Post Graduation Reflection

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?

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

The Power of Black Woman

      THE FORMIDABLE WOMAN REVIEWS: THE POWER OF BLACK WOMEN

I am starting something new and cool and it is called The Formidable Woman. This is a section on my blog where I highlight woman in all industries that are uplifting and breaking barriers almost the community and the world. This will serve as an Ode to the many great woman of have struggled to get us into the many industries that we were once not allowed to join and to the younger woman and girls who are insisting on making a change in the world. Positive news and strong as far away from celebrity drama and gossip as possible. This Week I am highlighting a women of true integrity and poise. My good friend and fellow Clark Atlanta University Alumna, Lauren Martinez.

I am excited for this months issue of Rolling Out Magazine because it highlights the progression of black woman in Hollywood. Did you hear what I said? The Cover Story of Rolling Out magazine is about the power of Black Woman in Hollywood. Not only is the article important and critical for black woman to read but for our community of black children, nieces, friends, associates and every girl and woman of color around the world. We must lead by positive example to eradicate the negative stereotypical images that women of color have been held pigeon hold to for centuries. It's also important to share this because my dear friend, and CAU alumna, Lauren Martinez wrote it with the thought of several woman in mind. 

The issue discussed the progressions of a few film and tv favorites, Including KeKe Palmer, Taraji P. Henson, Tika Sumpter, and Angela Simmons. As rising icons and formidable women, we also see these women using their platforms and fame to discuss not just their roles in the industry but the war against black women and cultural issues alike. Breaking the stereotypical propaganda that black women are "Ghetto", "Misguided", "Baby Mothers", and "welfare/social service dependents" has etc., their fame in the past few years have given hope and inspirations to girls and women around the world. Why is this important? It is important because if the Black woman doesn't do it, than social media will. Black women rising in power owe it to educate, uplift, and inspire other black women because the system that we live in, has taught our sisters that we are inferior, we are unappreciated and that our beauty is contingent on the european standard of beauty i.e. (we don't have any, unless someone gives it to us, its accident and/ or someone allows us to have it).

Martinez addressed the issues of limited acting roles for women of color and how these beauties did not let that deter them from their goals. Many of these women that are highly celebrated were once apart of the inner city community where dreams of being a star is essentially just that; a dream. However they were capable of making and leaving a lasting mark on Hollywood, and thus helped in reversing the negative image of black women. 

Believe in us and work to inspire the next generation to believe in themselves, no amount of adversity can keep you from success only you can. Love the melanin you are in, to my formidable black queens and princesses ! 

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