Dear World... Welcome to *Undergoes Experience*

​Dear World,

​The year is 2017 and I personally, cannot believe it. It seems like just yesterday, I was counting down the last ten seconds of 2015 and taking Hennessey shots with my cousins at the club… Epic! 2016 was full of change and mystery and I was sure that this year would bring even more of that into my life, but in a different way. This year has been dedicated to taking back control of my life because I slipped. Now, it is time to start making changes and claiming changes as opposed to waiting for change to happen. 

​My name is Alyssa Renee. I am 23 years old. I received my Media Design Masters of Fine Arts degree on December 16, 2016 at the age of 22. I was salutatorian of my class. What an accomplishment right? Yeah. Some of you are questioning how I was 22 with a Master’s degree, some of you are bitter that I was 22 with a Master’s and some of you are applauding the fact that I was 22 with a Master’s degree. Regardless of which category you fall into, thank you. I say this to point out that my success at a young age is the result of failure and understanding that if at first you don’t succeed, you dust yourself off and try again. Cliché, yes, but meaningful. We should all be applying this thought to our everyday lives.

​Two years ago, I lost myself. In less than 24 hours, I was arrested and put into a cell (for two hours), my apartment was invaded by police officials, and I received a letter explaining my suspension from university if I failed to complete a series of tasks. I was unsure of how my life had taken such a turn for the worst over the course of a single day.
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Despite all of the positive things going on in my life, I was not mentally strong enough to deal with the negative. I began drinking more consistently and began cutting myself, yet again. I started to see a counselor to help me cope, but she could not help me fix all of the failing relationships in my life. Nor could she help me to eliminate my anxiety (you know, the mental illness that the Black community refuses to acknowledge).

I had straight A’s, I was working, I was in a happy relationship, and I was close with God. So why was this happening to me? My father looked me in my eyes and asked “Why not you?” Right then, I changed my way of thinking and the way that I viewed the world.

Long story short, I forced myself to pull it together. I graduated a year early (stupid, time consuming, exhausting tasks and all) and I moved to Atlanta to reinvent myself. Why Atlanta? Because Atlanta represents Black culture. It is robust. It is moving. Atlanta and its people are creative and you never know what you’re going to get here. I enrolled into graduate school and, well, I told you how that went. After years of avoiding my mental health, I got help. I started taking the proper medicines and eating right. Things were looking up.
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Now, it’s September 2017. I am single and taking charge of my life. This year has been ... a test, but I think I may be on track to getting it all under control. The rest of 2017 has a lot in store. It’s going to be fun… exhilarating… spontaneous. It is going to be a lot of things, but most importantly, uncensored and unapologetic. I am a Black woman, living life in an unforgiving era. I love too hard. I make decisions too fast. I give too much. I'm ready and willing to change everything that I think to be true and open my mind to new thoughts, ideologies, people, etc. Hang tight, sip liq, and get ready for the ride and unpopular opinions of a lifetime. 

*Undergoes Experience*
starts... NOW! Welcome to my world featuring more life, more love and more opportunity to make things happen.

Bye Y'all,
​Alyssa Renee :*