Caressa Cameron ignores skeptics, became Miss America

MISS AMERICA 2010, Caressa Cameron, is more than just pretty, polite and poised. The 23-year-old Virginia native is wise beyond her years. Despite many life challenges, she says she always "looks for the jewels in the journey." For her, giving up is never an option.

Cameron is the eighth African-American woman to win the prestigious title. Amazingly, she competed a dazzling four times before bringing home the Miss Virginia crown. Most less-determined young women would have given up way before then. But Cameron said she took each loss in stride, viewing it as a learning experience. And she had the smarts to apply any cash winnings she received to pay off her college tuition.

The 5-foot-4-inch frugal fashionista told me the pageant experience is valuable, win or lose. She also said that "you don't have to go into debt to participate. My swimsuit, for example, came from Target."

The aspiring broadcast journalist and talented singer was at the King of Prussia Mall to spread the news about phytonutrients and their importance in a healthy diet. She's here on behalf of the Amway nutrition supplement line Nutrilite.

Looking at the lovely Cameron, it is difficult to fathom that she was the proverbial ugly ducking in high school, with self-described "sideburns and a dreaded unibrow." She said her teen years were particularly awkward and difficult, and she had to deal with bullies, too.

But a pivotal moment was the day Miss Virginia 2003 and Miss America competitor Nancy Redd came to Cameron's school and gave an impassioned, encouraging speech that sparked something in her. Redd, also a woman of color, is a Harvard graduate and author of the New York Times best-selling book about women and their bodies, "Body Drama."

"She encouraged us to take the negativity and turn it into something positive," Cameron recalled. And that is just what she did. Ignoring all the naysayers, Cameron took Redd's advice to heart and never looked back.

The loving support of her parents and the inspiration she found in books like "The Giving Tree," "All the Places I Will Go" and "The Five Love Languages of Teenagers" also helped shape her into not just another beauty queen, but a responsible young women worthy of her crown.

Cameron is also on a mission to spread awareness about HIV/AIDS, whose harsh impact touched her life at age 8, when her uncle died of the disease.

"I saw and experienced the devastation and the stigma associated with the disease and I want to help spread awareness," she told me.

Cameron was told, many times, that she didn't have what it takes. But she kept going anyway, and she wants all young women to know that they, too, can triumph over adversity and make their dreams come true.


Read more: http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/kimberly_garrison/20100923_Kimberly_Garrison__Cameron_ignores_skeptics__became_Miss_America.html#ixzz10jFdcjX8

High School Besties start an innovative new business...Cakes -n- Wings

by Melissa Rose Cooper from www.grio.comShari Griffith and Katrina Kelly met over 10 years ago and are best friends. At 25-years-old, they walked the path that many students typically follow after graduating from high school: they went to college, earned bachelors' degrees, and obtained jobs in corporate America.

But in 2008 during the height of the recession, their lives took a different twist. They were both let go from their employers. But instead of struggling to find other jobs, the duo decided to revisit their high school roots in March 2009 and create their own catering business --- Cake N Wings.

Griffith and Kelly's business is a unique combination of bite-sized, square cakes, called "tots," and chicken wings. It had its birth in 2001 when the two were seniors at Frederick Douglass Academy. Kelly proposed the idea that they enter a business competition through The National Foundation of Teaching Entrepreneurship.

"It just started with the fact that I make wings," said Griffith, "and she [Kelly] makes really good cake. "

Kelly shook her head, still baffled that her friend had even considered the idea.

"I didn't think she was going to take me seriously," she said.

As simple as their idea seemed to be, Cake N Wings won the competition and Griffith and Kelly received $200 in seed money to start up their business, which continued throughout their last year at the school.

Griffith studied business at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass. and Kelly, theater arts at Hartwick College in Oneonta, N.Y. They both graduated in 2006 and like other new graduates, secured paying jobs. However, they soon learned that earning a regular paycheck was not necessarily the key to their happiness.

"I realized that I didn't want to work for anybody," said Griffith while Kelly nodded in agreement. "I wanted to work for myself and I wanted to work with my best friend and be happy."

Kelly lost her job in July 2008 and almost 4 months later, Griffith lost hers. These long time friends then took their misfortune, turned it into an opportunity and brought their inactive business back to life.

Griffith and Kelly sought help from the place that initially brought them together---their high school. Their principal, Dr. Gregory Hodge, has known them for 13 years and was one of their biggest supporters. He gave the women their first catering job, which turned out to be a surprise birthday party for an investment counselor, Robert Schwartz.

"I struck up a conversation with them at the party and I was very impressed," said Schwartz, who is now retired. He said the event was such a success that he decided to provide the start-up money for Cake N Wings.

And with the money Griffith and Kelly received for their company, they began advertising Cake N Wings throughout Harlem by word of mouth and giving their business cards out in the neighborhood. This is how they met Michael Rosen, a local hip-hop artist promoter.

"Me and Shari are just your regular girls from around the way," said Kelly. "We're not all stiff and, like, uniformed and if we have a job, we come there as ourselves. That's what makes us stand out."

Hater by Maya Angelou

Hater

By Maya Angelou

A hater is someone who is jealous and envious and spends all their time trying to make you look small so they can look tall.
They are very negative people to say the least. Nothing is ever good enough!
When you make your mark, you will always attract some haters...
That's why you have to be careful with whom you share your blessings and your dreams, because some folk can't handle seeing you blessed...
It's dangerous to be like somebody else... If God wanted you to be like somebody else, He would have given you what He gave them! Right?
You never know what people have gone through to get what they have...
The problem I have with haters is that they see my glory, but they don't know my story...
If the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, you can rest assured that the water bill is higher there too!
We've all got some haters among us!
Some people envy you because you can:
a) Have a relationship with God
b) Light up a room when you walk in
c) Start your own business
d) Tell a man / woman to hit the curb (if he / she isn't about the right thing)
e) Raise your children without both parents being in the home

Haters can't stand to see you happy.
Haters will never want to see you succeed.
Most of our haters are people who are supposed to be on our side.
How do you handle your undercover haters?

You can handle these haters by:
1. Knowing who you are & who your true friends are *(VERY IMPORTANT!!)

2. Having a purpose to your life: Purpose does not mean having a job. You can have a job and still be unfulfilled. A purpose is having a clear sense of what God has called you to be. Your purpose is not defined by what others think about you.

3. By remembering what you have is by divine prerogative and not human manipulation.

Fulfill your dreams! You only have one life to live...when its your time to leave this earth, you 'want' to be able to say, 'I've lived my life and fulfilled 'my' dreams,... Now I'm ready to go HOME!

When God gives you favor, you can tell your haters, 'Don't look at me...Look at Who is in charge of me...'

Be careful online: Not everyone is a true friend

By Michelle Singletary

After much hesitation, I finally set up a Facebook account.

So I wouldn't be seen as a dinosaur, I've also registered on Twitter.com. I haven't been tweeting much, but I'm now part of the throng of folks socializing with their keyboards.

My fans or critics will just have to contend with professional conversation because, in a nutshell, I'm paranoid. And you should be too if you're gabbing about your life on various online social networks. Like a pickpocket working a crowded public venue, cyber thieves may be collecting information that makes victimizing you so much easier with all the personal data you provide.

The more a criminal knows about you -- your likes and dislikes, your friends, where you grew up, your drama -- the easier it is to con you. The vast majority of perpetrators contacted complainants in the federal report either through e-mail or via Web sites.

Tweeting about your Memorial Day getaway plans?

One of your Twitter followers, some of whom might be strangers, may see it as an opportunity to burglarize your home. If you want to tweet about your vacation or holiday plans, do it after the fact.

"Not too many people are giving second thoughts to the personal information they provide, especially the more youthful users," said Peter Spicer, communications manager for Chubb Personal Insurance. "People don't realize that as they drop information someone may be building a composite of who they are."

Chubb offers these tips to help protect you from identity theft or a financial loss:

-- Birthday blackout. Never divulge your date of birth online (month, day or year). It can be used for identity theft or to answer a security question.

-- Pet privacy. The name of your pet is a common security question, so keep your pooch's name private or avoid using it as your security answer or password.

-- Trash talking. Increasingly employers are searching online for information about prospective hires. So don't trash your last employer or you might risk losing a job opportunity.

--Neighbor nastiness. You may have an incredibly bad neighbor, but be careful about posting comments about your battles. Derogatory comments can be used against you in a defamation lawsuit, Spicer said. The same goes for your children. Talk to your kid about going public with their conflicts. "The power users of these technologies are kids," Spicer said. "If they are talking about other kids, they may find themselves with their parents in a courtroom." Even if the lawsuit has no merit, there's still the cost of a defense. Personal liability coverage under your homeowner's policy can provide some protection, but the policies are limited, Spicer said.

These tips may seem like simple, common sense. And yet when I view the postings of friends and strangers, I see some of the listed mistakes. If you want to tweet or post things about your life, just remember that TMI (too much information) could cost you.

20 Questions to ask your school counselor

Your school counselor is one of your best resources as you plan for college. Your counselor has information about admissions tests, college preparation, and your education and career options. Here are some basic questions to help get your conversation started:

1. What are the required and recommended courses—for graduation and for college prep?
2. How should I plan my schedule so I'll complete them?
3. Which elective courses do you recommend?
4. Which AP® courses are available?
5. When is the PSAT/NMSQT® going to be given here?
6. Is this school a testing center for the SAT®, or will I need to go somewhere nearby?
7. Do you have any after-school or evening sessions available for college planning, or the SAT?
8. Do you have college handbooks or other guides that I can browse or borrow? Do you have a copy of the free SAT Preparation Booklet™, which has a practice test in it?
9. What activities can I do at home and over the summer to get ready for college?
10. What kinds of grades do different colleges require?
11. Are there any college fairs at this school, or nearby?
12. Where do other kids from this school attend college?
13. What are the requirements or standards for the honor society?
14. Can you put me in touch with recent grads who are going to the colleges on my wish list?
15. Do you have any information to help me start exploring my interests and related careers?
16. If my colleges need a recommendation from you, how can I help you know me better, so it can be more personal?
17. Are there any special scholarships or awards that I should know about now, so I can work toward them?
18. Can I see my transcript as it stands now, to see if everything is as I think it should be?
19. Do you have any forms I need to apply for financial aid?
20. How does our school compare to others, in terms of test scores and reputation?

Celebrity reporter’s book reveals celebs' insecurity and self-esteem realities

Shaun Robinson, the Emmy Award winning television co-host of “Access Hollywood,” has put some of her celebrity interviews to paper in a new book. The tome, however, is not about stardom, fame, or Hollywood rumors.

Robinson’s new book, titled “Exactly As I Am: Celebrated Women Share Candid Advice with Today's Girls on What It Takes to Believe in Yourself” shares stories about the self-esteem struggles and triumphs of some of the world’s most talented, most famous, and most notable women.

“I’ve been working on this book for the last three years. One of the main reasons is because through my work here at ‘Access Hollywood’ and through the charity organizations I work with, including Girls, Inc., I have so many girls who ask me about the stars of Hollywood; if they are as perfect as they look on TV or in the movies and magazines,” Robinson said of her motivation to author “Exactly As I Am.”

“We have become a pretty celebrity-obsessed culture and many of our young girls think that people like me, on TV, or any of their favorite actresses are perfect and have never had struggles,” she said. “What I wanted to do was show them that we all go through things, we all have these times where we struggle with whether we’re good enough or we’re pretty enough.”

Boyfriend pressure makes black teen girls more likely to want pregnancy

Black teen girls who think their boyfriends want a baby are 12 times more likely to wish they were pregnant compared with similar teens who expressed no desire to become pregnant, according to new research. Girls in the study who wanted to become pregnant were almost four times as likely to have a partner who was at least five years older than themselves. They were also twice as likely to report feelings of low self-esteem and low family support, and twice as likely to feel that their partner would disapprove of using condoms. For the study, the researchers surveyed and interviewed 462 sexually active black teen girls between 14 and 18 years old living in low-income Birmingham neighborhoods. Forty percent of the participants had a previous pregnancy, but girls who wanted to become pregnant were less likely to report a past pregnancy.

Studies suggest that these girls may experience a power imbalance in their sexual relationships, since their boyfriend's age and perceived reluctance to use condoms have such a significant effect on the girls' pregnancy wishes. This may mean that adolescent boys would be a good target for early pregnancy prevention programs, according to the researchers. Although factors like self-esteem were not as strongly associated with pregnancy desires, "other studies suggest that early parenthood is perceived by some adolescents as an opportunity to heal childhood wounds, receive support from family members or obtain emotional closeness not found at home," say the researchers.

Back to school blues? Make this year great!

Time Management Tips For High School Students

It's 10 P.M.—Do You Know Where Your Homework Is?

Does it seem like there's never enough time in the day to get everything done? Feel like you're always running late? Here are some tips for taking control of your time and organizing your life.

1. Make a "To Do" List Every Day.
Put things that are most important at the top and do them first. If it's easier, use a planner to track all of your tasks. And don't forget to reward yourself for your accomplishments.

2. Use Spare Minutes Wisely.
Get some reading done on the bus ride home from school, for example, and you'll kill two birds with one stone.

3. It's Okay to Say "No."
If your boss asks you to work on a Thursday night and you have a final exam the next morning, realize that it's okay to say no. Keep your short- and long-term priorities in mind.

4. Find the Right Time.
You'll work more efficiently if you figure out when you do your best work. For example, if your brain handles math better in the afternoon, don't wait to do it until late at night.

5. Review Your Notes Every Day.
You'll reinforce what you've learned, so you need less time to study. You'll also be ready if your teacher calls on you or gives a pop quiz.

6. Get a Good Night's Sleep.
Running on empty makes the day seem longer and your tasks seem more difficult.

7. Communicate Your Schedule to Others.
If phone calls are proving to be a distraction, tell your friends that you take social calls from 7-8 p.m. It may sound silly, but it helps.

8. Become a Taskmaster.
Figure out how much free time you have each week. Give yourself a time budget and plan your activities accordingly.

9. Don't Waste Time Agonizing.
Have you ever wasted an entire evening by worrying about something that you're supposed to be doing? Was it worth it? Instead of agonizing and procrastinating, just do it.

10. Keep Things in Perspective.
Setting goals that are unrealistic sets you up for failure. While it's good to set high goals for yourself, be sure not to overdo it. Set goals that are difficult yet reachable.

Consider these tips, but personalize your habits so that they suit you. If you set priorities that fit your lifestyle, you'll have a better chance of achieving your goals.


from www.collegeboard.com

Tia and Tamera talk abstinence

Sex Ed...can you make the grade?

Can we talk about sex? Real teens aren’t getting the full story when it comes to sex ed. But our lawmakers have the power to help make sure they get the information they need to make healthy decisions.Take this sex ed pop quiz to see if you know the facts.

Click on this link: Pop Quiz

Girl banned from prom for inappropriate dress and then arrested! (viewer discretion advised--the dress is hideous!)

Take a look at a girl from Houston who decided that this homemade wrap was suitable enough to wear to a formal prom! Ladies, FYI, your prom is a formal event that has a dress code, not a typical night at the strip club. If you do not want to abide by dress code, which includes wearing a bra and panties, don't go! And the argument she has about getting her money back is moot also because that money has already been spent on your prom! There is no money to give back!

Sometimes, it is best to leave something to the imagination. I need all of you to remember this: ALL ATTENTION IS NOT GOOD ATTENTION! You all are beautiful enough without putting all of your T&A out on a silver platter. Let the boys use their imagination! Like Tupac said, "I don't want it if it's that easy!"...don't put yourself out there!