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<\/a>De\u2019Arbreya Lee<\/strong> It\u2019s not easy being a student and trying to fulfill your life\u2019s goals, but it\u2019s certainly not unattainable. Just ask Jackson State University student Tori Thompson, a music education major, history minor as she counts down the days leading up to the release of her book of poems, \u201cScarlette\u2019s Letters\u201d on April 22, 2011.<\/p>\n The Toledo, Ohio native, who goes by the stage name Scarlette, has a lot on her resume. She was the host of last sememster\u2019s poetry slam series and was also featured in the J.Lee produced documentary, \u201cBlack Love.\u201d\u00a0 Thompson has accomplished a lot and many of these accomplishments to place on Jackson State\u2019s campus.<\/p>\n She recalls her first business venture in the fifth grade of selling lips gloss in plastic heart shaped containers made from Vaseline and her mother eye shadow, selling 30 for one dollar each. Thompson\u2019s creativity has grown into something greater.<\/p>\n As founder of OutSpoken, a spoken word organization at JSU, Thompson has been writing since the fifth grade and performing since the 10th grade.\u00a0 She came to Jackson State in search of an organization that would allow her to flourish in her craft, but found something else.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I got to JSU, I looked for a student poetry slam team, and didn\u2019t find one,\u201d said Thompson.<\/p>\n Thompson set out on a quest, with the help of fellow music majors Diandgy Georges and Jamaal Bolden, to create the organization that she and many other poetry loving students needed.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter getting a petition signed by 30 students and writing a constitution,\u00a0 I convinced English professor and poet C. Liegh McInnis and Seven*Studioz [now Cultural Expressions] owner\/musician Ezra Brown to sponsor our project,\u201d said Thompson.<\/p>\n Now, some years after the club\u2019s creation and the addition of new members, OutSpoken has come a long way. With the\u00a0 recent opening performance for visiting poet, professor and author, Nikki Giovanni, Thompson has a lot to celebrate.<\/p>\n \u201cMy baby is all grown up! What started as a small poetry club has expanded into an artist\u2019s collective of poets, orators, graphic designers and musicians,\u201d said Thompson.<\/p>\n She added, \u201cOutSpoken is one of, if not the most, diverse groups on campus by hometown, major, ethnicity, orientation and talent.\u00a0 Eight of the Divine 9 is represented in OutSpoken,\u201d said Thompson.<\/p>\n Thompson said that she is proud of the work of the executive board and members of the organization and gives a special thanks to JSU student Brittany Patton, the first Vice President of OutSpoken.<\/p>\n \u201cOutSpoken would not have survived without her tireless efforts that first year. She and I have grown and changed so much since we first met, in life and in art, she motivates me to be a better wordsmith,\u201d said Thompson.<\/p>\n Thompson will soon be embarking on another journey,\u00a0 graduation.<\/p>\n \u201cMy life is a game of Super Mario right now. Bowser is graduation, and I\u2019m trying to collect all the coins I can to 1-up before a Koopa throws another hammer at me,\u201d said Thompson.<\/p>\n This summer, Thompson will receive training at the Dunham Institute in Chiapas, Mexico to get TEFL [Teaching English and Foreign Language] certification, just another example for her love of teaching.<\/p>\n \u201c[It\u2019s] my nosiness and the concept of learning across the curriculum. Writing poems helps me write songs; dancing helps me play my instrument better; performing spoken-word makes me a more effective teacher in the classroom by giving me ease in front of a crowd,\u201d said Thompson.<\/p>\n If you would like to pick up a copy of Thompson\u2019s book, \u201cScarlette\u2019s Letters\u201d, they will be on sale for $10 on April 22, 2011 at 8 p.m. at Cultural Expressions on 147 Milsaps Ave.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" De\u2019Arbreya Lee Staff Writer It\u2019s not easy being a student and trying to fulfill your life\u2019s goals, but it\u2019s certainly not unattainable. Just ask Jackson…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_plus_post_options":"{}","editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nStaff Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n