Post Graduation Reflection:
Wha la! I graduated from Clark Atlanta University on May 18th, 2015 and I feel great. So many people have asked me "Reeyana, are you sad? Will you miss us? What is next"? Well, you all have asked and I now have an answer.
I am not sad, distressed, or in any for of pain. I am relieved. I am relieved that my journey on this path called life has given me the opportunity to complete a goal I made four years ago. A goal that I can stand proud and say I reached. Now that I have completed that journey and closed that door. I am on to bigger and better things. My next journey is to receive my MFA in Acting from the most renowned and illustrious Conservatory in the world. One that helps the greats become greater and teaches the truth of the craft. This institution has produced these greats... So can you guess which university it is?
High School Goals:
Meryl Streep, Angela Bassett, Lupita Nyong'o, Sanaa Lathan, and Lynn Nottage (Playwright, Ruined)
High School Goals:
1: Move to Atlanta
2: Attend Clark Atlanta University
3: Graduate with a 3.5 or Better
4: Get into a Honor Society
5: Receive a Latin Honor Upon Graduating.
6: Attend the actors corp
7: Graduate from the Yale School of Drama
May 19th (Also My BDAY) Facebook Post: "30 A's, 10 B's, and 5 C's and I officially graduated from Clark Atlanta University yesterday! Now MAY 19, I'm officially 22! Now to tongues and Groove. Im super excited and although things have been happening that are crazy, I'm still excited"!
Not to say that I am glad that school is over, but I am happy for the growth that has followed me these last few years. These last few years have set me up for one of the most amazing experiences that I could ever imagine. I remember being lost back in the ghettos where I am from. I remember being tired of struggling, I remember the opportunities that were presented to me that weren't presented to everyone else, I remember striving to be a good student my last year in high school, I remember the fighting, I remember the hatred, I remember my mothers death, most of all I remember the guilt I felt for not getting my parents out of that environment sooner. I just kept saying,if only I had been born earlier than maybe, I could be someone and we could all move to a better community. But time was not on our sides. I remember not being the best student in high school and behaving in a way that was not only immature but hazardous to my future. I also remember the consequences of bad choices in high school being a constant reminder of loans I had to take out instead scholarships that were given for students with high superior academics, I remember the guilt I felt when I was not one of them. I remember but it no longer holds as a pain in my heart, I walked out of undergrad with a 3.5 GPA, Magna Cum Laude Latin Honors, Alpha Kappa Mu, and Lambda Pi Eta Honor Society Memberships, Film Study Abroad Experience and a respect for filmmaking and media. My collegiate goals began to grow, and so did the fear and self doubt.
No I was not a pre med major, Humanities, religion, Law, Business etc. I was a Radio, Television and Film major who aspires to be an actress! Yes, as cliche as it may sound. I openly claim that I am an actress and filmmaker, and it took a lot of self love to get me there. Four years ago, I said I am going to be that actress that gives my city the representation it deserves (KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI) and I set out to find the path that could eventually lead me there. Along my journey, I came across a major called Mass Media Arts and of course, I did not know what it was nor did I feel the need to find out. AS I entered into my junior year:
Collegiate Goals:
1. Graduate on time
2. Pay off student loans as soon as possible
3. Study Abroad
4. Complete a Documentary about something you care about
5. Create a Production House
6. Make something of myself
7. Graduate with a 3.5 GPA
8. Get involved on campus
9. Mentor girls in the surrounding neighborhoods
10.Be successful in Acting and Filmmaking
11. Intern and Intern some more
12. Find A Job
Post Graduate Goals:
1. Sleep like a baby (Simile Fun)
2. Find a job
3. Apply and Get into Yale School of Drama
4. Become a Humanitarian
5. Create a Production House
6. Create Scripts, Direct, Act in and Produce them
7. Be Successful in Acting and Filmmaking
8. Keep Working and never give up
I must admit for the first couple of weeks, I slept like a baby. Why? I honestly do not know. I feel as if the sleep deprivation from the last few years realized I graduated and put me into a temporary coma . I slept all day, and I worked on my website, monologues, cover letter, resume, DIY videos, and social media all night. The experience differs incomparably from undergrad and high school. I was a child in high school 16 years old and a rebel without an cause. At that time I had a support system, my mother and my father but the clock kept ticking and eventually that system would break. Before I turned 17, my mother was dead and by time I turned 21 my father revealed he was battling stage 4 cancer. I remember wishing that I could turn back the time and catch the problems before the existed, but as we all know its just a wish and certain things just do not come true. I remember graduating with a 2.5 and being excited to walk across the stage and receive my diploma, then I also remember taking the AP english course and being the third highest marking student in the course. The first two? Oh they were the Valedictorian and Salutatorian! I remember us being the only students with an A in the course, and the pain I felt not being able to represent the top 10% like I know I should have. The guilt I still feel, but the relief I feel knowing that the journey has just begun.
I am happy yet again, although I managed some storms it was nice to see my vision coming clear again. It was nice to hear that my professor said I was the best emerging filmmaker out of my class, it was nice to feel appreciated because you have excelled both in class and outside of the confinements of those walls. I am happy that I have spent my last four years in Atlanta, studying at Clark Atlanta University but now it is time that I take my career in the next direction. I cannot expect to give back to the world, if I only dream. I have to wake up and do.
<3
