Tag Archives: graduation

Sha-Asia is attending Bucknell University in the fall! Outstanding!!! What a terrific Worcester high school we have in our Worcester Technical High! And Sha-Asia … so young and gifted! Great job, mom (Parlee)!

By Parlee Jones

Wow. On June 10, 1997, my world changed with the birth of my daughter. It was a hectic, chaotic day that turned into an emergency C-section with my baby girl in distress. Almost 18 years later, this baby girl walked the stage and graduated from Worcester Technical High School with plenty of Pomp and Circumstance.

I am so humbled to be the vessel through which this young queen emerged from. Since day one it has been a treat to watch her grow and develop into the young woman she is today.

Sha-Asia Medina Taylor, my daughter, my companion, my ride or die, my life, as you prepare to leave our nest and continue on the path the universe created for you when you were still stardust I hope you remember the words and thoughts I put on paper as a poem for your first birthday. I believe they still ring true today.

Sha-Asia Medina ~ Written by Parlee Jones, June 6, 1998

What can I give you, my pretty little girl, as you walk on the path of life?

A Mother’s love, a great big hug and a map to take you there.

For you are born free, although you came from Father and Me. From our Mind, Body and Soul.

You will be, for you are born, all that is predicted of you. For you will be great. The world is at stake. What part in the play will you choose?

Will you choose the right instead of the wrong from what I instill in you. Can I put myself deep enough into the essence that is you to make you love all that is life.

Loving what is right. Understanding why it went wrong. And strong enough to learn from each and every experience.

Can I teach you that?

That is the life I live for you, for me and he.

My pretty little girl with those chestnut eyes and hair as soft as silk. My pretty little girl with that intelligent mind and laughter that brings joy to any cipher. I give you the desire for excellence. For through your hard work is the way you will succeed and get what you want out of life.

By surrounding yourself with you’re a-alike. For the minds that are together as one are the ones that cee the Father. Always remember your ABC’s ~ A-Alike, B-Alike, C-Alike. There is strength in numbers, but sometimes you must stand alone. Always remember, the truth is on your side.

Education is one key to set the mind free and I’m not talking just the school of hard knocks. You learn from me, you learn from a tree. You learn from above, you learn from below. Education is an everyday process. Open your eyes to the arts and knowledge what you see, for beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

Don’t be afraid to try new things, as long as it feels right in your heart. Don’t be afraid to dance your dance and listen to the sounds that soothe you. For there is a song that you may choose to sing and a rhythm that is written by your movements. And always remember the Ancient Drums. Have compassion for all breathing creatures, great and small. From the smallest mouse to the great, majestic elephant. They are all here with purpose and meaning, for Allah loves life. Find the Temple of your Familiar and dwell in the house of the Almighty.

Remember that people are not born evil. They are shaped and molded by their life’s experiences. Strive to help others if they are striving to help themselves, but don’t go down with a sinking ship. Try to maintain a sense of humor, and remember, the truth is in the joke.

My beautiful, precious, little princess, you give me the strength that must be with me to take you where you must go. I’ll love the hell and come out right the first time, for you inspire me to keep it real and keep it sweet.

For although you are born into this world, my beautiful star child, you are not of it. Allah has blessed you and called you his own, so therefore, you are the chosen one.

Mommy’s precious, loving, Show and Prove baby. Always remember that you are Supreme. I gave you all I have to give and more.

I love you Sha-Asia Medina and am so proud and humbled by you!

Peace and Blessed Be!

InCity Feature, InCity Letters, InCity Voices

WPI students refuse ExxonMobil CEO – join their guest commencement speaker!

May 12, 2011 admin

By Linnea Palmer Paton

It is frustrating to receive an education that allows you to think critically about the world, only to discover that the university [WPI] that gave it to you is avoiding critical thought, in the name of the status quo.

Climate change is a widespread, desperately urgent and crucial problem faced by humanity, and it is the absolute responsibility of the engineering and science community, especially its universities, to take the lead on addressing it.

So, naturally, when students and faculty at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) found out a month ago that Rex Tillerson, the CEO of ExxonMobil, would be speaking at commencement, many of them were furious.

They saw ExxonMobil as a canon for all things old and unsustainable: destruction of the environment, and the exploitation of two finite resources¾both the oil and the atmosphere’s storage capacity for CO2 waste.

This seemed incompatible with a ceremony understood to be about leaders and moving ahead, rather than about barons of the past. As one graduating senior puts it, “Being well-wished into our careers by Rex Tillerson is an insult to our generation. His leadership at ExxonMobil continues to threaten the peace, security, and prosperity of our futures. He is not a good role model, and we will not accept him as the figurehead of our graduation.”

Adding to the trouble was ExxonMobil’s disinformation campaign aimed at the credibility of the scientific community. Shortly after the establishment of the Kyoto protocol in 1998, ExxonMobil launched a covert PR effort worth upwards of $16 million. A memo leaked from the company set the tactic: the think tanks hired by ExxonMobil would attempt to popularize the notion that scientists were undecided on global warming, in the hope of stalling further policy action [1].

So, immediately after the announcement, 22 WPI faculty members wrote a letter to WPI’s President, Dennis Berkey, calling for him to rescind Tillerson’s invitation. Over 250 students signed a petition opposing the choice and calling for more involvement in the speaker selection process. Then, students gathered around the WPI chapter of Students for Just and Stable Future (SJSF) to organize a campaign to educate the WPI community about social and environmental justice. Continue reading WPI students refuse ExxonMobil CEO – join their guest commencement speaker! →

InCity Voices

It’s graduation time!

June 4, 2010 admin Leave a comment

By William S. Coleman III

It is that time of year! Parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, present in-laws and out-laws, come together for the celebration of a milestone in a family’s effort to increase brainpower of its genetic DNA. Graduation season is upon us! Every year somebody has a special day, a day they have earned. Sometimes it’s a short day, especially when it’s preschoolers making that big jump to kindergarten or then it might be the kindergarteners getting ready for real school, first grade. And as we start these beginning stages to our academic lives we reflect on the early days of our love for learning.

Think about that first time you knew how to spell your name or when you saw a bus go by and you said to the amazement of your parents and your older siblings, “bus” Continue reading It’s graduation time! →