12 Tiik Vok k, P'or Students, Hy Students
Farewells
A»rii 25. aoia
issuii.(‘X)m/fsuvok‘(‘ voicf
%
courtesy of Dennis McNair
Voice Staff from Left to Right: Alisha Murphy; Aaron Williams; Eldon Alford Jr.; DeSean Lawson; Ta'Meka
Breland; Jalynn Jones; Dr. Andrea Baker, Adviser; Chamell Harris, Managing Editor; Center: Jennifer Lucas,
Editor-in-Chicf
Moj 5 >S t-ap'xd/y a/vd pr&tty Soon stctdsnts
!o»"// Stcvt up Orxd in
'tsxtS3oi(S, as tAjc a// ho/yt& -fot z'/^e Se^/yi/*7&t.
So/»»e, this SU/*i/yi^ Kji// J>e. ■fi/f&J ujith ■/'un ar>d .
't/loss o/’ yo^ coho uji// y-QfJuats o/i Ma/ 3
"yitxtuta o/' and n&tV&S. £>C.itsJ zo hci/e. -fitvShs.ed
m/too/, nejVol^S aJ>out rt&wt Step.
Tlhis year uje a// ujitneSSeJ /yro/n/ dho/i^S o/? CM/ytp^S.
"Tlhe Qteeic p/atS to /yicJce cocy /ot the rieuj ScJenCje
'irxJ "Ted/moJo^ to the fetut-n o/’ Sofotity,
(^ho/>73. ^ho. Students ptateSted In the SO/*ie C-oUI-tyoj-d
'Ajhete /*tCI/Ti/ o/' you teC-efit/y Stood ^h'nd a. podict/rt 0/id
TddteSSed yoUt peetS -fot Stude/it eJedtionS. Cj-oujdS pOcJ^ed
the SeQ^tooJ( to See CjViI ^yhtS idon^ An^/o. ^a/iS ■ As
uje// as /t^O/iy Or/' you C-heeted /ot the /-etutn or/' ho/yjetoujn
vti^f J. doJe. /heSe areJuSt a -feuj o/’the^_^eat th>n^
kJC Ve a// had a c.harxle to ujitneSS here at
Sy this ti/*te next y^Or, itji// a//*ioSt J>e unr-eC-oa^ZOi^/e,
6ut this is Just zhe Aey'nnin^ of So/>7ethin^ y-eat ■ /he
truth is that the university tS ioor/('in^ to /ytake Sure
thcst /y the ti/*7e uje yaJuate, our dey-ee uji// ^ coorth
Soyriezhin^t So i-f C-han^ iS needed then ooe /rtust ready
^>urSe/veS /'or it, SedauSe C.ha/1^ is ineVitaA/e.
A question ask^d a lot this year /ro/*f /'eJ/oco students coaS
^o you thi^ is reaJ/y aoi^ to prepare /yte /or a/ter
yaducation?^ a/id />ty anSioer to t^he/yi is ajtocys the sa/*ie.
Vo, it tAjon t. Si/ytp>ly to f^6/ or any ccv/e^ /or thcit
>»Kstter tAjiJ/ not ^t you ready /or the real ujoHd.^ It ta/(eS
a /ot or/^ttin^ m/oJvedy Stepping outS/de o/ one S c-o/yr/ort
Zone, and deter/>f>nation to /ytaj(e >t m th'S ujor/d.
~TlhiS SU/*t/>ter, ~fhe Voice C.haJlen^S everyone to reaJ/y thif^
T^out lAjhat they da/t do to i/ytproi/e their (zhandeS /'or
SuC-C.eSS and to ^t started on theyyi ri^ht aiAjey. 'Jl/yfe and
iUCjCeSS ujoitS /ot- no one, not eVen on Su/>t/ytet SreaJ(.
'lonyatu/ations to the (jraduatin^ CJaSS o/ 30^^! And to
•Veryone eJSe, h^e a y-eat SU/*i/yter Vacation.
The Voice
Dtar JoumaCism andMass Ccmmunication Students:
I've always tried to Gve my Ufe according to these Cko Caine Cyrics.
'THere’s a saying.. .goodtfiings... aCways come to those who wait.
I came from a (Boston Cower-income neighSorhood where as teens we had to make the most of what
we had quickCy because time, attitudes, peopCe who thought of us as numbers instead of human
hangs and Just plain [ife would most CiifCy get in the way and change the value of what we had
into something less or nothing at aCL
'fBut, you could miss... a reaCgood thing... if you stop too Cong to hesitate. ’
So, I Became the youngest newspaper editorial writer in the country Before I hit my Cate 20s. Then,
I parCayedmy kjiowCedge ofjoumaCism into jobs producing documentaries for Discovery Channel
creating commerciaCs for (Paramount Studios, handling marketing for companies Cikf Sony, and
heCping podticians into poCiticaCoffiu.
WhiCe many bCac^TVwriters too^the seemingCy easier route into bldci^sitcoms, I stuckjt out and
succeeded intermittentCy in science fiction, creating an aCien race for Star TreijUoyager, arul then
becoming a staff writer for the iWfated The (Burning Zone.
'I’m gonrui taste Just a Cittle bit before it’s all over."
PeopCe in pumaCism and Jfodywood come in aCC colors; and most have been good to me. So, then,
CHif more u/riters, I decided to give bac^ I went to JfYV Tisch SchooC of the Jirts to get my !MTJi so
that I could became a xvriter-producer-professor and give bac^topeopCe Ci^ me.
Why are you, my students, Ci^ me? You ’re military, dif many I covered in the high dessert arui
one Vietnam Vet who taught me how to siydive sola. You're blended. I’m a BCac^Mississippi
Choctaw Latina. And Just as many of you have seen friends murdered, my brother was murdered by
authorities when he was 14 and I was 13.
In terms of students, this university has bCac^, htinos, whites, the miUtary, poorfoCkj and some not
so poor. ACC Ci^ me... at various stages of my Cife.
'I’m gonna do what they tell me not to. So, you'd better move over. ”
I foundyou to be bright, warm-hearted, fun, and witty in spite cf the fact that most of you were
never given a fair shot ora good%j-12 education. 'What I didn’t find, what I haven’t found, and
what I haven’t yet discovered was a way to engender in you a belief that education will reap
rewards and line the path to the futures you crave and deserve.
I tried to instill hope while educating 6y weaving in life stories with instruction. And then, I
remembered that my belirf in myse^did not come from my teachers or my college peers. It came from
my parents, my relatives, my community... everything that made me me way before college.
"I’m gonna drin^the wine, brfore life passes by."
I hope that the projects I created ((Dateline ‘Fayetteville, The Tayette%nOe Observer Internships, The
TW^Videogame mentorships, the dadyfree newspapers. The Tirst Teature (Film series ^^started
by t^ Millstone free screening of Morning glory (thanl^ J.J. Abrams) and the J-Student White
'House Invitational 2012, the student pbs and internship Taceboo^site Media 4 'Us) ^^started
your faith in some small way.
(But, seriously, it all starts with you. I Upow that because you students are the reason I did not
'miss a real good thing’ here.. (Because, with a "(Dent!", " Jfi, Miss (Dent." ‘(Professor (Dent,
hey I ’you stopped... aruf hesitated outside my office door.
So, as 1 leave, my one note of advice is... don’t foUow the example of your peers. (Don ’tfoUcnv the
e^mpCe ofyourparenU. (Don’t follow the example set by administrators or professors or reality stars
or music icons or me.
ToSow your heart. Follow what’s inside of you. Ignore obstacles of lesser
gods and lesser minds, get to the doin'. As for me. I’m off to, once again,
Gve the rest ofLairu ’s lyrics:
"I’m gonna drink^the wine and if I don’t makf it, you can’t say that I
didn't try!’
(Dent In The 'Kjiight Skye
DiscCaimer Latru used\viru"as a nutaphor
courtesy of Dennis McNair