Be you with a little SPIN on it!
As a young girl I was always told by my parents how beautiful I was, how to speak up, how
to push through and even how to carry myself. If you knew me from way back when, you would know that I was always a skinny girl with big eyes. Because my dad always
told me how beautiful I was, I never looked at myself no other way. Yes I was called all types of names that was affiliated with being skinny but I still didn't let that bother me. What I would do is use my skinny to my advantage through fashion and more.
My mom used to model so she would always dress my sister and I up, teach us how to stand, keep your head up, be confident and always leave the house looking like something. You never know who is watching you. I somewhat understood but didn't get it until I was about 19. One day I was doing hair at home in my cut up shirt and booty shorts (didn't have much back there, lol). In between appointments, I needed something from the corner store, so I decided to leave the house just as is and go to the gas station up the street. When leaving, an old classmate ran into me and I was so embarrassed of how I looked. In my head I was like, "they probably like Monique fell off". From that day on, I never left the house looking like anything. As you can see, I can barely keep the same hairstyle for 2 weeks.
When in school, I wanted to ask questions when I didn't know what was going on. So I didn't until college. I was beating my brain for a long time and remembered I was told that no questions get answers. Once I started speaking up and asking questions, I realized that I didn't have to worry so much about if I was doing things the right way. Now don't get me wrong, I was always outspoken. I just spoke on things when I had to stand up for myself. I was so afraid of how teachers would think of me because I wanted to be the smart student that didn't have to ask question. I know, that don't even make sense, but it made sense in my head. As an adult I now speak up at work and everywhere I go. It has gotten me thus far to places I probably wouldn't have never experienced had I kept my mouth shut.
Speaking up even helped me tremendously through college. I've made a few mistakes along the way. Spent most of my money at Jr College and then changed my major like 3 times. Because of that, I lost most of my financial aide. I had a baby and even had to sit out a semester loosing yet more money because of it. When I went back to school I was told I had to pay out the pocket. SPEAK UP MO! I sat in financial aid office and demanded money to help finish school. I waited, was told to come back and I waited. My words to those people in the office were, "I have about 1 year left, your retention rate will look funny if you let students like me walk away." I waited to speak to a supervisor, long story short; I walked out that office with a scholarship to help me finish my degree. This was one of my first actions of pushing through. I never take the first or the second NO for an answer,
Today I take my experiences and wisdom to help motivate others to be themselves, just put a spin on it. Don't be shy, speak up. Let the world know what your'e ready for and capable of doing. Look at yourself in the mirror every morning and tell yourself, you are beautiful/handsome, you are great, and you can do whatever your heart desire. Take every experience as a learning experience to be better the next time.