Yacht Club EXCLUSIVE Interview!

Check out the first interview with the founders of Yacht Club! A new party movement that is changing the face of parties at Howard University as we know it!!!!





Make sure you comment and let me know what you think about this MOVEMENT? Will you be attending their parties? Do you think it's a good concept?

Let me know if this has inspired you in anyway to start your own business venture or if there are other people you think I should interview next!!

The Week You've Been Waiting For.. IT'S FINALLY HERE!!!!!

Check me out today at Freshman Move-in with Campus Pals!

buy a Pal Pack!

And leave comments! What events are you most looking forward to? How did you like this video? And I can't wait to see yall!!!

To Pack... or not to Pack?

After receiving my acceptance letter to Howard University, I knew that it was where I was destined to be. Great journalism department, number one HBCU, located in the heart of the United States, Washington, DC… and oh yea, a scholarship that covered my tuition. Yup, Howard was IT. Now the only decision left to make was what dorm do I want to live in?

“Girl, you want to come to Miami with us for Spring break?” my best friend, Tekea asked me while setting her lunch tray down next to mine in our overcrowded high school cafeteria.

“We’re trying to rent a car and drive down there. Netia’s aunt said we can stay with her. Pick up some hot Miami boys!” She smiled her mischievous grin at me that was as clear as a DUI commercial telling someone not to drink and drive. Only her commercial was advertising not to miss out on a spring break trip of a lifetime.

Only I couldn’t go. Instead I was going on a Georgia, trip to the MECCA, to visit Howard University for the first time before I would call it my permanent home that fall. I was nervous, anxious, but mostly excited. How big was the campus? Would I get lost? What did the dorms look like? This annual trip took about 50 students to visit Howard while pairing them with a student to live with and I would be partaking in this trip in a week.

“Man, Alyssa. Her aunt has a condo right next to South Beach. We’re going to go clubbing every night. Cooomme ooon, “Tekea begged. “You gotta come. We’re only going for a few days and then you can come back and go on that trip to D.C.”

So. I decided to do what any exemplary, focused student would do given the option of partying on South Beach in Miami versus taking an educational and beneficial trip to my future university. I did both!

After partying for days and my brown skinned friends getting tired of my “white ass tanning and swimming like a white person”, I headed back to Atlanta tan, optimistic, and ready for my trip to Howard University.

We arrived on a foggy, Thursday morning that suffocated our butterflies swarming in our stomachs. So THIS was Howard.

___________________________________________________________________

For those of you who have never visited Howard before, your freshman move-in can be even more nerve racking. Will all of your stuff fit? Can you bring you're keyboard that you love to death? What should I bring?

Here are some pictures (that I could find) of the inside of some of the dorms. If you want you can also check out the Howard website for a virtual tour

http://www.howard.edu/Campustour/points/residence/1.htm

Just click on the dormitory you are staying in and check out the pictures.

This is a normal sized double in Drew Hall .. notice the fan in the window cuz it is hott as HELL in there

Annex doubles are narrow and long. They can't lift their beds so if you buy storage containers get the ones that are long and short to slide under your bed.

Look at the ROOM behind the girls :)

Quad triples CAN be more cramped than a Mexican mini-van... the trick is to arrange it properly! The rooms consist of one lone bed and a bunk bed, so get there FIRST so you won't get stuck in the bunk, and if you can TRY and sweet talk your way into getting a corner room, they are WAY bigger!

See the lone bed on left; bunk bed right. Truth Hall.

Quad doubles are wider and its easy to raise your bed to stock stuff underneath. This is most Quad rooms will be setup when you first get there, BUT if you want more space and want to make it look more homey, have fun being your own interior designer and play around with moving furniture!

This was my room AFTER we moved it around. We had WAY more floor space and it just felt more like a room at home, not like a dorm where it's "MY SIDE- YOUR SIDE, dont touch my shit or ima cut yo ass bitch!" Just make sure you and your roomate communicate and decide what you're more comfortable with.

Baldwin 2nd Floor

"You know my Baldwin Bosses; We 2 Bad!"

For all my other dorms I couldn't find pics on FB so just check out the Howard site.. I've also been receiving a lot of questions about what you should bring! And WOW is there a LOT! lol. Target has a really good general list however dont pay attention to the kitchen stuff as a freshman because you really won't be cooking much.

Check out the list HERE -> http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/16/00/00/04/76/33/63/476336370.pdf

ALYSSA's #1 ITEM TO BRING::: TUPERWARE

Acts of Dorm-i-tude

ANNEX

Stereotype: Bookworms, anti-social, stuck up, low-key freaks, boring, no fun, lames

TESTIMONY- "My name is Jazsmin Watson-Booth and I’m a proud Annex girl! I stayed in the Annex my freshman year and I had an amazing experience def not what the experience people stereotype. I got close with several girls who are like my sisters, I had fun in my suite and the better living was definitely a plus! We enjoyed ourselves but at the same time we had to be more outgoing to meet new people and get involved. I didn’t know everyone on my floor like the QUAD girls do, but I did know the majority. The Annex is usually peaceful and it’s easy to lock yourself in a room and not come out so if you are shy person your experience may be different. The quad is more social with ready made friends which makes it a plus especially for those who aren’t as outgoing but DON’T SLEEP ON THE ANNEX, I mean we are the 2009 Resfest Champs so we are clearly a great dorm! 22 25! I rep with pride :) " - Jazsmin Watson-Booth, sophomore, Public Relations major

BETHUNE ANNEX—This all girl’s dorm is made up of the east and Westside. It’s still on Campus and ideal for School of Communication students, but SUCKS for School of Business. MAN, do yall have a long, hilly walk! (They don’t call Howard the Hilltop for nothing). So if you are living here make sure you bring lots of flat shoes. The rooms are suite style with 2 or 3 rooms a suite depending on the style. The Annex has private bathrooms, air-conditioning, and their own cafeteria so is the more expensive of the two dorms. 22 25!!!

Jamie and Bri (two Annex freshmen 2008)

Annex dance team 2009

Advice: Don’t be lazy. Get out of your comfortable, air conditioned Annex suite and walk to the Café and eat with the rest of the freshmen. Join lots of organizations and rep the Annex to the fullest! You will only become the anti-social stereotype if you choose to be. so no matter what let your personality shine!

QUAD

Stereotype: ghetto, loud, hoes, dirty, party animals, outgoing

Testimony- "It's simple. The dorm makes the person. Yea.. I said it. Howard isn't the real world. But if it was, I would say the student makes the dorm. But it's not. Soooo, it's kind of like the high school cafeteria. You eat with the stuck up rich & popular white girls, you'll be perceived as just that. You sit with the geeky math club and the one fat boy that picks his nose, more than likely, you'll be laughed at. :] The point is that association breeds similarity. And although I'm not saying that every girl in the QUAD was a loud ghetto ass duck (damn), lol, but that is exactly what the QUAD represents. And no matter how pretty or smart, or quiet you MAY be, you won't change that perception. You know how many dumb ugly girls stay in the annex?? you wouldn't believe how many gay boys stayed in drew?! You just have to be careful not to actually make that stereotype become your
reality. Your freshmen year motto should be... "fuck that other shit, let's get it popping!"

lol. ps. take yall asses to class. & buy your pal pack. :]"- Kayla Mutha Fuckin Lindsey, Sophomore, Audio Production major

THE QUAD- The community dorm for Freshman girls composed of 5 buildings with 4 sides. Some with air-conditioning some without. Some are triples, some are doubles, and both are open environments with lounge areas to study and hangout. The more social of the two dorms, the Quad is always full of surprises. Q-U-A-D Aaaahhhhhhh YYeEEEEeAAAAAAAAhhhhhh!!!

Quad Stroll team 2009

Girls from Baldwin Hall in Quad watching a video together

ADVICE: Go to Health and Science library for serious studying because it can be loud and distracting in the QUAD. If you don't want people to think you're a hoe then dont check in 10 boys in the same day. Be yourself and you will be fine!

DREW

Stereotypes: heterosexuals, the cool guys, dogs/male hoes, fun, sweat box

TESTIMONY- “Drrreewwww Halllll.....man for a male freshman it’s the dorm to be in. Now granted it aint the nicest dorm......and you will get visitation snatched a bunch of times but you will get to meet mad people. People don't sleep. All in all when you’re a freshmen drew hall is the dorm you want to be in. It’s an experience”- Nicholas Jones, sophomore, Business Finance major

DREW HALL- The all male dormitory for incoming freshmen. Five floors, community bathrooms, and two side doors to sneak girls in, Drew Hall YOuUUUUUU knoOoooooWWWW, looks like the projects. It gets HOT up in here, especially on Sunday poetry nights. But it is also home to many intelligent and driven young men.

Drew Hall step team 2009

G.O.D.- Gentlemen of Drew members at a party

Advice: Get involved in outside organizations so people know that you are about something! Black men need to step it up at Howard and become leaders in organizations on campus. You can sleep with as many girls as you want, but remember you came for an education. Don't lose focus!

CARVER

Stereotype: Gay, bi-sexual, on the down low, losers

TESTIMONY- “It's the students who make the dorm. My personal testimony is my own freshmen year in Carver Hall. The stereotypes for an average Carver Hall resident was that he was gay and lame and no one wanted to hang with him. When I learned this information I distanced myself from the dorm and the people who lived there. I spent my freshman year like most normal students I went to parties talk to a few females and everything went well and the only time my dorm came up was when females came over. The dorm doesn’t make a person I lived in Carver for an entire year and I am not the stereotype Carver male. I like girls and I gotta say I am one of the more well known students on campus. So don’t worry about where you live worry about where she live and if she got visitation.lol Don’t worry about dorms it aint shit.”- The Coolest Nnamdi Jones, Sophomore, Marketing major

CARVER HALL- Carver is the Annex’s brother dorm and has a reputation as “the gay dorm.” Carver is located off of Elm Street (off campus) with a shuttle bus that stops right out-front. Carver has air-conditioning but is a pain to walk too if you’re out late and miss the last shuttle bus.

Advice: If you are out late make sure you check the times the shuttle runs so you dont have to walk home. If you do, find a friend to walk with cuz' this aint Kansas no mo'! If you're gay that is YOUR business, no one elses unless you chose to let it be. Just don't think because you live somewhere that everyone else you live with is exactly like you because everyone is an individual.

_________________________________________________________

No matter WHICH dorm you stay in, it's up to YOU to make your experience. I have friends from EVERY dorm and they all enjoyed themselves. Everyone has some rough times in their dorms, especially when it comes to visitation, but now you have a place, and people, to help you get through it.

What do you think? Comment and let me know if you feel that your dorm assignment will affect you as a person, or will you defy the stereotype?

Can you handle the weight?

-Alyssa

15 Days... Are You Ready?

August 15th. August 15th is the day you begin one of the best experiences of your life. Participating in unbelievable fun, ridiculous friendships, freshmen boos, studying at club UGL, water fights on the yard, spotting celebrities at homecoming, getting fuked up out of your mind, studying until you lose your mind, all begins in 15 days at Howard University.

15 days until you say goodbye to your parents and hello to your life as an individual. Also, it’s the time when you’re gonna start saying hello to that Freshman 15. Yup, when you’re waving goodbye to your mother as she drives away while wiping tears from her eyes, remember that you’re also saying goodbye to spaghetti, steak, chicken alfredo, and all the rest of mom’s home cooked dinners. But don’t worry, the Café isn’t THAT bad. And all 15 pounds aren’t that bad either. Beginning August 15th your also going to gain more than 15 new friends, take 15 credits of classes, get 15 new crushes, and by the time you leave you will probably be able to name about 15 new brands of alcohol.

Those 15 pounds are going to carry a lot of weight; it’s all about where you decide to arrange them. Think about it ladies, like if 15 pounds went only to your booty and titties, you’d be happy, or fellas if you gained 15 pounds of pure muscle mass, then its good. But 15 pounds to your gut aint helping anybody look cute. August 15th is your day. Fall 2009 is your Freshman year... If your Freshman year is HALF as wild and crazy as mine, then you’re going to have the time of your life!!!

This time of year for me, I was screaming to get out of home (I’m STILL screaming to get out and go back now! Lol) I kept hearing all these crazy tidbits about things that happen at Howard like people messing around in the Chemistry building and people streaking across the yard. Now I know some of these stories to be true. I popped in a cd yesterday that CAMPUS PALS gave us Freshman week with songs from summer 2008 when we moved in and it brought back sooooo many memories. So me and other Howard students are here to share them with you!

Tell me, what are you most looking forward to at Howard or freshman orientation week? Comment and tell me if you all are more excited, nervous, anxious or scared and why? And I have a LIST of stuff to discuss on here but if you have any topic ideas that you DESPERATELY think need or should be addressed than post those on here too! Check back daily for more updates!

COMING SATURDAY, AUGUST 1ST

15 pounds is a blog where you, Howard University freshman, can find answers to all your questions and make your freshman experience an experience you’ll never forget: A freshmen’s guide to Howard University with videos, pictures, and people’s real, personal experiences. If you're nervous, scared, anxious, or excited- it doesnt matter because so is everyone else and now you don't have to be! With new topics every day ranging from the booty wall to student organizations to getting along with your roommate, this blog will keep you informed and entertained. Fresh. Blunt. It’s Addictive.