REX NETTLEFORD HALL PT. 2

          You've asked and I have delivered. Many people have asked me about Rex Nettleford Hall and I have come to realise that, there is no where you can find out about the hall really, unless you speak directly to someone.
           The hall is "supposedly" 800 students, Now, this number seems like a lot but let me break it down for you. There are 8 and a half clusters (I say half because Cluster 3, has only half the number of residents the other clusters have, therefore they have joined with C4 to be Alliance). Each cluster has a particular patron and colours associated with it.

          There are as follows:

• C1: Walter Rodney- Green,black and white. 
• C2: Simon Bolivar- Blue and white. 
• Alliance (C3 and C4): Marcus Garvey- red, yellow, green and black.
• C5: Jimmy Cliff- Black and yellow.
• C6: Louise Bennett- purple, yellow and white.
• C7: Samuel Sharpe- red and black.
• C8: Touissant L'Overture- red, blue and white.
• C9: Fidel Castro- blue and yellow.

Activities on hall:

          During orientation you will find HIDDEN talents, trust me ! There are fresher sports, debate, dance and drama. Enjoy your orientation period, it is a learning process.

           There will be activities on the cluster level also, take part in stuff for your cluster. You DEFINITELY should take part in stuff for your cluster. It is a way to bond with your clustermates. I can say that I have socialised with my fellow Samurais (C2) by taking part in various activities. Not only are there sports, but there is fashion, cooking, etc. There is something for EVERYONE.

          Now, on a hall level, there are intramural competitions, PLEASE take part in something ! It helps to get back your room, the next year. No hall wants anyone living there who would have done NOTHING for the hall. Personally, I have done sports I would have never tried in my life. Lord knows, if Stephie (current hall gcc) didn't live on my flat and had the CUTEST begging face, I won't have left my bed many mornings, honestly. Though I grumbled the many mornings she woke me, I still got up and represented my hall in whatever way I can.

          As a first year there is a special program just for you, this is known as First Year Experience (FYE). FYE, helps you to transition into UWI smoothly, there are sessions held every week and you SHOULD attend. Attend a DECENT amount of sessions and you have the opportunity of a special treat (I won't say, just go attend and see for yourself).

Meeting People:

          Living on hall is a good way to meet people. I am honestly not a social person but that was slightly broken out of me by living on hall. The people you live with have a lot to do with that. I am the ONLY first year on my flat and the YOUNGEST on the flat, so my flatmates consider me the baby of the flat, they actually gave me the name "Baby Bajan" . When living on Rex, you must understand that not everyone will have the same upbringing as you, see everything your way, etc. It is people from all over who are now coming together to live in a shared space.

          During orientation is a good way to make friends, talk to the other freshers from your cluster, interact with the other freshers, it may even help to talk to your orientation committee. These same people maybe able to help you with your journey as a first year.

Cluster Structure:

          Each cluster has 4 blocks. These blocks are listed as A,B,C and D. Each block has 3 levels, currently the males live on the bottom floor and the females live on the middle and top floors. When you are given your key, you will see a set of numbers, an example would be 5432, this means CLUSTER 5, C BLOCK, TOP FLOOR, ROOM 2. The numbers on the keys actually mean something.

Flat Structure:

          Each flat has 8 rooms, 3 bathrooms and 2 showers. A common area with a couch and 2 single seats along with a dining table. There is also the kitchen with one refrigerator, a stove and microwave.
With respect to cleaning, you do not clean your flat, there are cleaners hired to do that, you are however, responsible to keep your stove tidy.

          There is a study table with a chair (if you're all back like me take my foolish advise and buy a cushion for that chair), a closet and chest of drawers that can be moved also. Your room will have one adjustable twin sized bed, adjustable meaning the height of the bed can be changed and also the bed can be moved. You may store your groceries outside in the cupboard if you wish.You are responsible for the cleaning of your room. Yes, yes the rumors you heard of our rooms being small is true, but guess what your small room is just way too comfortable at times. 

          NOW TO YOU PEOPLE WHO LIKE TO KEEP A LOT OF NOISE, THE WALLS ARE VERY THIN! YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE HAVING A CONVERSATION AND YOUR ENTIRE FLAT IS HEARING YOU  ! I BEG YOU TRY TO BE QUIET  IN ALL YOU DO. I talk to my flatmate with both of our doors closed and we have conversations across the corridor... a word to the wise in ENOUGH.

This is all I can think of to say for night now with regards to the hall. If you have any questions feel free to ask me in the comments sections below and I will try to answer as quickly as possible. I currently have exams going on so I may take a while to reply, but I reassure you I will reply to any questions. 

I end by showing you the bond I have made with these lovely ladies who live on my flat. I will always have love for each and every one of them ! I hope as a first year you have an amazing set of flatmates, who will not only guide you as a new student of UWI, but will become your sisters/brothers as these young ladies have become mine ! 233 ! 

Letting go. . .

        Most of my posts are either about personal experience or something a friend inspired to write it. This post is friend inspired (S).

         Sometimes in life you KNOW that for your sanity and your wellbeing on a whole you just need to get rid of some things from your life, whether that being a person, a thought etc. You just know when some things aren't for you. When you realise you're getting more of a headache from a situation why are you allowing yourself to still be in the said situation? Is it worth your sanity ? NO, it isn't. Sometimes you are holding onto something simply because you are accustomed to it and it seems to have become a norm for you. NO. That should not be the case at all.

Some situations aren't worth your attention. Get over your pride and simply do what is BEST for you.You may think you're doing the best for whoever else it may be but you know what? SELF PRESERVATION IS KEY ! Study yourself first ! think is this working for me? AM I HAPPY? Answered no to any of these? You know what you need to do, get rid of whatever it is! Somethings you can sit and talk about what's bothering you but talking only goes so far. You talked and saw no results start running for the hills ! 

I KNOW letting go is hard to do, however, sometimes you just need to. Think about what the image is saying. 

"Don't let someone feel comfortable disrespecting you." - Some person on google. 

P.S I've hardly blogged because I am really trying to work on getting A's this semester. 

"Shoot your shot"

          Shoot your shot as defined by urban dictionary (funny I use this source but hey, they were the best one) is "To let go of your pride and pursue someone you are interested in." Let's take this a little bit deeper, shoot your shot with regards to anything, not just a person. 

       
         Life is too short to keep putting off what you really want to do. (I may be a bit hypocritical in writing this, but whatever Olivia!). If something is going to make you happy, then go ahead and do just that (I AM NOT ENCOURAGING YOU TO DO ANY ILLEGAL ACTIVITY). Seriously though, shoot your shot. So many amazing opportunities may await you but you'll never know because you're being too shy, watching your pride or protecting your ego. Whichever it is don't let any of these things stop you from setting out on the path you wish to be,-I AM SERIOUSLY not encouraging you to be reckless or indulge in illegal activity- 

Dedicated to Raquel ✨ 

          

          

Decemeber 31st, 2017. LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE

          As this year comes to close, we sit back and tend to reflect. We think of all we could have done, what we shouldn't have done and what we really enjoyed doing. Life is TOO short to live with regret. Do something you always wanted to do, learn to swim (hahaha, so funny to anyone who really knows me), climb Blue Mountain, get that wine from that guy ( Tia, LOL I'm reading your messages right now) Just remember, no one can live your life for you, only you can so live your BEST life.

          To everyone going to their various NYE events whether it be the beach, a party or to church I have one thing to say to you (WHY DID NO ONE INVITE ME?! I shall be watching Family Guy tonight and HEARING fireworks, but hey I'm not salty.... actually I am) no seriously, go out tonight and have nice SAFE, CLEAN, WHOLESOME fun.

          HAVE A SAFE AND ENJOYABLE 2018

          P.S
          To any one of you lovely individuals who wish come to spend my NYE with me watching Family Guy, MESSAGE me. Olivia leaves me every year to go Guyana when she knows full well, I don't talk to much people and she is literally my social butterfly.

P.P.S (I'm enjoying this too much)
DO NOT MESSAGE ANY OF MY DEVICES SAYING "I haven't bathed for the year" " I haven't done ..... for the year". PLEASE TO REFRAIN FROM SENDING ME ANY OF THIS. I WILL BLOCK YOU FOR 2018.
       
     

Be vocal or stay a prisoner...

          THIS WILL BE A POST WITH DIFFERENCE. ORIGINALLY THIS WAS TO NEVER BE PUBLISHED... but hey enjoy what goes on in my not so interesting life.


          This semester I met someone who told me I need to become more vocal, never have I thought I would hear a person say this to me. However, after this person made that statement I then realised I am actually NOT very vocal (so thank you for that).
          I had an interesting and departing conversation recently (December 25th, lol merry Christmas to you) the first time I took the advice of the "friend" mentioned before . Now this conversation brought out many emotions such as :

• happiness-because I finally took the advice of the "friend" I met and it felt amazing.
• sorrow (is this really the word I mean to use? meh what ever "fancy" word you can find to replace sadness)- simply because as I said before it was a departing conversation
• apologetic- somethings that were said should have remained unsaid (so much for being vocal) 

         From having this conversation I can say I am indeed happy with who I am becoming. Normally, I would have backed down and not say what it was that I really wanted to say, however, I took the advice of that "friend" and said EXACTLY how I felt and you know what? I feel amazing!
 

You may ask why I just wasted your time, but what I want is that we all speak up. Be vocal. Say what it is you want, no one can read your mind. Stop allowing your wandering thoughts to keep you a prisoner in your own mind. 

The stick ....

          This post was not to be published until probably late next year, however, this post was needed. I look at life as a stick (don't judge me yet, I'm about to explain). Have you ever had a stick and broken it in half? Have you ever tried putting it back together to make that said stick whole again? Have you noticed that no matter what you do that stick will never be whole again? You can try tape, glue, plaster, anything and it still won't be whole again, it may appear whole but it still won't ever, there's always going to be a space. Now think back to how many people you probably broke, you may not even know it but you probably said something to someone that hurt them more than you can imagine, not only your words, but actions speak volume.
         I know many people are doing this whole new year, new me bullshit, I personally don't believe in that shit. Those normally last for about 4 days the most and then you're back to old self. Do you know why this won't work? You can't change yourself in just a couple days? It took 9 months for you to form in your mother and you think you can change in a matter of days? HOKAY MIRACLE WOKRER!
          SPEAKING OF CHANGE! NOW TELL ME WHY PEOPLE SET OUT TO CHANGE OTHERS?! UNLESS YOU ARE AIDING THIS PERSON WITH GROWTH THAT WILL MAKE THEM A BETTER PERSON FOR NOT ONLY YOU, BUT THEMSELF AND THOSE AROUND THEM, PLEASE TO SEE THAT PERSON AND LEAVE THEM TF ALONE.
          As the year comes to a closing in a matter of days, look back at how many people you may have hurt, if possible apologise to that person. Yes, I know your ego may be shattered by you doing this but you know what? Somethings are bigger than your ego. I'll also do this, however I cannot do it specifically because I probably said stuff to people that I don't even know. This is me apologising to whoever you are, my HUMBLEST apologies, I had no idea what I said or did hurt you the way it did. ( I AM THANKFUL FOR MY GROWTH, LORD GOD KNOWS I WAS NEVER ONE TO APOLOGISE)

         

"Grow up" "Goals"

         How often have you heard those two words? How does one even do this ? What does it mean to "grow up". With 4 more days until my 19th birthday, I'm forced to ask myself, have I actually "grown'. Growth can be physical, mental and or emotional. Which do we speak of? Funny enough, when we were all much younger the one thing we wanted to do the most was to "grow up". I don't know about you but I personally wish I was as carefree as I was when I was 6/7, but as fate and reality would have it, that won't ever happen.
          Everyone, will "grow up" at their own pace. I personally think that to "grow up" takes courage. To know what you want in life is a courageous act, we all have goals (heck I listed mine in the previous post) but are those goals short term or long term? I would say my goals currently are pretty short term. Take some time now to think and ask yourself "WHAT ARE MY GOALS? WHAT AM I DOING TO ACHIEVE THESE GOALS?" Now let's be realistic, don't have goals you KNOW cannot be achieved.... An unrealistic "goal" of mine would be all A's this semester, I say unrealistic because I know I did not put in enough work to actually achieve that. Now I would say all A's in my 1st semester would be a dream, not a goal. What is the difference you may ask, for ME a dream is something you wish would happen but never take the necessary steps to actually get there (like you telling that one person you've been practically stalking for months how much you care for them, going to Paris etc.) a goal however, I believe this is something you put your mind to and set out to do this. You put all necessary measures in place to actually get the end result you aimed for.
         Physical growth? My physical growth would have to be that I no longer look like an old potato (no I will not insert a photo here). AMEN FOR PUBERTY!
         Mental growth? This is a tough one, I may not have had the mental growth that most people my age has mainly because we all go through situations in life to make us the way we are. I do know though I have grown mentally, not to the "I don't give a f*ck" point mainly because I just think that's a stupid mind-set to have, but who am I to judge?
          Emotional growth? I think this should just go hand in hand with your mental growth. WITH THE EXCEPTION of HAPPINESS ! "Why are you always smiling?" "You always seem so happy" Why frown when I can smile? Why must I wear my problems on my face? No don't do that. No one needs to know when you're sad or going through something. You do not need to wear your problems on your face. ALSOOOO, IT IS ABSOLUTELY OKAY TO JUST SIT AND CRY ! We all have different reasons as to why we would be crying and you know what ?! Let no one tell you "You're too big to be crying" If your only way of escape from this world for a couple of minutes is to cry, then do just that !