3 posts tagged “discipline”

When I was a child, my mother dressed me in frilly dresses but as I got older I was not much of a dress wearer.

I attended private schools so instead of wearing anything I wished, I wore a skirt and a blouse with a blazer during the school week from the time I was in 4th grade up until I was in the 9th grade. After those years of wearing a uniform, I had a strict dress code in high school where I was not allowed to wear clothing that had slogans or anything that was hanging off my body.

College was the first time I could wear anything I wanted to but I pretty much stayed with the discipline I had in high school. I refrained from wearing cloths with slogans and wore slacks, solid colors and even jeans sometimes to class. I was "preppy" but that was how I grew up and did not know any other way to dress.

The same discipline applied in law school but there I never wore jeans. We did not have a dress code but I wanted to discipline myself there knowing that eventually I would be in the work world so I wore slacks, blouses and blazers all the time but again it was nothing new to me to dress this way.

Throughout this discipline of wearing classic cuts in clothing, I refrained from wearing many dresses or even skirts because I think either I was tired of wearing skirts from when I was younger or I never figured out what fit of a skirt was best for my size.

On Sunday my phobia on wearing dresses took a 360 for I decided to wear a dress. I wore a cute black dress I bought last year; however, I did have a Marilyn Monroe moment where my dress did fly up but fortunately I had on the correct under garments! 8)

Monday, I surprised myself again by wearing another dress which I had bought 2 years ago.

I wonder if the hot weather is allowing me to embrace my femininity?

Whatever it is  -- I am loving it!

Music I am thinking of is Femininity by Eric Benet. Makes me blush!

Picture from www.voiceofdance.com

Today when I came home from being away for awhile, I was SURPRISED to find a few surprises in my mailbox.
Out of all of them I had an AUTOGRAPH picture of MY FAVORITE dancer, Aesha Ash!

My heart melted to see her picture autographed to me. Truly an inspiration and the highlight of my existence. Why?! To have a young lady pursue her dreams and conquer it is commendable especially in a profession where it is hard to come by a dance company that will accept you.

Dancers should be accepted for ability and not for race but unfortunately in the traditional ballet companies if you do not fit a certain body type, color, size, weight (in addition to ability), then forget it!

In junior high school, one of my classmates was a professional ballerina for she left school every day to train and go to ballet class for 2 to 3 hours every day during the school week. I admired her discipline and dedication to her passion. It was not until we were in high school did she reveal to me how she was told her body was beginning not to be acceptable for her company. She was informed to lose 20 pounds in order to stay with her company. But, this young lady had muscle and it was not fat?! Though I was unaware of her eating disorder, she eventually confided in me that she had bulimia. Back then, I did not understand what that meant. Bulimia?! Later on that school year, there was an after school special about a young lady who had an eating disorder and I began to understand what it meant.

Fortunately through counseling and a registered dietician, my friend was able to get her weight in control that accommodated her body type. It hurt me though to know what she went through mentally and physically by the words of her ballet company director. Unfortunately, she gave up dancing all together by the time we went to college. I was shocked for she had been training since she was a single digit to dance with one of the major ballet companies. Her interests were not there anymore after this incident with her ballet company and further she wanted to consider having a family after college.

This is why I admire dancers like my friend and Aesha Ash who go through so much that we never know. I only know Aesha's work through pictures and video I have found online. I am forever grateful to the NYTimes.com for publishing the article, Where are all the Black Swans?, which alerted me that a young lady who looks like me is a professional ballerina!!

Please continue to share Aesha Ash's pictures and story with other young ladies who dare to dream big. Inspire a young person today! I am!

Thank you, Aesha!! =)  {{Aesha Ash}}

Please STOP THIS insanity PEOPLE!!!!! [Thanks for sharing with me, Carter!]

When I was in the second and third grade, I attended a predominately black school. I will never forget the
time that the principal spanked my hands with a wooden stick because one of my classmates was
singing Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healing to me. Neither of us understood what that meant but she yelled,
screamed and beat our little hands with a wooden stick. I was SCARED and I never told my mother
about this incident until I was in high school.

So, this is why I defend students having a cell phone in school (but with certain provisions in its use) to protect yourself from unpredictable situations. Think of Columbine, weather situations, or any other bizarre incident where  immediate help is necessary. I am so glad a student taped this incident because this is solid proof of what goes on in some classrooms, and no one believes the stories that are shared with school administrators. The tape recording is not hearsay but the truth!

I do not know the context of the teacher's tirade. I am aware that teachers are unpaid and stressed beyond belief in America. However, if the teachers were given training and paid more in accomplishing their goals, then maybe this would start to alleviate a lot of the stress that the teachers and students are under. However, despite how much stress a teacher is under, they should refrain from cursing or using racist slurs towards their students.

In the present situation, this was unacceptable to see that a teacher brought herself down this low to use foul language that is laced in racial epithets. But in a way, you can sympathize that she is stressed and beside herself. I wish I knew more context of the school and the students who made her go off because if it was truly that bad then these kids need to be in boot camp!!

Discipline should start at home but this is not the case in some situations, and teachers have to pick up the slack. Some parents need to be trained how to be parents because they have no clue of how to discipline and train their children.

Warning for the link below. It is raw and unedited:

Raw: Teacher's Tirade in North Carolina school