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Hello everyone , welcome to season

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two of Standing Youth Podcast . I'm

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your host , yanni . On this podcast

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you will hear myself , family and friends having

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open-ended discussions on anything

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from faith , finances , relationships

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and how to stay motivated during life

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trying times . Make sure you follow

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me on all my social media . Link

0:23

is in the bio . Sit back and get

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ready to enjoy . Hello

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, hello , hello everyone . Welcome to another

0:35

episode of Standing Youth Podcast

0:37

with your host , Yanni , the

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one and only . Anyway

0:42

, how are you guys doing ? Happy

0:45

it's not happy Christmas , it's definitely Merry

0:47

Christmas . I got there wrong . You know why I said

0:49

happy ? Because it's my birthday month

0:51

. So happy birthday to me

0:53

. But anyway it's the 22nd . Just in case

0:56

anybody wants to send me a gift

0:58

or send me Uber Eats or something

1:00

or coffee , I'll take all the above . But

1:02

anyway , how's everyone doing

1:04

? I do realize this time is

1:06

a little bit of a rough

1:08

time for some . Holidays are always not

1:11

the most pleasant for some . So

1:13

you guys are definitely in my thoughts and prayers

1:15

, but

1:17

I'm here again with another guest . I'm

1:20

going to let her introduce herself .

1:23

Greetings salutations

1:25

everyone . My name is Angela

1:28

Love Jackson and I

1:30

am so grateful . Yanni , Happy early birthday

1:32

, Thank you .

1:33

You're welcome .

1:35

I'd give you a gift , but I'm waiting on you to earn

1:37

this gift . Oh man , look at this

1:39

gift to see what it says .

1:41

Oh , you know what ?

1:43

Anyways , it's a private joke . She'll

1:45

have to explain it to you . Her

1:47

aunt Mara and I , her cousins

1:49

Mariah and Alicia , understand

1:51

what's understood does

1:54

not have to be said that part , that

1:56

part for sure , but I do . Thank you

1:58

so much for allowing me to be a

2:00

part of your podcast

2:02

, for various reasons . One

2:04

this is part of my requirements .

2:07

Hey , you know what ? It's always cool to know people who

2:10

can help you get the job done Look that's

2:12

why you do what you do .

2:13

You make sure you know somebody that can help you and

2:15

that you can help give them more . So there

2:17

you go .

2:19

So before we kind of get started with anything , I want to

2:21

tell me a little about you . So I know

2:23

you work at Permian , right , yes

2:25

, ma'am . So what exactly do you

2:27

do ? How long have you been in education ?

2:30

I have worked in Ector County ISD

2:32

for 29 years 29

2:35

years .

2:35

Yes , ma'am , how old am I ? I'll be 33

2:37

.

2:37

Thank you .

2:39

Thank you .

2:40

Yanni For 29 years . Yes , and

2:43

then I've actually been at Permian High

2:45

School for 25 years

2:47

. Seriously . This year marks 25

2:49

years . I always have taught US

2:51

history . The first four

2:53

years I taught eighth grade US history at

2:55

. It used to be Hood Junior High and it's still

2:58

Hood Junior High to me , but others call it Wilson

3:00

and Young Middle School and

3:02

then Permian High School . I teach 11th grade

3:04

US history . I teach dual credit

3:06

, which means I'm an adjunct with Odessa

3:08

College . I also have

3:11

taught AP . I've taught the

3:13

regular . I have taught ESL

3:15

. I have taught we used to have a course

3:17

called Advanced Social Studies . It

3:21

was geared towards your upper level

3:23

, high level students , but

3:25

it kind of dissolved . And

3:27

then one year , one

3:29

semester I think for sure it

3:31

was just one time they had me teach , alongside

3:34

all those world history , one

3:36

section of it and they decided

3:39

and I decided I don't know who decided

3:41

more that was not for me , but

3:44

US history and I tell my

3:46

students every year I learned something

3:48

new . Even after all these years I

3:50

can't say that I teach one year exactly

3:53

the same . I make some shifts

3:55

as things happen in the world . I find

3:57

a way to dig back into history

3:59

to see how they evolve . My number

4:01

one goal is for my students to see themselves

4:04

in history . So depending on the group of

4:06

students I have in class that will determine

4:08

when I started seeing I had more Filipino

4:12

students in the recent years . I started

4:14

looking when did Filipinos first start coming

4:16

to America ? To America , and I was surprised

4:18

. So those kind of things .

4:20

That's interesting for sure . I think

4:22

my 11th grade history class I definitely

4:25

ate in the back do most

4:27

of that class History

4:29

. I think I've been missing the dates so

4:31

my foundation is shaky . Or maybe

4:33

this doesn't exist , so history to me is just all of

4:35

it .

4:36

But you don't always teach the dates . I tried

4:38

to teach time periods .

4:40

He was teaching dates , so I was like bro

4:42

, I don't know what year , and

4:44

then I just lexics , so the numbers get a little flipped

4:46

, oh yeah .

4:47

Certainly in certain few dates do I expect

4:50

them to remember , but I do teach time periods

4:52

. Make sure you know what was happening

4:54

before and how it evolved into this and

4:57

how , because of this , it evolved into this

4:59

and go from there

5:01

. Not at all . You just need to come back

5:03

and get in my class .

5:04

No , I don't , but I

5:06

also do at times

5:08

.

5:08

I've taught some online classes with OC

5:10

as well .

5:11

Oh well , I made you do that class . Yeah , I get some

5:13

adult learners too , because I'm like no , I don't Okay

5:15

. Well , with that being

5:17

said , what motivates you ?

5:21

Retirement motivates you ? Because

5:23

after 29 years it's sadly

5:26

Yanni . I find myself at times

5:28

because this is being honest for

5:30

the past few years I'm like what else can I do ? You

5:33

got a point there . And I'm like , well , if

5:35

I can't teach , what else

5:37

do I do ? And then my brother reminded me

5:39

we're all in education in my family

5:41

let me put that out there . My parents are both educators

5:44

over 30-something years . My brother's

5:46

been a principal , a teacher

5:48

well , band director , teacher and

5:50

administrator , for it's

5:53

gotta be 20 , well , 15

5:56

to 20 years for sure and he

5:58

reminded me that one

6:00

of the biblical spiritual gifts is

6:03

to teach . That helped for another

6:05

year To add . Again

6:07

. I went to what else am I supposed to be doing

6:09

, lord ? Why do you have me here ? He has you there

6:11

for a reason . He does , and

6:14

I'm blessed . I've been blessed to have

6:16

some of the finest . I've

6:19

been blessed to have even some of the worst

6:21

and still work out a good rapport

6:24

with them . I've learned

6:26

from my students every year . I have a

6:28

responsibility to also learn . I

6:31

tell people I learn just as much as I

6:33

teach . So well , maybe

6:35

not , but I learn a lot . I

6:37

learn from the kids too .

6:38

I feel like that's like me every time I record a

6:40

podcast episode . It's like obviously

6:42

I don't know everything , but it's like sometimes

6:45

the simple stuff is what my

6:48

guest reminds me of . So I understand that

6:50

for sure . But if you're not , learning .

6:51

Why are you living ?

6:53

Right , and people who think they know everything . I'm

6:55

like you really don't , Because then absolutely

6:57

we know nothing .

6:58

Right To everyone who is

7:00

here in this podcast , I apologize

7:03

. We put two of my dogs out

7:05

and they're outside

7:07

and they are communicating with

7:09

us on the inside . See , that's Murphy and

7:12

then there's Lady , but they're also alerting

7:15

us of people driving by or a bird

7:17

flying , or a leaf just flying , or

7:19

the fact that it's probably no one will be outside , they'll

7:21

be all right .

7:22

But the next question is with

7:24

you teaching and being in

7:27

it for so long , how do you protect your

7:29

mental health , or

7:33

do you , maybe I do ?

7:36

I will tell you . First of all , there is nothing

7:38

wrong with seeking guidance

7:40

from certified

7:43

psychologists , psychiatrists

7:45

. I've even utilized them myself

7:47

. I was going through a health

7:49

situation where it was required in

7:52

order for me . Well , I don't make it a secret , I

7:54

had a bariatric surgery the sleeve

7:56

, and one of the requirements of my

7:58

doctor was that you had to be

8:01

analyzed by a psychiatrist

8:03

, and I appreciated that

8:05

and I was , like you know , I need this . As

8:07

black women , we think we can do it all

8:09

, and that's part of this

8:13

mystique that's out

8:15

there and it's a mistake . But

8:18

truly , I stand on

8:21

faith , my faith in God

8:23

. I do believe him to

8:25

be who he is , and

8:28

so I do believe him to be who he

8:30

says he is . And as long

8:32

as I know he's got my back , I don't live in fear

8:34

. I

8:37

have my concerns , I have my nervous

8:39

, I have things that happen that come

8:41

in my life , dealing with something right now , but

8:44

I don't walk in fear Because

8:46

I know he is with me and

8:48

his rod is guiding me , his staff

8:50

is guiding me and I do believe

8:53

that when I am at the table

8:55

, my enemies might be present

8:57

, but they get to watch me eat good , and

9:00

he will be with me for the rest of my life . He

9:03

knows the plans that he has for me . I

9:05

stand by that , and so

9:08

he doesn't let things

9:10

happen . Even when the devil

9:12

, satan , tries to sharpen his darts at

9:15

me , I believe there's a shield

9:17

of protection . So when you ask

9:19

me , how have I done

9:21

it so long ? That ? But

9:23

I have to be real , not

9:26

just spiritually , but I have good friends

9:28

. You have to have a

9:30

good relationship with colleagues

9:33

, but some people are just your associates

9:35

and colleagues . But then you just need a few

9:37

good friends that

9:40

you can banter , some that know exactly what you're going

9:42

through , because they're in it too . I'm great

9:44

to have some friends that are in education and

9:46

then some folks who don't have anything to do with education

9:49

. That way we're not always talking about

9:51

education . So

9:53

those three things , and

9:55

then the last one , of course , is my family , and

9:58

they're not in any particular order

10:01

. God is always first , but

10:04

friends , family and a self-awareness

10:06

of who and what I am . I'm 52

10:08

years old and

10:11

I've lived enough life half a century

10:13

. I ought to know something and

10:16

I ought to be able to handle some things

10:18

.

10:19

So with that , what advice would you give your younger

10:21

self ?

10:22

Don't do it . Oh no , no

10:25

, rock Johnny . It's

10:28

sad because now here I am on my soap box

10:31

. You will go on

10:33

social media . I was looking at so

10:35

many of friends of mine that

10:37

are teachers and we started off 25

10:39

to 30 years ago and

10:42

all of us would tell ourselves don't do it

10:44

If we knew what

10:46

we were gonna be dealing with right now , because education

10:48

is just not the same . We

10:50

are required to test so much

10:52

with state mandated , at

10:55

district mandate , and I understand

10:57

the point of it . But my soap

10:59

box is if you're doing six weeks

11:01

of testing , what am

11:03

I teaching ? Years

11:06

ago and since I got the platform , I'm a go

11:08

there Years ago we had convocation

11:11

. I still remember this vividly

11:13

. It had to been the first or second convocation

11:15

ECIC really did . And this

11:18

man in the middle of his speech got

11:20

almost a standing ovation

11:22

. He said either

11:25

he's got family or immediate

11:27

family or

11:30

some relatives that are farmers . That

11:33

part doesn't matter , other than he knew farming

11:36

. And he says you don't plant

11:38

a seed and then take

11:40

it out every three to six weeks to see how it's

11:42

growing . You

11:45

plant that seed . now

11:47

you see why we stood and clapped . You plant

11:50

that seed , you nurture that

11:52

seed with the water . You

11:55

feed you're fertilize

11:57

it , but then you just let God do what he

11:59

does . If

12:01

I am doing my part as a teacher

12:03

with a student nurturing them , feeding

12:06

them , watering them , supplying them the

12:08

necessary nutrients then

12:11

months later I

12:13

don't even have to dig to see how it's growing . It

12:15

will break through the ground and it

12:18

will flourish itself . So

12:20

that's how I believe

12:22

we should do and

12:24

we don't . So my younger self would

12:26

have said Angela , you should have gone and got that law

12:28

degree . You wanted to be a lawyer

12:31

. I really did . I wanted to be a lawyer

12:33

till I was probably ooh

12:37

, in high school , maybe my

12:39

early college , because my parents were being educated

12:41

said go on and get your certification . It's

12:43

always a good backup . That's what they used to tell us

12:45

. It's always a good backup because they always need

12:47

a teacher and somewhere

12:50

in there it twisted and changed

12:52

to where I was like instead

12:54

of because I always know I want to be a defense lawyer

12:56

. Why wait till they need

12:58

a defense attorney ? Get

13:00

them before they need somebody to defend them and

13:03

you can help mold and change

13:05

their path and I really believe

13:07

that and that's why I became an educator

13:09

and people

13:11

think I'm playful when I say it but

13:13

I'll sell the vacation days and

13:17

that seems so humorous . But I looked at

13:19

my friends who parents weren't

13:21

in education . They only got two weeks

13:23

of a break . And

13:25

so I had friends who were latchkey kids or

13:28

they couldn't go anywhere during the summer because their

13:30

folks were working the whole time

13:32

, well , both my parents being in education

13:34

. Although my father

13:37

taught even summer school , even

13:39

at OC , but also through East SST , he was done

13:42

by July . So we

13:44

still had some summer , we

13:46

still had Christmas breaks . We knew we could be two

13:48

weeks off and it was real clear come

13:51

Thanksgiving when my family would come from Dallas

13:53

and walk to Hatchey . They

13:56

came late Wednesday night , really early

13:58

Thursday morning for Thanksgiving and

14:00

they left after the Cowboys game because somebody

14:02

had to go to work on Friday . Yeah , yeah

14:04

, and so I don't . I say

14:07

it but I'm sincere when I say it I

14:09

knew I was gonna have a family and I wanted

14:11

to be able to have family time and

14:13

not have to work throughout the

14:16

year , 350

14:19

days of the year .

14:20

Yeah , I just realized how nice that schedule

14:22

is because of Erin and we had Thanksgiving

14:24

recently and it was off

14:26

the whole week , which my schedule

14:28

wasn't terrible . I got off Wednesday at

14:30

noon and didn't have to go back

14:32

to work til Monday .

14:34

And that's the way it used to be when I was a kid , even

14:36

from my parents , but then , through

14:38

time , we get a whole week off , which makes it even better

14:40

. Yeah , so I'm just like .

14:43

So I'm sitting here and then , like Christmas , and he's

14:45

telling , and I'm like , and man , I'm thinking

14:47

I could really go to somebody's school and

14:49

be like a attendance clerk or something .

14:52

Look , we're needing some right now . We're needing an

14:54

attendance clerk , two social studies

14:56

teacher and an assistant principal .

14:57

I'm not trying to be nosy . I cannot teach our studies

15:00

Like the kids ain't gonna learn nothing .

15:01

Well , you could be the . I could be the

15:03

clerk , for sure , you could be the attendance clerk .

15:05

For sure , you need a job .

15:06

So , yeah , that's what I would tell my younger self , though , and

15:09

the pay hadn't gotten much better . You don't

15:11

become an educator . You don't become

15:13

an educator for the pay . Only

15:15

folks who are making money in education are

15:17

those who are making the test , in my opinion

15:20

, and those who write books that other people are willing

15:22

to buy .

15:22

Yeah , that's one thing I've always

15:25

just it baffles me is how

15:27

we pay them to

15:30

all the athletes and all this . They get those

15:32

millions of dollars , but you have those athletes

15:34

after starting someone's classroom , most

15:36

times , anyway .

15:37

Even a coach who taught them some stuff . Yeah

15:39

, but it's like , why are we not ? But that's

15:41

a whole another give me for one more podcast

15:44

.

15:45

I'm like that's a whole something else . All

15:48

right , so what is one moment that shaped your

15:50

life ? Gosh

15:53

, that's been quite

15:55

a few , or you can give me a top three .

15:58

Top three , the hardest one , and I was

16:00

telling some friends because

16:03

of a situation I'm going with there , like are you doing

16:05

okay ? I said you know I

16:08

go back and look at the hardest I ever had in my life

16:10

. That was August

16:12

4th 1998

16:15

. The morning of 423

16:18

AM , I believe , is when my father

16:21

passed . I

16:23

made it through that day so I

16:25

know I can make it through any day . So

16:29

that shapes me because I

16:31

was such a daddy's girl that

16:34

I had to depend on the

16:36

true father , but

16:39

it taught me I

16:42

had to persevere through

16:44

some things . I still miss him . Ooh

16:46

, I could talk to George Love right now . I would

16:48

. How many siblings do you have ? Just me and

16:51

my brother ? Oh , so just two , just two of us

16:53

. I've got a younger , bigger brother . George

16:56

is much taller than me but

16:58

we're six and a half years apart and

17:01

we got closer

17:03

though when daddy passed we

17:05

had started getting there the older he got . I

17:07

was always great , but my brother took time for

17:09

him to get there .

17:11

So Just me sugar man . Hey , yana

17:13

, I love what she said .

17:14

Okay , anyways . Yeah , that's

17:16

the first thing . What was the question

17:19

? Again ? Cause you know , I bantered .

17:21

What is one moment that shaped you ? So you said the first

17:23

one was your father passing away .

17:26

The second one was the birth of my son , which actually

17:28

happened before that , because I became

17:30

a mother , I became a better

17:33

teacher . The day I became a mother , I

17:36

think as Christian

17:38

progressed through school it

17:40

changed my understanding

17:42

, my compassion for students . I

17:45

don't mean any hurt , harm or danger to anybody

17:48

, but you can nine times

17:50

out of 10 , tell those teachers they

17:52

have no children Because

17:55

their patience , their

17:57

compassion they

18:00

don't understand . Even

18:03

, for instance , some

18:05

teachers will do what we call

18:07

a grade dump . All

18:09

of a sudden they put in 10 grades

18:12

, five grades , the difference

18:14

it can change in a kid's average . That

18:16

moment , when you decide to load all these grades

18:19

in , I understood it more

18:21

so when my son was a

18:23

student , had an 80 something

18:25

average and a teacher dumped in about

18:27

eight grades and it dropped

18:30

his average big time , I

18:32

said , oh no , sir , we won't . So

18:35

having him , maybe

18:38

that way , having my day , I

18:40

guess I say becoming a parent , because even having

18:42

my daughter it made it different , because

18:44

I was older and it's

18:47

a female . She is a female

18:49

, not yet so even having

18:51

to teach her , I would say being

18:53

married when I turned 40 . The

18:57

year I turned 40 , we could just sum that

18:59

all up in the one . I got

19:01

married that March . I

19:03

had Jazea that

19:05

November , three days before I turned 41

19:07

. That whole year

19:10

was something else , because

19:13

Jazea was a twin . I was pregnant with

19:15

twins , lost one of the twins

19:17

while I was pregnant , so I was carrying

19:19

life and death at the same time , and

19:22

so I had to mourn and celebrate

19:25

at the same time . So

19:27

those but that year

19:29

again . Death

19:32

teaches you so much . But

19:34

if nothing else , death teaches you about

19:36

life . You mentioned

19:39

earlier that this is a tough time of the year for

19:41

a lot of people . What it has

19:43

taught me ? I miss my loved ones

19:45

, but it has taught me to appreciate

19:47

living , not

19:51

keep my focus on death and dying

19:53

, but remember remembering

19:56

the life they lived and , even more so

19:58

, push for me to continue to

20:00

live , but not just live , but

20:03

live .

20:05

Yes , lord , that

20:08

is definitely good . What

20:10

is your mindset when you're told no ?

20:15

The first question you wanna ask is why ? But

20:18

sometimes your response is okay . 52

20:23

years has taught me that God

20:25

will give you a yes , a

20:28

no or a wait . So

20:30

I've learned to accept a no when

20:33

, especially because I believe in God's design

20:35

. I'm not trying to be so spiritual

20:38

here .

20:39

My trust me .

20:40

I can still throw a good tantrum when I'm

20:42

told no , but I understand

20:44

that the no comes for a reason because

20:47

he knows what is best for me . He

20:49

knows what is to come and

20:52

there's a reason for that no .

20:55

I've definitely had to realize that , and I think I'm

20:57

still in that process .

20:58

Well understand that that no is a

21:00

no , sometimes because something greater is coming

21:02

, and if you were given a

21:04

yes then you might miss what the greater

21:06

was . So the no

21:08

is important , and then

21:11

if you didn't ever receive a no , yeah

21:14

, it's very important . If you didn't receive a no

21:16

, then you couldn't always appreciate the

21:18

yes . That's

21:20

true too . Imagine being

21:22

let down for five jobs

21:25

. It's

21:27

hard to go apply for that six job , but

21:30

when that six job says yes , you

21:33

appreciate that even more

21:35

. So If you were given , and it's

21:37

probably a better job than the first five

21:40

.

21:41

None times out of 10 , it's always , always worse . It's always

21:43

worse , especially if you're relying on him , Exactly

21:46

exactly . I agree , I've

21:48

had to kind of realize that , but it's something

21:50

beautiful in realizing that as well .

21:52

Yeah , the no's are not always bad .

21:54

No , they've actually been quite lovely for me .

21:56

This just pops in my head , except

21:59

the no , because he knows , and

22:03

he knows what's best .

22:06

Okay , come on and preach there

22:08

.

22:08

Yeah , let the church save me .

22:10

All right . Well , on top of you teaching

22:12

and being a

22:14

mother and being a wife and

22:16

being a friend and being

22:19

a line sisters at the correct

22:21

terminology , well , I'm a Soror

22:23

for Alpha Kappa , alpha Sorority

22:25

Incorporated . Okay well .

22:27

So I have Soros and so yes , and I

22:29

know my line . Sisters are some of my greatest

22:31

friends .

22:32

And I know that you guys are involved in the community

22:34

and I know you're involved in your church

22:37

. On top of all of that , I

22:39

have realized and found out that you also

22:41

are in the process of getting your is it ? Doctorate . Am I

22:43

saying that correctly , correct ?

22:45

my doctorate .

22:46

What inspired ? That ?

22:49

When I was in high school

22:51

. My

22:54

maiden name , of course , is Love , and

22:57

somebody gave me the nickname the

22:59

Love Doctor or Doctor

23:01

Love , and I

23:03

was the uniform captain

23:05

in the band and so I was

23:07

one of the first ones to leave the band as

23:10

they were getting ready for the football team to come back at halftime

23:12

. I was getting ready so I could collect plumes

23:14

and the student section would be yelling Love

23:17

, doctor , doctor , love , doctor

23:20

, love , and it

23:22

even made it in the yearbook , really

23:24

, yeah . And so part of it was because they

23:26

felt they called me Doctor Love

23:28

was because I could give good advice . So

23:31

their mindset that was another thing . I thought about being was

23:34

a psychologist , but their mindset

23:37

was that I always had good advice . Go see

23:39

the doctor , go ask Doctor Love , and

23:41

so I liked it . I liked the way it sounded

23:44

. I'm a whole lot . I liked the

23:46

way Doctor Love sounded . I knew the love

23:48

doctor , and so it

23:51

does have a key reason , doesn't it sound ? good it does

23:53

. So I started with

23:55

the mindset my parents grew

23:57

up from humble beginnings but they

23:59

got master's degree Right

24:01

after getting their bachelor's . They were working

24:03

and teaching but they were going back during summers

24:06

, and all that working on their master's degree

24:08

. So it's no surprise

24:10

that my brother and I both got a master's degree . I

24:13

think he started before I did and

24:15

I wasn't gonna let him outdo me . That is what happened , and

24:18

so he got his . But I got mine right after

24:20

him , like by a semester , and

24:22

then I was like you know what , let's go get this doctorate

24:25

. He says you got it . Even to this

24:27

day , he says you got it . I'm here to support

24:29

you , but I let some

24:31

time go . After

24:33

I got my master's degree I

24:36

knew I needed to continue . So there

24:38

was about 10 years in between my bachelor's and my

24:40

master's and then I started moving and

24:44

that timing is a little off on that , but I started

24:46

getting my master's degree and then my doctorate

24:48

. I started then

24:51

I can't even

24:53

tell you the exact date , but I was

24:55

doing it through Texas Tech , where I got my bachelor's

24:58

and I

25:00

got all and it was in curriculum and instruction

25:02

Got all the way to all the

25:04

dissertation , abd , and

25:07

that's where they let you be on your own . And

25:09

I am the worst procrastinator and

25:12

I couldn't even marry a topic and

25:14

they'll tell you anybody who's getting a doctorate

25:16

. It's

25:19

been through this new program I'm in and I'm not

25:21

wording it correctly , but

25:24

your dissertation is

25:26

just a snippet

25:28

of your educational

25:30

knowledge and what you will do . I

25:33

tended to make it my life work

25:36

. That's what it was . It was almost becoming

25:38

. I was trying to make it my life's work . I've even been

25:40

challenged with it . This time . It's not my

25:42

life's work , it's just a little segment

25:45

of my life . And so , going

25:48

through that , I had started giving

25:50

myself my own sabbaticals and taking

25:52

breaks . Then I just got tired of

25:54

it . I got married , had

25:56

my daughter Josiah and

25:59

then I was like , ooh , keep

26:01

living . Then I got sick

26:03

and while I

26:05

was in my bed I was like

26:07

, well , I can't seem to get back to work , I can't seem

26:09

anything else . And

26:11

I've never forgotten it . My

26:13

number one regret in life

26:16

was that I hadn't received my doctorate

26:18

. Out of everything I've done mistakes

26:20

, I've made my number one regret

26:23

. I believe God has kept me on this earth so I

26:25

can continue and at least get this doctorate

26:27

. So that was my number one regret . And

26:30

while I was , as I call it , my bed

26:32

of affliction , I started calling

26:34

. I contacted Texas Tech

26:36

and they had told me

26:38

that after all those years I

26:40

had set out so long that I was pretty much gonna

26:42

have to start over . They might have

26:44

accepted six years . I was like I don't shoot

26:46

now . That's a lot of money and a lot

26:48

of more time . I even contacted

26:51

oh shoot

26:54

online people Everybody knows them , phoenix

26:57

online and I

26:59

was like they were gonna accept maybe

27:01

nine hours , that's a lot , but that's not

27:03

enough for much work , as I

27:05

put in . So I pretty much give it up

27:07

. And wouldn't you know it , while

27:09

I'm laying in my bed of affliction , seriously

27:12

in a medical bed it's family

27:14

sleep . So I'm just going through time through

27:16

my phones , through the timeline

27:18

of Facebook , I out

27:21

pops this ad for Alverno

27:23

College and it says have

27:26

you gotten all the dissertation

27:28

? Do you wanna continue and finish

27:31

it up ? Will accept you , regardless

27:33

of how long you've set out . I

27:36

kid you not . I was like this cannot

27:38

be real .

27:39

Facebook is listening to me . Okay , really , the .

27:41

Facebook . Gods , I was telling my professor

27:44

and advisor , some others that the other

27:46

night it was hard to believe . And

27:49

so I looked and it's in Milwaukee , wisconsin

27:51

. I ain't never heard of Milwaukee but I've

27:53

heard of it . Don't know where it was

27:55

and I teach you as history . So all I knew

27:57

was somewhere up north from me , midwest

27:59

, and it wasn't somewhere I had ever planned or

28:01

anticipated on

28:04

visiting . And , might I add , this was

28:06

in the midst of COVID . So

28:09

it worked out for me in several different ways

28:11

. So Alverno had started

28:13

this new doctoral program in education . It

28:15

wasn't brand new , but it was fairly

28:17

new . They'd already had a cohort or two to go through

28:19

and so they were finessing

28:22

things and

28:24

I checked them out and the first

28:26

lady I dealt with her

28:29

name is Renata . Oh my gosh

28:31

, would I tell you she's

28:33

gotta be a saint , an angel , the

28:36

way she welcomed me in and helped me

28:38

with my experiencing , even in just

28:40

applying , helping me

28:42

say no , go get this transcript . I had to go

28:44

all the way back to my junior college

28:46

OC transcript to get it all

28:48

of that . But she waited

28:51

and helped me and guided me and said write

28:53

your letter . She is . And

28:55

here's how good Alverno was . So I tell

28:57

them I'm the ambassador for Alverno

28:59

in West Texas , in

29:02

Texas . Anybody who knows me as a friend

29:04

has heard of Alverno College and

29:06

we had never heard of them before . But

29:09

Renata started it off and

29:11

then I got to meet who was

29:13

gonna be the Dean of Students

29:16

that December because this started in

29:18

October and my classes were gonna

29:20

start at the end of that January and

29:24

I was about 47 , 48 years old 2020

29:27

is when this all started and

29:30

I said , okay , he wanted to meet

29:32

with us . He had a time . I said , oh , the sales . Okay

29:34

, this is real promising . No problem

29:36

, oh , it might I add . All

29:38

I had to pay was $100 and something , just

29:40

to get started . Do

29:43

you hear me ? So I was like

29:45

, okay , if I lose $100 and something , oh

29:48

well , I didn't lose thousands of dollars , but

29:51

it was starting to get better . The

29:54

week classes were supposed

29:56

to start , I heard back from Renata

29:59

. I just wanna check on you . You know your classes

30:01

are starting . Are you ready ? Are

30:03

you excited ?

30:04

I mean , I'm like .

30:05

Who does that in college ? Not

30:07

in any schools , and especially grad

30:10

doctoral program , when

30:13

the college that I spent all my money

30:15

in . I was in Lubbock

30:17

last night and I drove by

30:19

a tech and I love tech to tech , oh , I'm a proud

30:22

rate of girl I said look at that educational

30:24

building I helped build . That's

30:26

not funny , but Y'all

30:29

are gonna make me go start all over and

30:31

this program is doing this for me . And

30:33

then when I looked up and looked at my advice , my

30:35

professors , and looked at , oh

30:37

she looks just like me . Oh , that's sweet

30:40

. In all my years of college , my

30:43

junior college , my bachelor's

30:45

and my master's degree , I had

30:47

not one time had a black instructor

30:50

. I had only had one or two

30:52

Hispanic . Everyone else

30:54

was white , anglo-saxon

30:56

. I had a Russian , I had an Asian

30:59

. He was from Japan

31:01

and he was a visiting professor

31:03

during my bachelor's . But

31:05

for the first time I was gonna have a black

31:08

professor . That was the first

31:10

course . The second course I had another one

31:12

, the third one I had , I say , hot dog

31:14

. But it wasn't just that

31:17

. The people they put me with in my cohort

31:19

became fast friends and

31:22

that's why I will forever . If

31:24

, when I get this degree , if Alverno

31:27

were to say , angelou , you want to come be our

31:29

ambassador for real , I would accept that job

31:31

. They wouldn't , they could

31:33

. I want him to pay me because I'd be Dr Love

31:35

Jackson . But I really

31:37

I would be so proud because

31:40

of the way this program has been , not

31:42

only while . Part of the problem was before

31:44

and things might have changed in this many years . So

31:46

let me be clear on that no snub to

31:48

Texas Tech . But

31:51

while

31:53

you're working on your coursework and

31:55

they have two different paths , the ABD

31:58

and this one and now I'm doing it in ad

32:00

leadership , not curriculum and instruction

32:02

, okay , but while I'm

32:04

doing coursework , I'm also doing

32:06

dissertation work , meeting with my

32:09

advisor every

32:12

week or every other

32:14

week , it depends on the . You know how you and

32:16

your advisor do it . She's been my number

32:18

one editor and shout

32:21

out to Dr Seth Westfall . So

32:23

that has been what

32:25

my love for this program is being . She's

32:28

helping me in my writing and the historian

32:30

teaching me is where my challenges

32:32

come . Throughout this whole program

32:34

, in fact , they

32:37

helped me because , in fact , next

32:40

week , on the 16th , is when I should have been graduating

32:42

. I'm not . I

32:45

fell behind in doing

32:47

some of my writing , but they

32:50

won't let me feel

32:52

bad about it . They're like okay

32:54

, you can be on your own timeline , you

32:57

don't have to . And I

32:59

think it was my advisor that reminded me

33:01

she's as angel . I believe . You're a believer

33:05

, you're a Christian , and in their scripture

33:07

that says the race is not given to the swift

33:10

but to the strong . I'm like , oh

33:12

, she says so , you just got to straighten

33:15

up . I was like , okay , yes

33:17

, now she wasn't trying

33:20

to preach to me , she was

33:22

reminding me of my own convictions and

33:24

, if it wasn't said , it was one of my advice

33:26

, it was one of . I consider all my professors

33:28

, my advisors . To be honest , they

33:30

have such a good relationship with each

33:32

other and rapport and the

33:34

thing that also throws you off , because I can't

33:37

say I would be that person they

33:39

want us to call him by their first name . Oh wow

33:41

, isn't that odd ? She's like just call me

33:43

Sam , just call me Desiree

33:46

, just call me Melissa .

33:46

We can't call you Angela , we have to

33:48

call you Dr . Momma Girl , let me be serious .

33:50

my children are going to have to call me Dr Momma

33:53

. But here's the reason

33:55

. You can't call you Dr Angela . You can't , but you got

33:57

to put Docs .

33:59

You see how long .

33:59

I've been working at this since 1988

34:02

. It's been in my plan

34:05

since I was in high school . I graduated in 1990

34:09

. Oh yeah , exactly when you were born . Thank

34:11

you , yachty , for bringing that to my head

34:13

again . But part

34:15

of it is because they said because you're almost there

34:18

, yeah , so you're almost at our level

34:20

, so why not refer to you that way ? It's

34:22

just the way they in that need

34:25

. The way they they approach

34:27

it is to treat me not

34:29

quite as an equal , but to treat me with

34:31

such respect as a student

34:34

to know that , hey , just in a couple

34:36

years that could be , we'll be calling you doctor too

34:38

. Yeah , and so even when

34:41

I was in one

34:43

of my classes , we this particular

34:45

class , I mean now we were doing a panel discussion

34:47

and the professor who

34:49

was my first professor she's

34:52

now the professor of the last course I have and

34:55

she referred to those who

34:57

had already gotten approved by their panels

34:59

and all that , for their dissertation . They're ready to walk

35:01

the stage , everybody's doctor now

35:03

. But she even said to me she said

35:05

, in the future doctor , love

35:08

Jackson . I appreciate

35:10

it there so much because she is speaking

35:12

a life and a reminder that girl , you're

35:14

gonna get it . You might not get

35:17

it right now , but you will get it

35:19

for sure . So that's where we are

35:21

, and I you know I can ramble on and on and

35:23

on about Alverno trust me , and

35:25

I will be making it to Milwaukee , wisconsin

35:28

. I will be marching that stage and

35:31

they all promise that they will be there for me

35:33

and with me .

35:34

I have a quick question about

35:36

the school . So they just for

35:38

those who are getting their doctorate , they

35:41

help with bachelor's , master's .

35:42

Oh , I'm so glad you asked me that , yanni . Here's

35:45

the other thing with this program they've even during

35:47

other classes they bring different people , it

35:49

might I add , since I've been there

35:52

. Last year the

35:54

new president happens to look

35:56

just like me and you . Oh really . She

35:58

was the president of the Girl Scouts in

36:00

Wisconsin and

36:03

so she's shown her leadership skills and

36:05

now she is the president of Alverno

36:07

College . Alverno was founded

36:09

, like in 1970 , 1980

36:12

. It is under normally a Catholic belief

36:16

system starting off , so it is a private college

36:18

. Those in Milwaukee

36:20

know it quite well , some in Wisconsin

36:22

know it quite well , and so there are people in my

36:24

cohort and in other classes I've been in that

36:27

had gotten their bachelor's and master's through

36:29

Alverno . The other thing about

36:31

them if you have set out this

36:34

you won't hear in any other college or university

36:36

that I've ever known , and I've been studying

36:38

quite a few of them because that's one of my assignments with

36:40

my students . Wherever you are

36:42

in life , have you ever heard

36:44

such a thing ? They will let some of your life

36:47

experiences work as

36:49

part of your belief

36:51

. I'm serious , shani . I told Christian

36:53

. I said sweetheart , look

36:55

, you've sat out for a minute with this associate's

36:57

degree and you're ready to get your bachelor's . They

37:00

will consider some of your music . You've been

37:02

playing at churches , playing

37:05

here . You've been learning on your own

37:07

. They will consider some of that . They

37:09

will consider some of your life experiences

37:11

. How much it depends on what

37:13

you've been doing . You dialogue with

37:15

them and you just gotta write up what you've been

37:17

doing like a , like a resume pretty

37:19

much , and they are willing

37:22

to accept something and I don't care if all

37:24

they take is just one course

37:26

worth Money wise

37:28

, that's saving you a few thousand dollars , but

37:31

there have been some that have received quite

37:33

a few hours out of it . The

37:35

other thing about them that's unique is this

37:37

one through me , the teacher and me , their grading

37:39

policy . First of

37:41

all , it's not A's , b's , c's and D's First

37:44

, god Okay , it's a four

37:46

, three , two or one scale and

37:49

from my experience I I

37:51

don't want to tell you wrong whether it's bachelor's

37:53

or masters will do this as well

37:55

. But for sure the doctoral program , if

37:59

you don't make that four or three , the

38:01

professor talks to you

38:04

, works with you to get that

38:06

two or that one that you had to

38:08

bring it up to a three or four so

38:11

that you can make the grade . It's not

38:13

that you got a zero dash F and we're moving on

38:15

.

38:16

Yeah , I think that's been my experience because

38:18

I've been into , I've been a part

38:20

of a lot of online schools . Uh-huh , that's

38:22

just part of my testimony . Yeah

38:24

, and a lot of them are to where

38:27

you pass or

38:29

you fail , no matter what . It's very

38:31

I probably maybe two , if even not

38:33

the professor . They even care

38:35

.

38:36

And a total opposite experience , then

38:38

that is . That's why I will give you the information

38:40

for Albert .

38:41

I don't even know .

38:43

I sent you . I'm serious , I'm the number

38:45

one ambassador because they work

38:47

with you , they care that much

38:49

about you . There have been times

38:51

where I'm like y'all , I tell my advisor , I

38:54

tell a professor , I've got a lot going on . This week

38:57

I got this program I'm working on or

38:59

it's grading time with me

39:01

. Now there's semester

39:03

schedule is different because it is a fast pace and

39:05

that's with all their programs . It's a fast

39:07

track and I'm in

39:09

the black . Okay , can

39:12

you believe that they say , okay , here's

39:14

what you're doing , here's what we're doing

39:16

, and because they want

39:18

to see you succeed , that's

39:20

when you say that other places don't care

39:22

. I have felt that you

39:24

could tell it was professors who are just trying to get

39:26

tenure , or I'm retired

39:29

and I'm just finishing out my years , and

39:31

then , hey , I'm just working to where I might become

39:34

a dean . I can't tell you any

39:36

time . I've had an experience with any professor

39:38

at this campus and I've had

39:40

at least what ? 10

39:42

, I don't count . Let me see one

39:44

, two , three , four , five , almost

39:47

ten , if not ten or more . Not

39:50

one of them did I feel like they didn't care . Not

39:52

one of them did I not feel that I had their

39:54

voice and I know

39:57

the online system , this one

39:59

. It's online but

40:01

it's also a synchronous

40:03

. It's gonna be some synchronous

40:05

and some asynchronous . You won't hardly

40:07

ever catch a course that you wouldn't

40:09

have at least met with your professor once or

40:11

twice visually . Even

40:13

this course where it's designed

40:16

for us to choose different things

40:18

that we want to do to help

40:20

us in our life outside . After

40:22

this dissertation , after this doctor

40:24

, after I graduate , look

40:26

here's how you to do a VT

40:29

, a resume for a college

40:31

. Here's how you do a podcast . Here's how

40:33

you do a web page . Here's what you do

40:35

if you want to do a reading , or if you

40:37

want to have a panel , or if you want to moderate

40:40

, or if it's got so many varieties and

40:42

we got to pick and even then she said modify

40:44

it for you , just

40:46

let me know , give my approval . That's

40:50

how they do . Now , not every course is

40:52

gonna be that way . Please don't be misled , but

40:55

they listen to you . There

40:58

have been times when I was working on my bachelor's , on

41:00

my master's , and you know there was especially

41:02

your bachelor's . There were two times you were gonna see every student

41:04

, the first class

41:07

and the last class . When you

41:09

take your exams and they have the guy

41:11

to come in to do the survey , the valuation

41:14

. Everybody showed up on evaluation day

41:16

, even some who

41:18

might not come during final exam . Yeah

41:20

, there has not been one time that

41:23

I missed an evaluation because I wanted to give them

41:25

a piece in my mind . Some

41:28

were good , some were great , some

41:30

were not so good , but

41:32

every time I have a chance to give feedback

41:35

at Alverno , I do . And

41:38

here's the thing I know they listen . They've

41:41

already talked about things that they changed

41:44

based off what

41:46

the students have said . Okay

41:49

, because , again , this program is still new when

41:52

you consider what some

41:54

universities have been out there for hundreds of years , and

41:56

so they . They

41:59

listen to us , they get our thoughts

42:01

, they get our opinions and so

42:03

, with that , not only are they

42:05

developing , looking at their strengths and

42:07

even now analyzing their

42:10

weaknesses , they've taught us , as students , how

42:12

to analyze our strengths , how

42:14

to assess ourselves and

42:17

be mindful . Again , this is a leadership

42:19

, educational leadership program , which

42:21

is something you need to do in leadership . Oh

42:23

, if some of my

42:26

people I know and work with could

42:29

go through some of the courses that I've seen

42:31

and looked at some

42:33

stuff that I have learned , it

42:35

would help our educational system so much

42:37

more , because it's one thing to

42:40

be in a class taking these classes , but

42:42

then what are you gonna do with it ? And

42:44

they have done that with us . They've

42:46

sat down and said okay , you got a plan out

42:48

I remember it was last spring

42:51

or this summer course . What

42:53

are you going ? You've got to create a

42:56

presentation and

42:59

how you're gonna do it . And in that class I was with

43:01

colleagues , peers , who

43:03

were saying well , you know what , because of

43:05

this I got to do this presentation and

43:07

we're actually doing it . And here's the the

43:09

benefit to it . At the same time this one

43:12

man was presenting it . He's in the opera

43:14

in Switzerland or

43:16

Germany , oh wow . But he lives

43:18

in New Mexico , but during

43:21

certain season he goes and does that . So that's

43:23

the benefit of this program

43:25

. While I was in Washington DC , I was still in class

43:27

. I've been in San

43:29

Antonio , but even they work

43:32

with you so much that my advisor , she works

43:34

after scheduled . Now they are

43:36

, they have a schedule too , and

43:38

so they'll give you these options of when you can meet . But

43:40

my advisor was my dissertation

43:43

advisor . We meet during my

43:45

my

43:47

oh , what do we call it ? Shoot , my

43:49

planning period . Okay , it's for school

43:52

At school , while I'm working , during

43:54

my conference period we meet

43:57

at a specific time and if

43:59

I tell her , hey , I got a meeting , parent

44:01

meeting or I have to do a meeting

44:03

with school , I can't make it . Okay , angela , when

44:06

can you best meet that

44:08

kind of stuff ? And that's

44:10

what I have found in this program . Again

44:12

, I told you I could sing their praises all the time , and

44:14

it's not just because I need a good grade , because

44:16

they have no problem looking past the

44:18

bull , it's okay . Now we

44:21

need you to do this . It sounds

44:23

good , but put it here and

44:25

is that realistic ? And the

44:28

other thing that I got from this program

44:30

because I'm in West Texas

44:32

, I've taught here for so many years , my family's

44:34

here , I got exposed

44:37

. That's the benefit

44:39

. You know I'm out of state with

44:41

this program and it's got people from all

44:44

over the country . In my close

44:46

cohort friends I've got

44:48

two that live in Milwaukee

44:51

and one of them

44:53

works with men who are

44:55

coming out of prison . Oh wow , and

44:57

their education of how to get back in

44:59

to society . Yeah , but

45:02

it's education . Another

45:04

one she is in . She's

45:08

from Mexico , ended

45:10

up in Milwaukee , graduated I think

45:12

. She got her degree in Alverto , but

45:15

she works in nursing and

45:18

she is teaching students in

45:21

nursing , oh , wow , so , but an

45:23

advising , more so in an advisor to advisory

45:26

program . Another one , he's

45:29

in to her in California , and

45:31

I'm just thinking of the ones who are in this group text right

45:33

now , my dear friends . Okay

45:35

, one of them . One of

45:37

them who's in Milwaukee also , she

45:39

works in the equity or ethnic

45:41

diversity program in

45:44

a different college or a different part , but not

45:46

in Alverto , and two of them work

45:48

in California , hundreds

45:50

of miles away . One is more upper

45:53

north California and

45:55

she's working in like a

45:57

school where people come from all students

45:59

come from all over the world , mm-hmm , like a boarding

46:02

school . She and her husband , both the teachers

46:04

there , and she helps them in arts

46:06

. Then a little bit of everything in

46:08

the same cohort as a young

46:10

man who's in his 20s still . He's

46:13

the youngest of the group and in our group he's the only

46:15

guy , but he works

46:17

with alternative middle

46:20

school program , where I mean , he's got

46:22

this neck tattoo right on his throat

46:24

and he's teaching middle

46:26

school kids and doing stuff with their hands

46:29

and woodworking or metalworking and

46:31

stuff . I don't know exactly what Owen does . When

46:34

it did you hear all that ? I'm the only conventional

46:36

educator . That

46:38

is why . But we're all in the same group , yeah

46:41

, and in that group I got somebody who's from Mexico

46:43

, two African Americans plus me

46:46

, that's three African Americans to

46:48

two Anglos , and then

46:50

there's one more . She's the super superintendent

46:53

at a Native

46:55

American reservation

46:58

really a school there upper

47:01

, and it's not in Milwaukee where

47:03

she's . She was constant Idaho

47:05

one of those up there , I

47:08

think , idaho , but she works on a

47:10

reservation as the superintendent of schools

47:12

.

47:14

Again , all of

47:16

us from different walks of life yeah

47:18

, and being able to be in that cohort

47:20

and we come together .

47:21

So I have learned so much from them

47:24

and from this program . Different

47:26

things I do in my class . I've learned

47:28

how to do flip grids . I'd never heard of flip grids

47:30

before but I turned started

47:32

using it with my students because , especially

47:34

my dual credit kids , because I want them to be able to

47:36

leave my class wherever they

47:39

go off to school , not let , the first

47:41

time you hear about a flip grid , be

47:43

away from home , away

47:45

from friends and everything else . No , you do a flip grid

47:48

here , where your amongst people you've known

47:50

since you were in pre-k . Yeah

47:52

, I've learned how to do a padlet . I never knew what

47:54

a padlet was . I still have my mom

47:56

said I like it and I don't . It's like

47:58

a one-page brochure and

48:01

I've done it a few times . I learned

48:04

how to create a web page . I

48:07

learned better

48:09

research and so , going all the way back

48:11

to where I started off , talking about my dissertation , the

48:14

historian in me I got my masters

48:16

in history , mm-hmm . So , as you can

48:18

tell , I talk a lot , so I so

48:20

write a lot , mm-hmm . They are

48:22

helping me and I had to get out of it and there

48:24

was problems . I even had when I was in it at

48:26

Tech with my educational degree there , because

48:29

I want to give you all these adjectives and tell

48:31

you a whole story . I ain't got

48:33

time for all that . I got to get to the point and

48:36

I'm learning , so one of the first things that

48:38

was hard for me to do was what they called

48:40

the elevator speech , and so

48:42

I hadn't even talked about what my topic is . Yeah

48:45

, I was back in my next question so my

48:47

dissertation topic is the education

48:49

of at-risk

48:51

African-American students in rural West Texas

48:54

I'm coming back to where I am . I'm

48:57

looking at the fact that we have a four

48:59

to five percent depending on if

49:01

we're in a boom then up to seven percent African-American

49:04

population and so many times

49:06

black kids are designated

49:08

as at-risk . At risk can be defined

49:10

as your socio-economics

49:12

whether you have a parent who's been locked

49:14

up , whether you are special

49:17

ed or special needs as we call

49:19

them nowadays . But

49:21

I could even consider at risk because of

49:24

where you live , your single parent

49:26

household . So

49:29

much of that if you've ever failed

49:31

a state mandated test so

49:33

many times . You look up , that's

49:35

African-American students . How

49:38

are we teaching them ? Are we preparing anybody to

49:40

teach them that particular group

49:42

? Are we ? What

49:44

are we doing to teach our teachers how

49:46

to teach them ? What are we doing with the students

49:49

? Because they're so apathetic at that group , but

49:51

not only that . Their parents tend to be apathetic

49:53

. Not everybody's gonna get

49:55

a

49:57

place on the NFL or to

49:59

start get a D1 scholarship . Say

50:02

that one more time not everyone who

50:05

, even as a starter on the basketball

50:07

team , is gonna get a

50:09

D1 and your team might have made it to the state

50:12

playoffs , the state

50:14

tournament . It does not mean

50:16

you are gonna get a D1 scholarship

50:19

, and even if then

50:21

it doesn't mean you're going to play for

50:23

the NBA yet might

50:25

not even make it to Australia

50:28

. And I've taught those boys and I'm proud of those

50:30

McCalla boys . I will call them out

50:33

. They've played with the Harlem

50:35

Globetrotters . Oh , wow , yes

50:37

, but I Know

50:40

how hard they worked . One of

50:42

them was walking around school with a basketball all

50:44

the time . He went from class to class

50:46

with a basketball , yes

50:48

, but even then they only made

50:51

it to Juco . I Say that

50:53

because my nephew , who was the salutatorian

50:56

of his class , estacado

50:58

in Lubbock and they went to

51:00

state playoffs every

51:02

year . He's

51:05

six foot seven Only

51:08

got a full ride to a Juco . Wow

51:11

and hit and Texas Tech was

51:13

his back door . His dual credit was

51:15

Texas Tech . Yeah

51:18

but he had to go the Juco

51:20

way . So what

51:23

are we doing for those kids right

51:25

? How are we teaching them

51:27

to pass a test ? And do they

51:29

really need to be special ed ? What

51:33

do we need to do with them ? So those are some things that I've

51:35

learned in the leadership program and

51:37

Talking to my peers , finding

51:39

out what are you doing in ? What are y'all doing

51:41

in Milwaukee ? Well , what are y'all doing

51:44

in Alabama ? What are y'all

51:46

doing in Houston ? Because that's urban

51:48

and I'm rural , that's so

51:50

those urban . So you're looking at more kids

51:52

in African-American . What are the programs you have ? And

51:55

in my research I found that oh

51:57

, what state is it correct right now ? This

51:59

is my biggest fear when I get before my panel that I'm not

52:01

gonna be able to remit . Remember these specifics

52:03

. But it was pushed

52:06

by the

52:08

Commission of Education that all black students

52:10

be considered at risk For

52:13

the simple fact they're black . Wow

52:15

, and his argument was Because

52:18

of where they are . Oh , it was Detroit , duh

52:20

, look at where Detroit is and

52:22

what's going on there , they put . He

52:24

had a very Pignant point

52:27

. See

52:29

whether that might have been exactly , but then it

52:31

started making me really think . In

52:33

West Texas , our

52:36

kids don't have to deal with atrocities , so much

52:38

of . But I still have to sit down with

52:40

my son and talk to him about when

52:42

a police officer , yeah , pulls

52:45

you over and , son , one day a police officer

52:47

will , do you

52:49

know what to do ? Do you understand

52:51

to intend ? Always drive with

52:53

your wallet Right there in the seat

52:55

and your ID on top

52:57

and when the officer comes , first

53:00

of all drive to a lighted area

53:02

with other people , yeah , or

53:05

drive directly to the police station and

53:08

, on the way of your driving , call first

53:10

of all 911 and tell them I'm being followed

53:12

by this , by this car

53:14

. I'm on the street , I'm not , I'm

53:17

not avoiding , I'm just coming to

53:19

you all for my safety , all right . And

53:21

then the next call you make us to your mother , I Still

53:25

have that phone . I still have that conversation with

53:27

my son at ease 27 , 26

53:29

, 27, . You know . But

53:32

he doesn't have to worry about it

53:34

on a day-to-day right . He

53:37

doesn't have to worry about that on

53:39

a regular . But he's happened

53:42

. It's happened a couple times

53:44

and he knew what to do . But

53:47

in a place like Detroit , yeah

53:50

, you're at risk . My

53:52

brother taught in an at-risk when

53:55

he was a principal middle school

53:57

at the time in Lubbock and a

53:59

kid Got caught with the gun

54:01

On his campus and

54:03

he immediately put it in the vault . And they asked why

54:06

did you turn them in ? He said because before I

54:08

do I want to talk to him . Yeah that's something

54:10

that people aren't gonna always understood . Now

54:12

. He turned it in , but he wanted to find out and investigate

54:15

because it was such a good kid , mm-hmm , and

54:17

this was middle school six , seventh

54:19

, eighth grade . What are you doing ? Walking to school with the gun . Are

54:21

you trying to show it off ? And he found

54:23

out , mr Love , I have

54:25

this gun because I have to walk through this particular

54:27

area where all these drug dealers

54:30

are , and I've

54:32

seen them kill . I've

54:36

seen relatives die , yeah , by

54:38

gunshot , and I had to

54:40

be ready , but I'm still coming

54:42

to school , mr Love . They

54:44

try to give me to join their games , but

54:47

I've learned from you all that I need to be in school

54:49

. Yeah , so although

54:51

the child had to go to an alternative program , it

54:54

changed the way the alternative program was

54:56

going to do him and now my brother

54:58

here's . Part of the other thing is he's no

55:00

longer at the middle school . For several

55:03

years now he's been the principal at

55:05

the school prison , wow

55:07

, and for him , he

55:09

loves it . He said he could retire doing it because

55:12

it , honestly , is the last Time

55:15

some of these kids will have a chance

55:18

before that pipeline to prison

55:20

, yeah , as you hear so many times

55:22

talked about . He

55:25

can help with that pipeline . He

55:27

could cut it , solder it off . Yeah , because

55:29

he's had to take those students who

55:32

, when they turn 18 , he has to help the

55:34

guards and officers deliver them tool

55:37

to the state prison . But

55:40

until they are that age . When

55:43

he tells his teachers we are not

55:45

wardens , yeah , we are teachers

55:47

and I'm the principal . They got

55:49

a warden on the other side . When they leave our classes

55:52

they got officers

55:54

, sometimes right there in class

55:57

with them , some of them chained to the desk and

55:59

some of them free , but they've

56:01

got officers with with the necessary

56:03

weapons . We're not that . We

56:06

are here to teach these kids . So all

56:09

of that coming into my life is

56:11

why I chose that topic . And

56:14

While I've been in the class

56:16

Classes , class to class and

56:18

talking to my peers and members of my cohort , it's

56:21

solidified it . But it's not just that . One

56:23

more and then I'm a shut up about

56:25

it Is a

56:27

lot of people know my husband's story and a lot of people don't

56:29

. My husband was locked

56:31

up for 17 years Now

56:34

, months , and so many days he could take to work

56:36

to a tee because

56:39

he was gangish , but

56:41

not in a gang , hmm , he was

56:43

by his brother's bed

56:45

as

56:48

his brother was fighting cancer at

56:50

night , helping his brother's

56:52

wife With her two small children

56:55

. Every night he

56:57

was there at the foot of his bed Helping

56:59

take care of him . So he missed a lot

57:01

of school . And his father

57:03

, who happened to be a classmate

57:06

of my mother's really , oh yeah , that's

57:08

how far back we go . So I didn't go

57:10

looking for a prisoner to marry . Please understand

57:12

that in the podcast . I

57:14

had known my husband since we were kids so

57:17

we were always friends . But

57:19

he was by his brother's bedside

57:21

and his father's will was always you either

57:24

gonna go to school , you're gonna go get a job , because

57:26

his dad got a GED . My

57:29

, he says , my mother was a good student . He

57:31

would . He just went till he could

57:33

go work . And so he told his boys

57:35

because he had three boys and then a dog , you're

57:38

gonna go to school or you're gonna go

57:40

to work . So my husband

57:42

, my friend at the time , have

57:45

been missing a lot of days and when his brother

57:47

died he actually helped his dad

57:49

physically pick him up and carry him

57:51

into To

57:54

Houston to go get treatments and

57:56

ride back on the highway as he's

57:58

puking and all that taking care of his brother

58:00

, helping change his brother and all that kind

58:02

of stuff . He's going through all of that

58:04

. And the first day

58:06

he returns to school he

58:10

hears from three or four teachers plus a principal Jackson

58:14

, where you're being ? You missed a lot of school

58:16

, you've been skipping . Nobody

58:18

said are you okay ? What's been going on ? Nobody had called his home . Nobody

58:23

had reached out to find out why is this student

58:25

missing class ? It

58:27

might have had his mother work there on campus in the cafeteria

58:29

and nobody

58:32

had been going to her and said why is your son not in school , but your

58:34

daughter is ? Nobody had taken the time

58:36

to do that . My

58:38

future husband was at risk . Nobody

58:42

got an SAS counselor

58:44

. Nobody said

58:46

you've lost your older brother , who was

58:48

just 24 , 25

58:50

years old . Nobody

58:54

went to him . It said we got

58:56

something . And might I add Johnny , it was his senior year in high school . He

58:58

said that day he walked in the building In

59:01

one door . And he said he walked in

59:04

one door and walked out Again

59:08

. No one stopped him , no

59:10

one cared and he told his boss

59:12

I could start working full-time . And

59:16

that's what he did . That's

59:18

some other stuff . Got him Caught

59:20

up . He didn't tell and in the state of

59:22

Texas , if you don't tell , they

59:26

call it your fall partner . Oh , then

59:28

you're considered An

59:30

accomplice . He chose not to tell

59:33

and that's why he got the time he got . But

59:35

, yeah

59:37

, knowing his story , even

59:40

while I was at Texas Tech working on my bachelor's

59:43

degree , knowing his story

59:45

while I was working on my master's

59:47

degree , mm-hmm , and knowing on

59:49

his story . When I started on my

59:51

doctorate program he would be getting

59:53

out soon . We were still

59:55

friends . It changed

59:57

some point in there , but he

1:00:00

helped push me to start back

1:00:02

on this doctorate program . You , they're not gonna

1:00:04

say I'm the reason why you didn't get it , and

1:00:07

so he's pushed me even throughout

1:00:09

this to continue . But I

1:00:11

just His life

1:00:13

. His story was

1:00:15

part of the reason why I started being concerned about

1:00:18

African-American at risk students

1:00:20

and it

1:00:22

goes back to that law degree and

1:00:24

why I chose education so

1:00:27

my question is with All

1:00:31

this extra knowledge you have , what

1:00:34

advice would you give a ?

1:00:39

We're gonna make it personal . What advice would you give a

1:00:41

? What is it ECISD ? I'm

1:00:43

like what is it again ? Ecisd teacher

1:00:46

who may not be black

1:00:48

, um , but has

1:00:50

a , you know , african-american student

1:00:52

in their class .

1:00:53

Well glad you asked one of the things

1:00:56

I looked at in my research . There was somebody who had done

1:00:58

a dissertation on it in California , white

1:01:00

women teaching black males . Mm-hmm

1:01:02

, you can't make yourself black . No

1:01:05

, please don't even try please don't , don't

1:01:07

try to go up to him talking slang . Yeah

1:01:09

, don't go , try

1:01:12

to do . Don't try

1:01:14

to do all that , but go familiarize

1:01:17

yourself With that student

1:01:19

first of all . I don't see them for their blackness . See

1:01:22

them for their being a student . See

1:01:25

them as an opportunity for somebody for you to

1:01:27

teach . Number one two

1:01:29

, when approaching that student

1:01:31

Know them , know

1:01:33

their family , get to know them . Um

1:01:36

, ecisd is real good on this about

1:01:38

pushing us to make parent contacts

1:01:40

. In fact , we're not supposed to , at least

1:01:42

on the campus of Permian . We're not supposed to allow students

1:01:44

to fail our class . For six weeks we

1:01:47

hadn't made at least two phone phone calls

1:01:49

or parent contacts . Here's the problem

1:01:52

with that . That goes back to when I told you that apathy

1:01:54

. So many times parents have

1:01:56

blocked ECISD phone calls because

1:01:58

they get tired of all the phone calls . They say , um

1:02:01

, and so ECISD tried something different . We had

1:02:03

school status that sends alerts . They started

1:02:05

blocking that and in fact . In

1:02:08

fact , we used to have to register kids in

1:02:10

person and you had to show yourself

1:02:12

with the bill and you have to write in all this information

1:02:15

and you'd have to bring it back Return sign . We

1:02:17

don't do that anymore and we go online and fill

1:02:19

out . It's so wonderful and helpful to a parent

1:02:21

who's very busy , who's got five kids . Instead

1:02:24

of going to five different schools or Three

1:02:26

different times up to different campuses

1:02:28

, they can fill it all out . But many parents

1:02:30

Refuse to put contact

1:02:33

information . Seriously

1:02:35

, I can't imagine as a

1:02:37

parent that I don't

1:02:39

want somebody to be able to contact me in

1:02:41

the event something happens with my child . You

1:02:44

know .

1:02:45

I , but that happens . I hear what you're

1:02:47

saying about . The same time I

1:02:50

just feel like I don't know

1:02:52

. I think this is just the walk I'm on now

1:02:54

, but I'm always wondering like

1:02:56

why ? So I guess my head goes

1:02:58

to . Well , what's going on with the parent ? Yes

1:03:01

, is there a way we can maybe I know

1:03:03

that does ecstasy do this to where , if

1:03:05

it's just something where they don't put the contact information

1:03:07

down or there's issues at home , is

1:03:10

there something there to then I'm

1:03:12

sure we can't fully step in but Supply

1:03:14

some support to that parent . Yes , that

1:03:16

way they can be a better parent , that way the

1:03:18

student could be a better student ecstasy has several

1:03:21

programs if an elementary .

1:03:23

They even have programs like if a kid has missed

1:03:25

so many or even Tried

1:03:27

so much , because I'm guilty of that when Christian

1:03:29

was a student . They send you

1:03:31

a letter and tell you we have some

1:03:33

parenting classes you can take really we

1:03:35

can guide you . Yes , they have all those kind of programs

1:03:37

out there . Um , on our campus

1:03:39

we have what we call communities in school . Um

1:03:42

, one of the people with that program , reverend Michael Smith

1:03:44

, is one of the People that

1:03:46

works there , and there's another lady and they

1:03:49

, um , they will provide

1:03:51

food . I've seen them cloth people

1:03:53

. I've seen them have hygiene stuff . Hygiene

1:03:55

yes , ma'am , right there they give you school supplies

1:03:57

. I've seen them give girls prom dresses

1:04:00

. Um , I've seen them put

1:04:02

caps and gowns on kids . They

1:04:04

pay for them . That was years ago but I was closer

1:04:07

to the program then . Um , I've

1:04:09

seen them get kids glasses . So

1:04:11

the key is you got to be willing

1:04:13

to ask .

1:04:14

Yeah , you know pride is always it's

1:04:16

hard .

1:04:17

And so I make it clear to every student

1:04:19

I don't single a kid out that way , because you can't

1:04:21

assume in this day and age your parent

1:04:23

might be working for um , an

1:04:26

oil company . A friend of mine on facebook

1:04:28

just said today they told everybody to come in

1:04:30

and they told everybody in

1:04:32

that meeting Um , you are all

1:04:34

being laid off today

1:04:36

. Today , a friend

1:04:39

of mine and , and so that happens

1:04:41

at a day's notice in this area that we

1:04:43

live in . And so you might

1:04:45

have been a 75 to 150 thousand

1:04:47

dollar home earner

1:04:50

that day , but in

1:04:52

six weeks , if you didn't save , you're

1:04:54

at zero . So

1:04:57

it changes the socioeconomic , and

1:04:59

so you might have been driving abends , but

1:05:01

that's because you paid for it , but you can't

1:05:03

afford to put the gas in

1:05:06

it . You know pride , um

1:05:08

. But so what happens with

1:05:10

my students ? Every class , I

1:05:13

make it clear If

1:05:15

you can't afford the poster for this

1:05:17

project , I've got the posters

1:05:19

over here . And if you can't supply

1:05:22

, can't afford the supplies , I've

1:05:24

got them here . Just borrow

1:05:26

them . Tell me after class , miss lj , don't

1:05:28

steal them . So I know what happened to my

1:05:30

stuff , miss lj . I'm

1:05:32

borrowing these markers . I need these map colors

1:05:34

because I didn't finish in class , and then I'm gonna take them home

1:05:36

and I'll bring them back , and I always say how long are you gonna

1:05:38

keep my stuff ? If you tell me I'll

1:05:41

bring them back tomorrow , then I expect them tomorrow , but if you tell

1:05:43

me well , I got to work on babysitting

1:05:45

or we got church , I don't know

1:05:47

, I got a lot of other makeup work out I might

1:05:49

not have them back till next Monday . Thank you , bring

1:05:51

them back next Monday . Do you have a bag or something to put them

1:05:53

in ? Yeah , so those kind

1:05:56

of things are there , but , again , I

1:05:58

do that with every class . I make sure they're

1:06:00

aware of communities in school . I also make sure they're

1:06:02

aware of our student assistants , um

1:06:04

, sas counselors . These are those

1:06:07

counselors there for your emotion . We had a student

1:06:09

who just passed away , um , and

1:06:11

so they go around to every class that

1:06:13

that student was in to be there for

1:06:15

grief . They bring in grief counselors for them

1:06:17

. So it's

1:06:20

up to you , though and that becomes something

1:06:22

as an adult . Even again , earlier

1:06:24

question what do you do for your mind ? We're

1:06:27

providing it for you . Learn how to use those

1:06:29

tools . So then , when you graduate , I'm not only

1:06:32

teaching you about history , but I'm teaching you about other

1:06:34

ways to find other problems that can help you as

1:06:36

you go through life , because you do not

1:06:39

have to go through life alone when I

1:06:41

make my shit . Well and here's what

1:06:43

I tell my kids you won't work alone

1:06:45

. No , because they hate . Sometimes

1:06:47

they hate working in groups . Some of them love it

1:06:49

because they don't want to do the work , but some of them

1:06:51

hate to work in it . Well , can I just work by myself ? Sometimes

1:06:54

you can , sometimes you can't , because there's not

1:06:56

one job In this world that

1:06:58

I can find that you can work alone

1:07:00

. I don't care if you work from home . You need somebody

1:07:02

to be filling out the paycheck that's going to be

1:07:04

mailed or put into your , your

1:07:07

account . If you're a truck driver

1:07:09

, you even need somebody who's going to load your truck

1:07:11

and unload it , and if they don't load it properly

1:07:13

, it could cause you to wreck and

1:07:16

die on the highway . And so I tell

1:07:18

them you need people . I

1:07:20

teach them history , but I also teach them life lessons

1:07:23

. Um , I teach them about

1:07:25

college experience . Every first Wednesday of every

1:07:27

month is college day , so we talk

1:07:29

about my college experience . I talk about my bachelor's

1:07:31

, my master's , and I even talk about my Doctorial

1:07:35

program . I tell them , when you go get

1:07:37

your bachelor's , 50 percent is

1:07:39

what you're going to learn in that class , but the

1:07:41

other 50 percent Is

1:07:43

going to be from the connections you make . Don't

1:07:46

just stay in your dorm room , I'm

1:07:49

not telling you . Go to no frat and sorority parties

1:07:51

, but join some clubs , even

1:07:53

if you're not in athletics anymore

1:07:55

. But you work . Go join the interim

1:07:57

, permanent or how

1:07:59

do you say ? The sports leagues , intramural

1:08:02

, that's it , intermural sports

1:08:05

leagues . Um , go work out

1:08:07

, because you're paying for all of . You're

1:08:09

paying for every time they change out the flowers

1:08:11

, every time they put the lights , like

1:08:13

I told you I was at tech . You're paying

1:08:15

for every time they cover the pool

1:08:17

when it gets cold and when

1:08:19

they uncover it comes springtime . You're paying

1:08:22

for every weight In

1:08:24

that workout room . You're paying for that teacher

1:08:27

that's teaching the zumba class . So you

1:08:29

might as well go and join them . Yeah , go

1:08:31

to the medical people , because you're paying for them

1:08:33

too .

1:08:34

Go see the therapist .

1:08:34

What you did go see the therapists , because all of them

1:08:37

are provided , and I tell them those parts

1:08:39

of my class as well . We talk about

1:08:41

financial aid . We talk about , um

1:08:43

the difference in FAFSA and those

1:08:45

loans . We talk about scholarships and we talk

1:08:47

about um the difference

1:08:49

in a scholarship and a grant compared

1:08:52

to a loan . And so

1:08:54

we we do all of that and um

1:08:56

, that's what I teach my kids . So in leadership

1:08:59

, what I would go back to telling that um

1:09:01

, teacher , teacher , tell

1:09:03

a student all that you would a white student

1:09:06

, all that you would an hispanic student

1:09:08

. But then when it's an opportunity

1:09:10

, let them find themselves in your lesson

1:09:12

. Um , math

1:09:14

for christian is so different when

1:09:16

he was going through elementary compared to when I was

1:09:18

. Yeah , when I was elementary was dig

1:09:20

, jane , we're running um

1:09:23

, and sally and su . But

1:09:26

then I started looking at christian's math assignments

1:09:28

and his word problems hakeem

1:09:30

and hasus , we're

1:09:33

running up the hill . Yanni

1:09:36

, you're young enough that's probably starting to change it

1:09:38

for you . I didn't get that . So

1:09:40

they started realizing in education that

1:09:42

we needed to be more culturally aware . But

1:09:45

it's more than you just saying Hakim and

1:09:47

Jesus Get to

1:09:49

know when Hakim says I'm

1:09:54

not doing Christmas , miss , you can't

1:09:56

force me to do a Christmas sweater decoration

1:09:58

for a grade , which

1:10:01

is what my daughter is doing right now . Why

1:10:04

can't I For one ? Because we might be Jehovah's

1:10:06

Witness . We

1:10:09

don't believe it , we don't celebrate those , or

1:10:11

it might be instead , miss , can we talk

1:10:13

about Kwanzaa ? Because

1:10:16

my family , because I've got African students that

1:10:18

is true too . My daughter was doing the Thanksgiving

1:10:21

turkey we decorated . You saw

1:10:23

it when you first got here . Well

1:10:25

, I got Vietnamese students . They

1:10:28

ain't celebrating Thanksgiving

1:10:30

, they just know they're not going to school . Some

1:10:33

of them are not here long enough because

1:10:35

we've made them part of our culture . But

1:10:37

then I asked them what are you going

1:10:39

to have for your Thanksgiving meal ? It's

1:10:43

that simple . That teacher could simply say what are you

1:10:45

all going to have for your Thanksgiving meal ? What do you

1:10:47

have for your Christmas dinner ? We're

1:10:49

having ham and we're having duckling

1:10:51

at mine . Oh really , we're having ribs

1:10:54

at mine . Miss , miss , we're having

1:10:56

tamales . That cracks me up . I

1:10:58

had a co-worker years ago because

1:11:01

they were ignorant , ignorant

1:11:03

, and there's nothing wrong with being ignorant , as long

1:11:05

as you don't stay ignorant , because if you stay ignorant

1:11:07

then you become stupid . And

1:11:09

she asked us in a faculty

1:11:12

lab . She said y'all , I

1:11:14

got to ask somebody you

1:11:17

Mexicans and of course , you got to know how to word

1:11:19

stuff . So let me say it this way she wasn't

1:11:21

the most culturally aware , but she was trying . She

1:11:23

said I need to ask you Mexicans about this . My

1:11:26

students told me that y'all

1:11:28

only have tamales for

1:11:30

Christmas because those are the only things

1:11:32

you wrap . Is that true ? If

1:11:34

y'all don't wrap presents , instead you wrap tamales

1:11:37

. And the teachers just shook their head

1:11:39

. He said , okay , y'all , it's time

1:11:41

for us to teach and I won't say her name A

1:11:43

little bit about Mexican culture . And

1:11:45

then there would be times when we have to teach about African

1:11:47

American culture . But she

1:11:49

would take that back and she said okay , guys

1:11:51

, y'all got me . This time I learned from

1:11:54

my colleagues . No , it's not . But

1:11:56

then it was not only her getting to know her

1:11:58

colleagues , it was a joke

1:12:00

to the kids . They laughed about it

1:12:02

. But then the next

1:12:04

year she said okay , I know y'all are wrapping more

1:12:06

than tamales . And don't

1:12:08

get me on this and don't sound

1:12:11

, don't try to overcompensate

1:12:13

by saying because my Mexican students , no

1:12:15

, say , because I had previous students

1:12:17

last year who got me . Be real

1:12:19

and be sincere . That's what I would tell somebody

1:12:22

Be real , be sincere . And then here's the

1:12:24

other thing . Go to what the kids

1:12:26

were involved in . If

1:12:29

I don't go to football games , hardly

1:12:31

, I got tired of them for one , because I was in band

1:12:33

all those years . We were going to state

1:12:35

and that was y'all

1:12:37

. But I started looking in the stands

1:12:39

at the basketball games . We

1:12:42

have thousands of people here

1:12:44

Stand in

1:12:46

the basketball . We have a lot of room and

1:12:49

typically not stereotypically

1:12:51

, but typically the basketball

1:12:54

team is full of black males . That's

1:12:57

true , and I even told

1:12:59

an ECISD employee he's no longer with

1:13:01

us there , I mean , he's moved to other somewhere

1:13:04

else in the country but

1:13:06

I told him , sir , you are in an upper position

1:13:09

in ECISD . I'd

1:13:11

like for our black men to see somebody

1:13:14

that looks like them , that's not just a coach

1:13:16

that is funny or just a custodian

1:13:18

, because we hardly have any black males

1:13:20

teaching . If so , they happen to be from

1:13:22

Africa . I'd

1:13:24

love for them to meet a

1:13:27

black administrator that's

1:13:29

at the administration building , coming

1:13:32

in a suit if you have to , but you don't

1:13:34

.

1:13:35

They just come in .

1:13:36

And so I was keeping score at the game . He said Miss La Jackson

1:13:39

, I'm here . I said , good , come on down so

1:13:41

the players can meet you . And

1:13:44

so if the players

1:13:46

see their teachers there , and how do they know

1:13:49

? You ain't got to hollow over the rails like he did

1:13:51

, but instead , hey

1:13:53

, that was a good , that was a good shot

1:13:55

. Third quarter , you were at

1:13:57

my game . Yes , you know the difference

1:13:59

. That student will start working for you . They

1:14:02

see you at their stuff . I never worry

1:14:04

about bad students working for me because they know I'm their biggest

1:14:06

fan . I followed them all

1:14:08

the way to the state competition last year .

1:14:10

It's just funny you're saying all this . So

1:14:14

I don't know if those who don't know

1:14:16

, but Aaron started teaching seventh

1:14:18

grade . So I'm

1:14:20

hearing what you're saying and

1:14:22

, with experience these last

1:14:24

two months with him and

1:14:27

hearing what he tells me and seeing

1:14:29

what he does , I do know that , like last

1:14:32

Saturday , if I'm correct

1:14:34

I don't think it was Saturday One day last

1:14:36

week he went and watched Nimitz

1:14:38

. I don't know if it was the boys or girls

1:14:40

, but he went and watched their basketball

1:14:43

game , the A team and the B team . I

1:14:45

think is what it was and I was like , oh okay , that's

1:14:47

cool and I'm just

1:14:49

knowing him . I know that he's taken that time

1:14:52

to love

1:14:54

on those kids and make those kids feel

1:14:56

like they're the only kid in the classroom , as much

1:14:59

as he possibly can .

1:14:59

And that will make a connection and

1:15:02

those kids will be better students . But here's

1:15:04

the other part of it goes back to their parents

1:15:06

will possibly be there . So

1:15:09

then you say , hey , how

1:15:12

do you know that's the parent by the way they're yelling

1:15:14

. And when they finish

1:15:16

yelling you realize , hey

1:15:19

, I'm his student , I'm his teacher , I'm

1:15:21

gonna tell him that one , I'm gonna stick that one up

1:15:23

. Yes , I'm his teacher , and don't

1:15:25

start off negative and say , and I want you to know , I thank you . I

1:15:28

love to get parents with this , thank you for the opportunity

1:15:31

of teaching your child . Like what

1:15:33

? Yeah , especially for dual

1:15:35

credit , I can say that because you paid money for

1:15:37

me to teach your child . Thank

1:15:39

you for that opportunity . But

1:15:42

I see it as an opportunity because I'm

1:15:44

going to grow as a student and as

1:15:46

a teacher , and as a student I do

1:15:48

mean while I'm in college , but

1:15:50

as a student of nature and

1:15:52

of life , I'm going to learn from these kids . If

1:15:54

nothing else , I watch them and I'm like

1:15:57

I don't want you to act like that . I've

1:15:59

learned certain things . I even see a girl

1:16:02

with a hairstyle . Baby , what kind of jail

1:16:04

do you use so I can tell my daughter that

1:16:06

part ? It puts a connection with them , like

1:16:08

, oh , she's even paying attention . That

1:16:11

little bitty thing you know .

1:16:14

I think it is everything you're saying just comes

1:16:16

back to the idea that

1:16:18

kids have feelings

1:16:20

. They do , and I've

1:16:23

always thought I'm not that I'm a parent at all

1:16:25

, Been around a bunch of kids but I just feel like

1:16:27

sometimes we forget as adults

1:16:29

that kids have feelings . They

1:16:32

want to be heard , they want to be seen and they want

1:16:34

to be loved . And a lot of times

1:16:36

I feel like we spend a lot of times

1:16:38

barking orders at them and

1:16:41

not giving them a chance to explain . And I get

1:16:43

it . You know , my mom is always telling me I

1:16:46

do it because I said to do it . Cool , but

1:16:49

listen to that child because she might actually be telling her , he may

1:16:51

be telling you something that you know maybe can

1:16:53

make it a little bit easier .

1:16:54

And I had that issue with Jizayah . Sometimes , yeah

1:16:57

, well , what are the ? Because

1:16:59

I said so ? Because there's . Sometimes it's because I said so , yeah , I

1:17:01

agree . But then I do try to listen . I know

1:17:03

I listen sometimes more than I was heard

1:17:06

. Yeah , as a child , because things were different

1:17:08

when I was growing up . As opposed to when Jizayah's

1:17:10

grown up , she's exposed to so much more

1:17:12

just with social media . She's at

1:17:14

the Boys and Girls Club . She's got different friends that are

1:17:16

exposed to different things , so she's

1:17:19

bringing what she's heard home . Some

1:17:22

shows we watched that I would never would have watched as

1:17:24

a kid , but she's watching them right there

1:17:26

beside me . Because

1:17:28

I want to explain it , I want to give it

1:17:30

to her from my perspective , instead

1:17:33

of what somebody else tells her

1:17:35

.

1:17:35

Yeah , but it goes back to the idea

1:17:37

of like . I feel like what

1:17:40

you just said was things are different

1:17:42

now versus when I was growing up . I

1:17:44

feel like there's that gap

1:17:47

of people . Yeah , because there's a disconnect

1:17:49

.

1:17:50

There is a disconnect . Femaw is real in these schools

1:17:53

. Oh gosh , yes , and it looks like a highlighter

1:17:55

. Yeah , or Skittles . I

1:17:57

had a colleague he said last year

1:18:00

year before which I didn't know his classroom

1:18:02

was directly above me . Seattle Paramedics had a

1:18:04

come and get a kid because she

1:18:06

nearly died . I'm

1:18:09

like you got to be kidding . So

1:18:11

it's real , and so I've got to express

1:18:13

that with my child . So , going back

1:18:15

, what would I tell a teacher for

1:18:17

one ? Through my dissertation , I

1:18:19

just realized , if I teach every child and treat them like they're

1:18:21

at risk , they no longer would be at risk

1:18:24

. And

1:18:26

I realized , though , for

1:18:28

some kids , it's harder for them to learn

1:18:30

. It's harder for a black kid

1:18:33

, because even in 2023

1:18:35

, I got kids sitting in my

1:18:37

class that are black . I said

1:18:39

, miss , you know , you're the first black teacher I've ever had .

1:18:41

That part .

1:18:42

I'm teaching 11th grade Now

1:18:45

. You can't require it if

1:18:47

you don't have people willing to go into education

1:18:49

that are black . Now do I

1:18:51

tell them to go into education ? Nowadays it's

1:18:54

hard . It's hard because things have changed

1:18:57

so much . But my

1:18:59

daughter had one and I insisted upon

1:19:01

it . I knew it and

1:19:03

guess what ? She's not even there teaching anymore . She's

1:19:06

still in the school system but

1:19:08

she's not teaching anymore . Oh , wow

1:19:10

, she's a teacher Shayray

1:19:12

, really . Yeah , but

1:19:14

she was an outstanding teacher and I understand why

1:19:17

. Probably pay . I don't get

1:19:19

into a business like that , but I know what she's doing is

1:19:21

probably better pay , if not

1:19:23

the time and efforts it goes

1:19:26

into teaching . People

1:19:28

think we get summers off . No

1:19:31

, we don't . First of all , I get a

1:19:33

check for the year and

1:19:36

they break it up into 12 months

1:19:38

and so

1:19:40

, according to the 12 months , that's

1:19:43

when I get paid each month . But

1:19:45

for instance , I'm going to get one of those

1:19:47

payments right before Christmas

1:19:49

. I won't get paid

1:19:51

again till January 31st

1:19:54

, that's six

1:19:56

weeks until I get a paycheck . A

1:19:58

teacher is going to have to take

1:20:01

care of their family , having not

1:20:03

been paid for six weeks . Every

1:20:07

teacher I know has a side hustle , a

1:20:10

side stipend , whether they're doing something else on that

1:20:12

campus , whether they're doing D-Haul

1:20:14

, whether they're tutoring and getting paid a

1:20:16

little extra for that , whether they're a coach , or

1:20:19

many of them who are working at Lowell's

1:20:21

hardware or who are working . I

1:20:23

play for a church and

1:20:26

two churches . We have to work those extra

1:20:28

jobs just to make ends meet . That

1:20:31

makes it hard . So tell a teacher now I need

1:20:33

you to go , pay attention to every student , especially

1:20:36

the black kids , and

1:20:38

make sure that you are connecting with them . Now

1:20:41

you don't have to go to their houses anymore . But

1:20:44

if you want to see success , that's

1:20:46

what I would tell a teacher . It's hard

1:20:48

. Let them see you at the games

1:20:50

. Let them see you not only at the games , grading

1:20:53

papers , but actually

1:20:55

be there hollering for

1:20:57

them . Tell them good job , you're doing great

1:21:00

. Or learn

1:21:02

something about basketball . And

1:21:05

for one , I had a former colleague who

1:21:07

moved to San Antonio . He

1:21:09

came from North Dakota

1:21:11

. Why did he end up in Odell City

1:21:13

? He said he was just looking for a change . I said well , baby

1:21:15

, you found it here . But he

1:21:17

since moved to San Antonio , got married

1:21:19

, teaching , has a child . He was

1:21:22

fresh out of college and I

1:21:24

was his mentor . Well , I

1:21:26

had some kids who were on the hockey team . I ain't

1:21:28

done nothing about no hockey . I've watched

1:21:30

hockey a couple times on TV Like

1:21:33

oh okay , and then it loses my interest

1:21:35

. But the moment I told him , I said

1:21:37

you got to find a way to connect with those kids and

1:21:40

so what I would use as analogies ? He

1:21:42

started using the hockey analogies and

1:21:45

the three kids he had in his class , who

1:21:47

he didn't know at the time were hockey players on

1:21:50

the local team , started changing

1:21:52

for him . He said miss , miss

1:21:55

, love , because at the time I was still not love Jackson

1:21:57

. He said you

1:21:59

will never believe this . I started talking

1:22:01

hockey and these boys started perking

1:22:04

up and giving me their attention . I said

1:22:06

are they hockey players ? He said yes

1:22:09

. I said you won't ever have enough

1:22:11

of the problem out of him . Now the

1:22:13

girl said well , I'm not in hockey , I'm

1:22:15

in this . He said I guess I got to go to

1:22:17

these games too . I said exactly . But

1:22:19

it's hard when you've got a family , when you've got kids and

1:22:22

you're working a side job . So

1:22:24

I do something in my class because my health , I just

1:22:26

can't go to everything anymore Every

1:22:29

first day of the week . It

1:22:31

takes a lot of time and I have to structure my class

1:22:33

. Every class , we do what we call shout outs

1:22:35

and celebrations . We got a song , go

1:22:37

, shout out celebrations , shout out

1:22:39

celebrations , shout out celebrations . I

1:22:42

even have one class that does a wave with it , like

1:22:45

there in the stands . We call it a wave of excitement . Tell

1:22:48

me something great that happened . Are you

1:22:50

in golf ? Okay , tell me how I went . How

1:22:52

did you golf match ? Tell me how tennis

1:22:54

went ? Are you playing doubles or singles ? I

1:22:56

know that much about the sport . Swimming

1:22:58

, are you diving or are you doing this

1:23:00

? You know ? Oh , you're in gymnastics . What

1:23:03

are you doing in gymnastics ? Are you doing the pommel horse

1:23:06

? Are you on the floor ? How did you do ? How did

1:23:08

you score ? We do that . I

1:23:11

can't do anything . We're

1:23:13

at least going to sing Happy Birthday to you

1:23:15

that day , if you had a birthday

1:23:17

last week , and then we'll say , okay

1:23:20

, if we didn't have any school , shout outs . If we have

1:23:22

any academic , do we have any academic

1:23:24

? Do we have any fine arts ? We do it that way . So

1:23:27

we'll shout out that kids had

1:23:29

region band and I had several percussionists

1:23:31

, did well , had

1:23:34

some kids who just made all state choir , so

1:23:36

we're going to celebrate that . But

1:23:38

then those kids who weren't in anything , anybody

1:23:40

get a raise on their job . Anybody just

1:23:42

get a job . Hey , that's something to celebrate

1:23:44

. What are you doing with junk about ? Did you buy , not

1:23:47

go to jail ? You know , and I

1:23:49

say jokely , it's not professional , but for

1:23:51

some kids it's real , it's a good deal . For

1:23:53

some kids it's real . You

1:23:57

know , did

1:24:00

anybody just have a day off ? And you were excited ? And

1:24:03

it's one kid . I got employed the month and we shouted

1:24:06

out and celebrated just like the kid

1:24:08

who scored the winning shot at

1:24:10

a basketball game . We'll give him

1:24:12

one clap , two claps , We'll give him applause

1:24:14

. Those kind of things , that

1:24:16

kind of investment in those kids , letting

1:24:19

them know I care , they

1:24:21

check on me , being they're like well

1:24:23

, if I wasn't in class on Monday , miss

1:24:25

, why weren't you in class yesterday ? Baby , it's none of your business

1:24:28

. So I have a question though , do you

1:24:30

?

1:24:30

is there another colleague that

1:24:33

teaches the same thing ?

1:24:34

you do . I am the only US history

1:24:36

dual credit on campus Right

1:24:38

now . It's been for years because you have to have a master's

1:24:41

degree in history . You

1:24:43

can have a master's degree , but if it's not in

1:24:45

history then you can't teach it

1:24:47

. But there are several . We have a PLC group that

1:24:49

teaches US history . It's seven

1:24:51

of us . One has

1:24:53

more special ed kids special

1:24:56

unit I mean not unit , but those

1:24:59

students . Then there's somebody who teaches more

1:25:01

English , has a second language , and

1:25:03

then we got AP as

1:25:06

well . There's two who are teaching AP this year , and

1:25:08

I've taught that and then . So

1:25:11

I'm the only one , though , that teaches dual credit US history

1:25:13

.

1:25:13

I'm just curious if the investment that

1:25:15

you're putting in those kids is paying off

1:25:17

in their grades .

1:25:19

I think it does . It pays off in their future

1:25:22

? No for sure . The very first assignment

1:25:24

I give my students , all classes has

1:25:26

to do the name assignment , Because I

1:25:28

tell them you need to know why your parents named you , what they named

1:25:30

you , Because that's the beginning of your history

1:25:32

and I think that's the strangest thing and

1:25:35

I find it hilarious that they've made it to 11th grade

1:25:37

and you don't know why your parents named you .

1:25:39

Yanni , but my story I would have

1:25:41

been like my mom named me Yanni because it's a guy who plays

1:25:43

the piano .

1:25:44

But you now know , pianist Is that right .

1:25:45

What's the correct way of saying that ?

1:25:46

Pianist , ok , but then there are some kids they

1:25:49

don't know . You mean to tell me you're

1:25:52

named junior and there were

1:25:54

two boys before you . How

1:25:57

do you get junior Exactly ? Why are you junior

1:25:59

? That's important to me . But then for

1:26:01

my dual credit , the same day they get that

1:26:03

assignment , they get a college comparison

1:26:06

assignment . It's dual

1:26:08

versus AP is what it started off , because

1:26:11

I don't want them sitting in my class and

1:26:13

they don't even accept their dual credit classes

1:26:15

. I love you , I appreciate the extra funding

1:26:17

I'm going to get come Christmas time for you , but

1:26:19

if you're not going to go to a

1:26:21

university that will take your dual

1:26:24

credit , why are you here ? You need to

1:26:26

stay on the AP . So

1:26:28

they have to look up every

1:26:30

required AP , the AP required

1:26:32

score , because it changes . Texas

1:26:36

Tech for US history requires a three

1:26:38

to count as a semester , whereas

1:26:40

UT , for one semester , has to be a four

1:26:42

on that score . A

1:26:45

four at Texas Tech will get you two

1:26:47

semesters , but you'd

1:26:50

have to have a perfect five to get it

1:26:52

. And then what is it at Harvard ? And so

1:26:54

that's one of the first questions . The

1:26:56

second is will they accept your dual credit US history

1:26:58

? They have to contact them and investigate . They

1:27:02

also have to ask one of the things that

1:27:04

it has to be college or

1:27:06

university that's in state , one that's

1:27:08

out of state , one that's in HBCU

1:27:10

. So for some of them that's the first time they hear about it at

1:27:12

HBCU . That's a whole other topic too

1:27:14

. Historically Black College or University and I explained to

1:27:17

some of my Anglo kids you have a better chance

1:27:19

of a scholarship at that program than

1:27:21

some others .

1:27:23

Because , they have a lot of money just sitting , because nobody ever wants

1:27:25

to go to them , right .

1:27:27

And then the other part of it is they have to do

1:27:29

in a state , they have to do private , they have to

1:27:31

do public because some

1:27:33

private universities won't take a dual credit but

1:27:36

some will . And here's the other thing . I'll

1:27:38

tell them the benefit of being in OC compared to other

1:27:40

schools , because of the

1:27:43

level of appreciation well

1:27:45

, because of Odessa College

1:27:47

throughout the country , how high

1:27:50

ranking they are . They will accept your

1:27:52

dual credit when they won't even accept somebody who got

1:27:54

dual credit at a school

1:27:56

in Houston , because

1:27:59

they can only go , maybe , to the University of Houston , but

1:28:01

they won't transfer to Texas Tech

1:28:03

. So I tell the kids the benefit

1:28:05

of that . So make sure you understand . And then

1:28:07

the last thing they also have to do one that's international

1:28:09

, because I have students who have

1:28:12

come from out this country and

1:28:14

you need to know if you decide

1:28:16

to go back to where you were born and raised

1:28:18

, will this class transfer

1:28:21

? Because , again , why are you taking it ? If you

1:28:23

want the last one , I

1:28:25

added for the past two years also

1:28:27

Alverno , because that's where I

1:28:30

go . Look

1:28:32

that up to me oh , and they have to do

1:28:34

YouTube to be . Why not check out

1:28:36

? I don't plan on ever going to YouTube because

1:28:38

it's here , but , baby , you need to know you

1:28:40

are down the street . Yeah , if push

1:28:42

came to shove , you need to know . Will YouTube accept

1:28:45

your dual credit classes ? And

1:28:47

so it's really helped . It

1:28:50

helps students in their future , in their planning , because as

1:28:52

juniors , you should automatically be planning out

1:28:54

where you're going to go to school . And so

1:28:56

then the next thing I tell them , with all these schools , it's

1:28:58

normally teen . They have to send letters

1:29:01

or seek

1:29:03

out their entrance people and

1:29:05

ask about

1:29:07

information on their program , and so

1:29:09

some have done that and it's helped a lot

1:29:11

.

1:29:11

I bet .

1:29:12

Yeah , they can't stand this . I'm

1:29:14

not the beginning . I tell them trust me , let

1:29:17

this be . And it might be a college university . Oh

1:29:19

, and the way to keep them from cheating , they

1:29:21

have to give me two colleges

1:29:24

, and some of them can be more than one . So

1:29:26

it could be an HBCU . It could also be

1:29:28

a private , but it

1:29:30

also could be , because one of them has to be

1:29:32

your first initial and the other one has to be your last

1:29:34

initial . That way , ha

1:29:36

, baby , you're not looking up every school that

1:29:38

I'm looking up Because you're Yanni

1:29:40

Jones . So you might choose Jarvis

1:29:43

, because that's a private HBCU

1:29:46

and it's in state and it's your last

1:29:48

initial . But then

1:29:50

you might also choose Yale , oh , because they

1:29:53

also have to look up Ivy League , because some of them are the top

1:29:55

10 . So you might choose Yale

1:29:57

. It's out of state , it's an Ivy League

1:29:59

. Your name is Yanni , ok

1:30:02

, that is hilarious . So that's why

1:30:04

I make it unique . And

1:30:06

they got to give me the insignia . And they understand

1:30:08

the importance of the insignia , even more so

1:30:10

Because that's some of the what's

1:30:12

an insignia ? Baby , at this point you need to know the time

1:30:15

of insignia . Let's look up

1:30:17

what's primary insignia . You know that kind

1:30:19

of stuff . Yeah Well , I

1:30:21

know I have talked so much , probably more than you needed

1:30:23

.

1:30:24

No , you're fine . I just say

1:30:26

thank you for calling

1:30:29

with the opportunity to learn more about this and

1:30:32

to have the conversation to

1:30:35

expose others listening to some

1:30:38

of the barriers that people may face when

1:30:42

getting their education .

1:30:43

Yeah , and for anybody trying to get their

1:30:45

doctoral , if you're interested in Alverno

1:30:47

or just . I think I'm

1:30:49

pretty good . I've done it long enough helping students get

1:30:52

into college . I write great recommendation letters

1:30:54

. I tell them I'm not just going to write

1:30:56

it , but you know , I got to know you . But

1:30:58

they can reach me at 432-349-5803

1:31:03

. I don't mind giving that number out . Or my

1:31:05

email is aloveaka

1:31:08

At aolcom

1:31:10

. Yes , I'm still aol . I was getting

1:31:12

ready to say not aol , I am still me and

1:31:14

your aunt are still aol . I'm

1:31:17

going to be with them until . But they

1:31:19

can . Hi , the dogs

1:31:21

have been let in , y'all . They let you know that

1:31:23

we're almost done . But you're good

1:31:25

, christian , come on in . Yeah , you're

1:31:28

fine , they can reach me at those two ways

1:31:30

. They can contact you

1:31:32

and you can reach out to me For sure , because

1:31:34

I don't want it to go past . I want it to be able

1:31:37

this podcast in

1:31:39

doing it , to be able to reach somebody who

1:31:41

needs help and even if it's because your

1:31:43

child is African-American

1:31:45

or they're at risk , they're here in rural

1:31:47

West Texas Just to guide

1:31:49

you of different platforms that are out there

1:31:51

available for you . There

1:31:54

are different programs that can help

1:31:56

students . That again , you've got

1:31:59

to be willing to know and if you

1:32:01

don't reach out , some people are going to reach for

1:32:03

you . You've got to reach out , but I believe

1:32:05

I'm standing on the shoulders of my ancestors

1:32:07

and the responsibility is to reach down

1:32:09

and pull somebody up , even higher .

1:32:11

That's sweet . Well , the last thing that

1:32:13

is a tradition here for

1:32:16

this podcast is we like to have the guests

1:32:18

pray us out . Well , hey , so

1:32:21

if you don't mind , doing the honors and

1:32:23

praying us out ?

1:32:25

I will . Dear

1:32:27

Heavenly Father , we thank you for this

1:32:29

day . We thank you for this opportunity

1:32:32

to speak to each other , to

1:32:35

build on the relationship I have with

1:32:37

Yanni , Also to be able

1:32:39

to reach out to the minds

1:32:42

and the souls of people who this podcast

1:32:44

will reach out to . I ask , Lord

1:32:46

, that the words and things that have been said

1:32:48

and shared will help somebody help

1:32:51

a little further . Help Yanni as

1:32:53

she continues to do this endeavor . Lord

1:32:56

, I pray blessings on Yanni on

1:32:58

this experience . I pray blessings

1:33:01

on Yanni as she works towards

1:33:03

this podcast , reaching for people , family

1:33:06

and friends . And then , Lord , if

1:33:09

there is somebody out there who

1:33:11

just needs help , allow

1:33:13

them to be bold enough and courageous

1:33:16

enough to reach out for help in

1:33:18

whatever type of help they need

1:33:20

. As we go into this holiday season

1:33:22

, Lord , give them comfort

1:33:25

, Give them strength where they need , Allow

1:33:28

them to realize that you truly are

1:33:30

the present and you don't have to be unwrapped

1:33:32

. We thank you for

1:33:35

everything and

1:33:37

we thank you for anything that

1:33:39

comes our way . In Jesus' name , we pray

1:33:41

Amen .

1:33:42

Amen , Once again , thank you for

1:33:45

having me . Thank you .

1:33:46

Yanni , I love this . No , no

1:33:48

problem , you can come by anytime . You know I love

1:33:50

to talk and gab . If I don't start my own

1:33:52

podcast , then you'll be one of the first ones I interview

1:33:54

. I'm ready . I'm ready to go on the first topic . Yanni

1:33:57

, why did you have a podcast ?

1:33:58

Yes , you know , my aunt said she wants to . This is a

1:34:00

sign , though she's ready to

1:34:03

interview me , and I was like OK , but anyway , thank

1:34:06

you for those who have listened .

1:34:08

Thank you for those who listened to the whole thing , because

1:34:10

I know I will weigh over Yanni's time . I

1:34:13

already warned her I talk a lot

1:34:15

. Y'all know that You're fine

1:34:17

.

1:34:18

I just pray for those that are listening to remember

1:34:20

that you guys are loved

1:34:23

, You're needed . Someone in

1:34:25

your community needs to either see

1:34:27

your face or hear your testimony and

1:34:30

then just to remember that it's OK sometimes Well

1:34:33

it's OK . Not sometimes it's OK , but

1:34:35

you try and need to be made in life , make the U-turn

1:34:37

and get

1:34:39

in line with the purpose that the Lord has for you . And

1:34:42

if you don't know what it is , I just pray that you just start

1:34:44

with a conversation with Him . Pray to Him

1:34:47

, listen to Him , put yourself

1:34:49

in His presence and allow Him to show

1:34:51

you exactly where you're supposed to be .

1:34:52

I agree . So before you sign off , yanni , I need

1:34:55

to give you some accolades . I

1:34:57

am so proud of you

1:34:59

and how involved you are in

1:35:01

this community . You're not born

1:35:03

and raised here . You got family

1:35:05

here , but you didn't have to be here long to

1:35:08

get involved in the community and it makes a difference

1:35:10

. It just goes to show you don't have to be

1:35:12

born and raised to be seen . You're

1:35:15

part of the Odessa Chamber

1:35:17

and the young professionals

1:35:20

. You're with the Black Culture Council

1:35:22

of Odessa . You're on the YouTube EBCampus

1:35:24

Guess what ? I see ? You

1:35:26

Thank you , and that says a lot

1:35:28

Because you stand out amongst

1:35:31

many and I'm proud of you . I'm

1:35:34

getting to know you and your walk in Christ

1:35:36

. That's even better . You

1:35:38

look good in pink , right ?

1:35:39

now Better be even brighter

1:35:42

. On that note , we're going to say , ok , yeah

1:35:44

, goodbye , y'all Bye , you

1:35:46

don't even get the date . But it's all about sex and internals

1:35:54

and

1:35:57

through this sometimes we don't have time , so

1:36:00

are we all at the same time ? Right

1:36:03

now , I'm accidentally walking away in

1:36:05

a vacuum bin . So

1:36:08

finally , thailand is probably corn . I

1:36:10

mean , we're here , we're enjoying our 7 days

1:36:12

in合作 . Right now , we're all here at the lol you