CAMPUS CONNECTIONS
THE COMPASS - SPRING 2008 7
Catching His Dream
By Ci!id\ Hayes
/ skipped inio ihe kitchcn, ami I heard my dad ringing in ihc
gt-irage. I n us curious, so / opened the door. ‘'Hi dad. what cha
doing? / asked. “Look honey, this is a tape recorder, if I
sing into the microphone it records w hat I sang,"he said. "Wow,
can I try it?"I asked. He replied, “Sure, just talk or sing into
ihe mic. " I sang Jesus loves me. He rewound the rcel-to-reel
tape recorder and pushed play. It played,"Jesus loves me, this I
know "in my voice! ''\\'ow,thai is so cool, Dad. I'll see you
later. OK?’’ I said, as I skipped oui of the garage and ran across
the street to tell my friends about my dad's new toy.
My father loved music, and he loved gadgets. He H(ii' always
buying the latest thing on the market. He loved singtng and
encouraging me lo sing. I just loved spending time with him.
My mom would sulk when my father drank. When I twelve
years old. she divorced him. A single thread, his family, held
my dad's soul together and he new never ijuiie the same when
we leji. During the weekends ne spent together, I noticed two
things: mv dad writing Country llestern songs and he vrcii
drinking more, lie would sing the words he had written and
sometimes change them to make ihem sound better. I always
enjoyed listening to him sing because he had a very mellow
crooner's voice like fim Reeves. I‘II never forget the way he
sang. “ The silver starsjelljrom the sky and turned into rain; it
ran down my face, and helped to ease my pain. Sinccyou left I
cannot find my way. and ii seems it just gets harder every day."
I beijan to notice ihai dad «getting drunk more often. Even
though he irui' drinking, we still loved going to see him because
be liked to have fun. He joked, clowned around, and made us
laugh. Hed ask,".ireyou tanned from the iun/’lll' c/ say,"Yes!”
and he’d reply. “Glad to meet you I’m Kenneth from Earth."
It about this time that Mom remarncd, and n't’ moved to
Germany. Without his children, the single thread broke, and my
dad's heart and soul spilled out onto the floor. I wish I could
im- that I wrote to him every week, but the truth is the teenage
hug bit me. and I only wrote every month or nro. He moved
into mv grandmother's house (Mom’s .Mom);somehow I think it
made him jeel closer to us.
llbile wc Hc’ft’ ;n Germany, / began to write poems and song
lyrics. I wrote."Dear Lord, thanks for all you've given me, and
I ord I thankyou for my family. The mountains high, the clouds
up in the sky I watch them fioaring by and I thankyou. Lord.”
Finally, the day arrived to fly back home to the good old
My jathcr and my grandparenn were there to welcome us back,
.■ill of my loved ones had aged, but especially my dad; although
he HJi still full of jokes and fun. I 5UH' my dad often during
these years. He upgraded to a cassette player and was still
writing and singing, but he was also still drinking.
Several limes wefound him passed out in a drunken stupor, and
my grandmother and I had to sober him up.
The years passed, and I got married. My husband Curtis and
I visited him as often di mc’ could. Dad broke his arm, and
without alcohol he had DTs. He lapsed into a coma, and I
thought I h’Uj going lo lose him. It hus sojunny became I sang
to him while he ivw asleep, and
he woke up singing the same song. While in his coma, he
thought he had a fling with the red-
haired nurse in the hospital, and that he had been working
on the moon.
The doctors wanted to send Dad to u rehabilitation center in
Hdco, Texas, and we were
being transferred to Korth Carolina. I pleaded, '‘You could
come and live with us. Dad. Curt
wants you to come, too." "No, you kids are just starting out.
besides North Carolina is too cold
for this old Texas boy. ha ha."he laughed. That the last time
I ever saiv him. I callcd him to tell him I nui- pregnant, and he
udi so excited. He died about a month later. So there I was at
his military funeral, five months pregnant, knowing he would
never sec his first grandchild.
Being an alcoholic doesn't make vou a bad person. It doesn't
keep a person Jrom having dreams and encouraging others to
dream. His dreams are alive inside me because I continue to
write songs. I wrote this song ajter he died because I wanted
his dreams carried on. I penned, “.Hy Daddy dreamed (^being
a Country Western star, but most of his life you see he hung out
at the bar. And in the end you know it was the bottle took his
lije, but when I was young I 'd sit upon his knee, and my Dad
would sing his country songs to me."
"Well, I guess you could say that I became a country star, and
once in a while I go back down to that old bar, and I just sit
and listen while the bands sing and play, and sometimes they
w ill call to me, and h c will sing that old time harmony."
“My mom will be 50 proud sitting out there in the crowd, and
sometimes she claps and sings along. And I'm just sure you see
my dad's right here with me from heavenyou know he’s singing
along. Oh, Dad,you gave your dreams to me."
So, Dad. this one’s for rou. Thanks.
He Said,..But She Knew
Bv Rashon Murph
And he said that he trji- different, and she knew it was a lie
He face still stained with the drying teardrops that others had
made her crv
[iu( he grabbed her by the face, and he kissed her fears away
So she took a deep breith. And decided that she would stay
So she .stepped out of her box, she let down her guard
Had she have been more cautious, mavbe the impact wouldn't
have been as hard
And she told him what Jeared of him, and he assured her
that she HUi' wrong
She knew trust nw her weakness, so she fried her best to ap- ■
pear strong
.ind he whispered the sweetest thing to her; everything from his
mouth seemed so good
And she believed every single word oj it. just like he knew she
would
And then one day it happened, he let his true colors appear
He proved himselj to be a liar, and brought to life her great
est fear
.ind with a mere apology', he left her there to drown
In the foundation oj her trust for him, that'had shattered and
fallen to the ground
So now there sits the shell, the happy person she could have
been
If she would have trusted herself from the start, and never got
ten involved with him
She should have listened to her coriscious, non she can only
wonder why...
That he said that he ivai' dtfjerent, and she knew it ivas a lie
Proving What You’re Worth
By Bria S. McCloud
Now listen mr brotha and sista
In the past, the history oj our ancestors, hv proved to the pow
der that our molasses u crt’ meant to
IVe proved that we were hard laborers through the scars on our
backs and the thorns through our hands.
ilt’ stood up for our rights and shouted freedom.
Kather than drijting on board to our motherland, nr stayed
and fought jor our beiujs.
To the white man and politicians, uv showed that nr were wor
thy. But why?
\i'hy must uc’ prove that nc' are better than the next brotha or
sista that comes our way. knowing that nr are both heading
down the same road.
(tv are making it big in the citv, but pull those layers down,
take us back to our roots.
.is H C will see, n c’ are ,'itill proving what h i? art.’ worth, a piece of
chattel still shouting freedom, when our worth is meaningless.
Judging each other by .stereotypes or by the words that come out
oj our mouths, when our actions do not co-exist.
Bringing others c/tnin so nc can uplijt ourselves: when »v
should uplijt others to be succesjul in their path.
Stand up, grasp hand-to-hand, let our bond be not di.smantled
by our ownjears that has been created by media, but let our
progress ovejiow by our works.
That's how our ancestors acijuired their freedom, they worked
together for it.
Because without works they did not create a bond, and without
that bond, it could not have led us to a revolution (jfreedom.
So don't let our ivorth be meaningless, let our worth define
our freedom.
BEATS ECHO CALM VIBRATIONS
Bv Von Southerland
I find that peject spot where beats echo and linger in my ear
nith calming vibrations/
Where the hoots of a million brothers stomp on my ear drum,
forcing these rhythms into my mind/
.4i‘ my mind intertwines and envisions these boots breaking
big bricks brutally bashing brittle beats and with the same
boots they stomp out break-beats, like the beat that lives in
my brain/
it’s insane that after thousands of years this culture still re
mains the same, like the.April Rain,
black jeet reign onto the stage, with this they parade in a
rhythmic passion,
tnimicking the movements of our . yrican ancestors who climbed
Kilimanjaro with bare feet,
and stomped the side oj the ni>unfj/n to ii)ake avalanches of
beats that echo throughout generations,
and holds in relation, with what irt’Vt’ doing noir...
using our bodies as instruments, every person, as ci being of
sound, no technolog^v needed/
jor H c have stampeded and surpassed the intelligence of Pro-
Tools and Computer .ifjiicted noises...
lit’ have surpassed the skill it rakes to make hands nurc’ and
make heads bob..
for with our bodies ire can mimic the heartbeat oj God...
which is complex in context, but simple in submission.
Ilf cc/n stomp our a beat and catch you with a hook, I gue.'is
you call it fishing...
as uv stomp these vards we nourish the earth, since the begin-
ning of time lu* been steppin in the dirt,
with these dirt feet and dirt hands, re.-ipect we demand as our
bodies carry out what our voices cannot,
we circle around, 11 e stomp and beat on the ground, following
the rule of one boot, one sound...
and as our sound echoes and reaches towards the heavens, the
.\ngels conduct our heats.
for a million brothers stomping as one can truly douse Hells
heat,
and a million men marching and stomping as one, can produce
an ultimate beat/
Future Outlook for 2008 Graduates
Bv: Alan Holmes
There is no need to stress about vour fu
ture after walking across that stage in a cou
ple weeks. If 2008 is your year to graduate
have no fear because as of March 25 there
seems to be a positive outlook for college
graduates.
The future for 2008 graduates looks
promising in most career fields, although
there may be some fields that are shaky. The
U.S of labor Statistics report that 14 million
job openings are projected to spring up for
degree-wielding professionals between 2004
and 2014, 6.9 million of which arc expected
to be open to new college graduates. These
“pure college” professions require at least
a bachelor’s degree and thus gi\e college
graduates an edge o\er the competition.
College students would now have “bab)'
boomers” to thank for the growth in op
portunities this vear (those born between
194S and 1962).
Also, accord
ing to U.S
of Labor
Statistics,
within the
next
ten years, the amount of baby boomers is
expected to increase by 50 percent. Many
employers are looking forward into train
ing young workers now, so there will be
someone ready to take the “baby boomer’s”
place.
In man\ career fields there are degrees in
demand on bachelor’s degree level, master’s
degree, and doctorate degree. The top 10
degrees in demand for the bachelor’s degree
level are; Accounting, Mechanical Engineer,
Electrical Engineering, Computer Science,
Business Administration/Management, Fi
nance, Marketing, Computer Engineering,
and Nursing. Other fields also in demand
are: En\ironmental Science, Agriculture
Business, Psychology, English, Sociology,
and Political Science/Government. On a
ma.ster’s degree level, jobs in demands are:
Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engi
neering, Computer Science, Accounting, and
M.B.A. the top degrees on a doctorate le\el
are: Computer Science, Mechanical Engi
neering, Business Administration/Manage
ment, and Computer Engineering. ECSU
Social Work major senior Latoyia Reynolds
says, “As a African American Women on the
rise for graduation, I feel no articles, news
papers, or internet can tell me what is in de
mand when I see what society is lacking and
really in demand of.”
Employers have also found many different
wavs to look for new hires. Employers have
been on-campus recruiting, at ECSU; em
ployers have been active in the university’s
career center in finding new hires. Many
students can participate in internships, ca
reer/job fairs, student organization/clubs,
and co-op programs. In many ways faculty
and employees have made referrals to link
new hires. On mega websites such as. Mon
ster, Career Builder, Hot Jobs, also are sites
that look for new hires. ECSU Criminal Jus
tice major Rosalinda Sauri states, “I feel that
present society standards in the job market
arc harsh. Even after a dedicated student fin
ishes years ol college, they must then join
the battle of finding a desirable paying job.”
Many graduates are looking for jobs that
come along with benefits. Employers are
striving to supply graduates with many
benefits. Employers and graduates together
include medical insurance, life insurance,
401 (k), dental insurance, and annual salary
increases as important benefits. New gradu
ates can also look forward to additional va
cation time, a pension plan, family friendly
benefits, employers are offering employee
assistance counseling, tuition reimburse
ment, bonus/commission plans, and planned
social activities.
In order to obtain a job, graduates should
have the top qualities and skills that employ
ers v\ ant.The top four attributes listed bv em
ployers for college graduates are solid com
munication, fresh ideas, enthusiasm, technical
aptitude. Some other qualities include team
work, willingness to learn, adaptability, and
analytical thinking. The need to ha\e multiple
experiences can be traced to two immedi
ate factors: 1) being able to differentiate stu
dents c|uickly when dealing with a large pool
of applicants; and 2) a new hire with more
workplace skills and exposure will get off to
a faster start.
This year’s labor market for 2008 graduates
is looking good. All students must do is follow
through after graduation. This means keep
sending in those resumes and job hunting.
Those who procrastinate will find them.selves
in a tight situation for their future plans.