awards more than $10,000 in scholarships.

It’s always refreshing to see such a powerful entity doing community service.

Video Correction: Tri Delta has raised $7 million for St. Jude’s, not the $1 million that was reported in the video.

Tiger woods playing golf

Today I heard the funniest joke ever about the new Tiger Woods scandal, it said “Tiger Woods should change his name to….CHEETAH!”

I could not stop laughing.

Everyone is so concentrated on his adultery but let us not forget all the good that he has done philanthropically.