Flash Staff Seniors 2012-2013
Lamaar Mateen
I would like to say farewell to my good old college home. I enjoyed all that I’ve experience here at Jackson State University from the homecoming events to whatever organization week. I’ll miss the campus and classroom activities that I have participated in. I’ll miss all the people that I have meet while pursuing a degree.
Now that my student days are over, I will use all that I have experienced at Jackson State University in everyday life. Walking on the Gibbs-Green Plaza adds a new life. I have met people from all over the world; I met people from New York to Alaska and even from Africa to Great Britain. Everyday I woke up, I knew there was something new that I would experience and see around campus. While on the Gibbs-Green Plaza, I met little Joe and I met Old School at the hotspots that goes on at Jackson State.
This is where I grew up, and now I am going away from it, away from my friends. My eyes are filled up with tears as I see my school for the last time. I hope that I have lived up to the name of the institution.
I wish I could spend my life here, but that is not possible as there are new grounds that I have to face now. I hope my school remembers me. I hope all my friends keep in touch. I shall miss my friends, my senior class and my teachers who have been always a support system for me.
Good-bye dear school. There are no words of gratitude enough to express what I feel for this institution. It has made me what I am today and proven to be the stepping-stone to whatever I will achieve in life. Blessed are those who excel from this great institution. It has given me not only an education but also values which shall remain with me all my life.
Thank you and good-bye. “Thee I will always love my dear old college home.”
De’Arbreya Lee
Now this may sound very cliche, but I truly can remember my freshman year like it was yesterday. I remember anxiously waiting the night before the first day of school, wondering what was ahead of me as I began my life as a college student. Sitting in my only class of the day, history of civilization, trying to imagine how the rest of my day would go. Little did I know that on that same day, I would meet the friends that I would call on during times of joy and sadness, friends that have grown into inspiring adults, friends that are still in my life today.
I had no idea that classroom lectures would become a vital source of reference in my life, that the lectures of academics and heart-to-heart conversations with professors would be instrumental to the choices that I’ve made in my college matricilation.
Attending an HBCU was not of importance to me until I got to Jackson State. I thought that higher learning was all the same. When I stepped on the campus of JSU, I was a young woman hungry to learn about a culture that was often pushed aside but but celebrated during the shortest month of the year. Today, I am Bay Area girl who has learned so much about her roots, roots that are entwined in the soil of Mississippi.
I’d like to thank all of the professors, faculty and staff at JSU that have helped me reach this far in my life. I like to especially thank the departments of Mass Communications and English and Modern Foreign Language for believing in me when I was unsure of the gifts that I possessed. I’d like to thank the staff and faculty of Student Publications. I’ve grown so much as a person and as a writer from the long talks and the responsibility of working for a college newspaper.
To Ernest and Ms. Shannon, I’d like to thank you two for all that you’ve done for me. Being so far away from home was hard at times but you two, through all of the laughs and real world conversations, made my life so much easier. To Ms. Watley, thank you for the opportunity to speak on the needs, interest and concerns of the students. When most people look at The Flash, they only see mere words and pictures to accompany them. Others truly enjoy the content within the pages and applaud the hard work of the staff.
When I look through those pages, I think about all of the brainstorming, writing and rewriting that went into creating the finished newspaper that I’m holding in my hand. I think of the many newspapers like it that recorded interviews of today’s leaders and yesterdays heroes.
I thank God for an institution like Jackson State for it was here that I’ve grown so much.
To Jackson State #TheeILove. I will always love my ‘dear ole college home.’
Trerica “Tre” Roberson
I came to JSU the first time back in 2004. I thought I was ready for the world and college. Well… I was wrong. I ended up leaving school in 2007 and headed into the workforce and the real world that I thought I was so prepared for. After realizing how important an education truly is, I returned to JSU in January 2012 with the self taught understanding that you need an education to get ahead in the world. This time, I am fully prepared for the world ahead.
I would first like to thank GOD for blessing me to live this long. I would to thank my family: My grandma Ester who is my rock, my parents Marvia and Dean for instilling in me the drive of being a better person. My brothers: Anslem, Rashon and Rashad for being real with me, even when it hurts. I would like to thank the JSU Art Department for keeping me on track and when I strayed off the path, for giving me the nudge to get back on it.
I would like to thank my Blue & White Flash Family: Ms. Shannon Tatum, Mr. Ernest Camel III, and Ms. Sylvia Watley, along with the other staff. I started with The Flash in August 2013 as a graphic design intern. Ms. Watley told me on my first day that I might walk in an intern but I would walk out a well-rounded individual. Those words became true when she sent me to cover my first story, which made the front page. Thank you for encouraging me and helping me to reach my full potential as a graphic designer, a photographer, and a writer.
To the students still on the journey, I leave you these words: Study hard, don’t be afraid to ask for help if you don’t understand, and follow your heart and dreams.
Congratulations to all my friends and classmates who are a part of the 2013 Spring graduating class! We made it! We may be closing this chapter of our lives but we are just beginning to write a new one.
Love, Peace & TIGER PRIDE! I bid you all adieu.
Tiffany P. Edmondson
It’s always hard saying goodbye but hopefully the legacy of award winning journalists for The Blue & White Flash will continue. I remember when I first joined The Flash a few years ago. They didn’t come to me, I searched the entire campus for them because I knew that I wanted to write and I knew that writing for a campus newspaper would prepare me for a professional job.
Over the years, the advisors have done all that they could do to groom us into journalists. It wasn’t easy either. Imagine having to attend classes, do homework, study for tests, go to work, and writing news articles in the same day. Whether the students and faculty knew it or not, writing for The Flash was a fulltime job and we were expected to take responsibility for the work we had to do for our student body. The last thing we wanted was a call from 601-979-2167, asking what’s the progress on your story, lol.
There was a demand for us on campus and we worked very hard to be a service to the students. The skills that Ms. Watley, Ms. Shannon and Mr. Ernest equipped us with will last a lifetime and we could apply them to other life lessons as well. The Blackburn building was our peace zone and a second home to others. Within those halls are footsteps of great memories of all the talented people who have written for The Flash and now its time to walk in those footsteps to continue the legacy that this newspaper started.
I’m really emotional as I type this letter because graduation is only a few days away and its clear to me that this is the last thing that I’ll write as an undergraduate at Jackson State University. I can’t thank the advisors and staff writers enough for all of their support, encouragement, ideas, laughs, cries, opportunities, and most of all their time. They could have easily chosen another career but they have devoted their lives to help us become better students, better journalists, and better professionals. They have families too but they sacrifice many things to be with us. I can’t thank them enough but I’m sure they’ll continue to be blessed for their loving hearts.
Now that I’m moving forward to accomplish my dreams, I want to inspire other mass communications students to write for The Flash because this newspaper is one of the main reasons why I’ve been afforded so many opportunities. When I applied for the WAPT, the NABJ Short Course, the White House, United States Department of Agriculture, and ESPNu, I had to send in published articles for each and every one of them and those articles made me a winner.
I want other students to be able to have these experiences as well but you have to be willing to write and work hard. Last but not least, I have to thank the Division of Student Life and the University for knowing the need of having a campus newspaper. When we had the budget cuts, this program could have been cut but they believed in us and the work we do.
To all of my professors, thanks for teaching me, mentoring me, and holding me responsible for my good and bad decisions. Most of all, thanks for the support, advice, and recommendation letters. Even though I’m saying goodbye, this is the beginning of my next era. A successful era at that! I will always love my ‘dear ole college home.’
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