ALOHA!!!!

Well, tuesday is the start of a 4game week!!! 4 college games in 7 weeks is almost unheard of. Especially considering we've been on the floor (practice/games/shootaround) for about 2 weeks strait. No complaints, but the tiredness is starting to kick in. However, com tuesday night, there is NO room to be tired. We play our crosstown rival USD and its gonna be a good one. This game is always a big deal, so we can't wait. And if any of you watched the Uconn game, its pretty safe to say that we are in need of a huge bounce back game! So after we accomplish that, the next morning we are off to hawaii for a tournament, and 3 games in 3 days. I think they said that within one week we will have traveled over 10,000 miles! That is alot, but hey, thats the life of a student athlete. We are currently 2-1 and need this 4 game stretch to be good. We have been working really hard, and don't plan on leaving anything behind. TIPoff is set for 7:30 on tuesday night at USD.

Other than that, I haven't really been at school but I have been getting my work done. Thankfully those 2 weeks that were crazy insane for me filled with papers, were like the last majorly big things going on. So I'm happy that my schedule is chillin out a little.

The family is great, and my little sister just turned 16!!! I can't believe it. My family all went to 6 flags to celebrate, unfortunately i had to practice but i was there in spirit. I heard they had fun, and my mom has clearly stated that she wants to go to 6 flags for her 40th birthday lol. Do ur thang momma, hopefully I can make that one.

Not really much else goin on around these parts. Any freetime I have Im asleep or eating.

Until next time,
Be blessed yall.

Jay

It has been A WHILE!!!

My deepest apologies for not keeping everyone posted on my daily life, but its been crazy around here. School has been insane. I seriously had 9 papers to write in a span of 2 weeks, so the only thing I was writing was those papers! On another note, basketball is in full effect. We jus finished practice #22 today which means our 1st game is tomorrow night. It seems to have crept up on us extremely fast this year. I think subconsciously we all wish we had a little more time to prepare and get better, but at the same time, we all could not wait for the 1st game. Because we have so many new people, i think a lot of us are a tad bit on our toes, including our coaches. But after practice today, after staying for an extra 30 minutes to get some shots up, I told my coach I was a little nervous. After all, I am coming off an entire year of not playing in a single game. She said tomorrow is the day to get out that 1 turnover, airball, and it'll be all good off that. She said just to relax and have fun. I know I'll be fine once i get out there, its just the anticipation that has been leading up to this day. I cannot wait, I have waited too long already. Not only am I excited for myself, I am excited for my teammates, my coaches, fans, friends, family, but mostly for my parents. This is college basketball, something that even in my junior year, I do not feel they have a got a chance to see me do. This is where all the money they put into club ball over the last 10 years can pay off. So mom and dad, tomorrow is going to be for you. I can see my Daddy light up when he even thinks about watching my play. And my mom, I just can't wait to hear her yell!!!



All in all, hard work pays off. I have seen my teammates through blood, sweat, and tears, and tomorrow, we start on our journey to the top!!!







San Diego State Women's Basketball Vs Showtime Australia
Cox Arena @ 7pm
Come show your support

Obama!!!

Today is the day!!! I am on my way to vote finally. I can feel the energy everywhere. This election IS the most important election in history. In my eyes, that is a literal sense. Not only did we have a woman running for president, but we have a woman running for VP. And of course the obvious, a black man (bi racial man) who I pray to God becomes president. Being able to witness what he has embarked on can bring tears to a persons eyes. Im sure that people from the older generations can feel it a little more than we do, but to me its all the same. My mom made a statement the other night when talkin to me, my sister, and brother... "Do you guys know that the president is going to be just like you?" In referrance to him being biracial. I think him being biracial is even more amazing. We are still til this day fighting racism, and representing 2 races that have fueled since what seems like forever, is an accomplishment in itself. All in all, i am very proud to be apart of this election, and everyone else is America should be proud too. Even when people say "my vote doesnt count", if they really feel that way, then how are we ever going to make change. For some reason I believe that today is the today.

As for me, Ive been way to busy to blog about my "busy-ness" LOL... But in due time we will catch up. Our first game is November 10th! thats monday yall! crazy talk... So be there.
So weve been working hard and we are looking to start off right. As for school, no complaints. It has its heavy loads at times and Im pushing through leaving no regrets, also meaning that my grades are reflecting my hard work.

On that not...
Peace & Love

Jay

WEEKEND UPDATE!!!

So friday night was our 1st day of pratice, officially. Man its exciting to get back into the swing of things. New coaches, new team, we're just ready to go. However, after that 1st practice, its clear we still have a lot of things to put in but we'll be good... We practiced from 5-8pm! Even my coach was tired... she was explaining a drill and actually stopped mid-sentence and said, "wooooo im gonna sleep good tonight." Really lightened the mood... But trust after getting home at like 830, i was knocked by 10. Especially considering we had practice the next morning at 10am.



Saturday:

Practice 10am - 1pm

pssshhh... man we went hard this morning real talk! It was sort of a wake up call. She pushed us pretty hard but we're all used to it. At least the returners... but the freshman did very well. No complaints there...its great to be young.



Well after practice I went home a relaxed for a little while... then went to see my boys play at southwestern college. Ive known dbick and courtneysince forever so i had to show some love...unfortunately there was some unneccessary drama so I was forced to leave early...

Then went to see the movie W., which i suggest everyone go see... it seemed long but it was very informative and im happy we went.



Sunday:

930am-noon

Giving bak to the community! Me and my teammates helped build a playground in el cajon. it was so fun,

October 15th

I could NOT sleep last night!! I think I woke up around 3 from a bad dream, and didnt fall back asleep until 530. I hate when that heppens. Anyway, we had like a pre-1st practice today, where we kind of introduced what real practice is going to be like to the freshies. We were going a little bit fast though, it would suck to be a freshman but they got things down fairly easy, we've all been freshman once. So we went today for 2 hours, and official practice starts tomorrow, 3hours from 5 to 8 pm. We have been anticipating this for a long time. After running on the turf since april, I think we are all really hungry to start the actual season. So that's that. We'll see what tomorrow brings. Especially considering that my body is ALREADY sore!! O goodness, it'll pass.

On another note, me and my sboogie, better known as my love, have climbed over a hill. And let me tell you the grass is greener on the other side. You know when your really down for a long period of time, and one morning you wake up and everything seems to be right. The sun is shining and you feel like a brand new person. well that's kind of how I feel with him and our relationship. Being that it is fairly new, i knew a bump in the road was going to come along sooner than later. And being brutally honest here, I was in no place to let him go, but when things get hard in relationships, I give up because I do not have time to deal with the emotions that come along with it. But before I made a mistake and walked away, I stopped and turned around. And for the 1st time ever, I told myself I would be a damn fool to sit here and lose this man. The battle in my head came because usually its the man walking away, and im saying to him, you're a fool for letting me go. Something in my heart told me that is I left, I would never find anything better. That is a strong thing to feel. But at that moment, i knew i was in love. I became willing to sacrifice my own pride, just to keep that man by my side. I know the decision I made was smart, because unlike my past relationships, he doesnt bring hardships or negativity to my life. He's kinda like that extra kick when I feel like sitting down. What made all of my past relationships so hard was the constant negativity. And in my profession, I need a man who can love me even when I don't have time, even when I have bigger goals. At the end of the day, we do nothing but help better eachother. Now this isnt one sided people, I kick him in the you know what too when I catch him slipping. And that's why we call eachother the perfect team. Think about what a perfect teammate would be, and that is what we are to eachother. And we don't have to be all mushy and lovey dovey for us to know that, it is just something we share and cherish.

I grew up in a household with 2 parents. I watched them fight, I watched them struggle, and I am a 1st hand witness of the happiness they share. Even Stef brought it up when he was helping us move... If my parents don't agree on something, they accept what ever the other one has to say, and accepts them for them. My dad may do something that gets on my moms nerves, but she doesn't let it escalate into a problem, she accepts the fact that my dad is who is and part of loving him is accepting ALL of him. Being able to see the ups and downs of a successful marriage gives me a better understanding of what needs to happen in order for it to be successful.

Now don't get it twisted, im not over here talkin about marriage or anything like that. I just wanted to voice my appreciate for this man, at this particular moment in time. Even on the days we don't agree, I will appreciate and love him just the same.

Now enuff with the mush, I'm still fully focused yall!!! So its time to hit this Natural disasters book so I can ace this test on tuesday.

be blessed yall,
Jay

I have done absolutely nothing productive with my morning. I actually had no homework or reading that i could have possibly been doing in anyway, so this is a little relieving(sp).

The news of the week is that San Diego State Women's Basketball was picked to finish 2nd in our conference!!! for those who don't know, that is HUGE! last year we were picked to finish 7th, so i think its fair to say we've turned the corner. Now we have to run full speed ahead and take that #1 spot. You can see the fire in our eyes now. Its definitely our time andwe can't wait totake advantage of it. CoachBurns is definitely doing her job!

Well im off to class people... just wanted to share the big news!!!

tata for now,

Jay

I am supposed to b doing homework!!

But I am not in the right mindset. Gotta wait until I am somewhat motivated to do it (right mom?). Anyway, just a recap of the weekend...

Saturday...

Woke up early and texted my mom if they needed help moving. And for the record, I shouldn't have had to text her, she shouldve told me they needed help! But anyway, they did, she said my daddy was moving all of the big stuff by himself! no no cant have that so I got up, got my Sboogie and headed off to my parents house to help them move. It was a fun yet productive day. If you wanna read about the details, go to wesodontgetit.blogspot.com because i just wrote a whole entry about it, lol.

Anyway saturday night me and my Sboogie went to the football game and the sky show. It was freezing (which is why we ha our hoods on, we werent making a fashion statement or anything) and my school lost. they really need to get it together. But yea, the sky show was really pretty, an we had a lot of fun. We even saw a human cannon ball!!! I was scared for HIS life, he actually shot 75 feet into the air! very impressive and a little dumb if you ask me but whatever, at least hes gettin paid. Then we went home and fell asleep watching the bee movie, which is hilarious!!!

And sunday, well it is my typical sunday... layin around the house allll day until study hall at 5. Which is where i am now attempting to get some work done.

We start official practice next week!!! It is time!!! Highly anticipated, but dreading those 3 hour practices, lord knows they dnt go by fast...

until next time,be blessed yall

Jay

Should I write? Should I talk?

I have so many emotions and thoughts running through my head. But I know myself, and I’m really not one to hold my tongue. Well, I am when I feel like I need to think about my thoughts more before putting them out there. But in this case, I can’t seem to find the words. So the answer is I will write.

So I just got back from seeing “The Express”. I already knew going into the movie that it was going to be real motivational. I just didn’t know how sad. I’m not gonna spoil the movie, but I seriously cannot understand how people can have so much hatred toward a person strictly because of their skin color. What I also fail to realize, is how little we are taught about the days of segregation. I mean, it wasn’t that long ago, and it still happens today in some places. But in our school systems, we aren’t taught about what our people had to overcome for us to be where we are now. And that is what makes me mad. It makes me want to find out my own history, and not rely on others to teach it to me. That movie wasn’t made about football it was made to show people what he had to overcome to play football. In a scene in the movie, Ernie Davis is watching Jackie Robinson play for the Brooklyn dodgers. Of course back then, it wasn’t an everyday thing you saw a black man playing a professional sport. And Ernie Davis said, “He is saying so much with not saying anything at all”. This had to be one of the best quotes I have ever heard. Jackie Robinson never had to SAY anything to stand up for him, defend him, or all of the other barriers he broke down just by playing. That’s really how I have always played the game of basketball. I speak with my game, no words exchanged. Of course it doesn’t measure up to what Jackie Robinson or Ernie Jackson did, and all that they were playing for, I’m just saying that you can say so much MORE by not saying ANYTHING at all. By leading, by being an example to people, that says so much in itself, and it gains respect.

I love going to the movies. Its simple, fun, and relaxing. And not to mention expensive. They are really trippin chargin somebody 4 dollars for a small bottle of water. It really doesn’t make any sense. On another note, I am enjoying this 3 day weekend. But let me take you back to Thursday for one second. So we had open gym at 2 and workouts at 330. Usually when we know that we have workouts after, we don’t kill ourselves in the gym, just to save our legs for the workout. But on this day, we decided to go super hard, just because practice is coming up and everything, we figured we’d try to warm ourselves up. So we head to workouts, and run a pretty hard run around the neighborhood and up this huge hill, by the end we are all pretty tired. We go in to lift, we do a pretty hard circuit, and usually after that we’re done. Clearly not the case today. Our weight coach tells us to go back outside! We were really confused, he had to be kidding to make us run that thing again. My teammate even said, “are we getting punkd?” Cause simply put, that run isn’t something you do twice in one day. Buttttttt, we all ran it again anyway. After all it is about finishing right, even if we didn’t want to do it. Gotta say I was real proud of my team that day. And real exhausted afterward. Waking up this morning, I could not feel my legs, literally.
So Saturday is going to be a day of fun I guess you can say. Going to my old high school’s bball game, then to SDSUs football game. And ironically, I’ve grown quite fond of doing my homework on the weekend to get ahead during the week. Frankly my weeks are way too long and tiring to try and do so much reading and homework on top of everything else, so I figure I use my days off to do most of it. The beauty of having a syllabus!

I said some time ago that I was going to write a whole section dedicated to the man in my life. But I am kinda thinking I should keep my personal life private. After all this isn’t a fictional blog or anything, lol. But maybe I can do a segment on how I feel about relationships? Over the past few weeks, I was thinking a lot about the energy that it took to maintain a healthy relationship. I was also thinking about the energy that it took to be successful as a student-athlete. Now some people just do what they have to in order to get by, and I have to admit, that’s the easiest way to go with the amount of stress we deal with. And I also have to admit that is what I did my first 2 years of college. And I know from experience that doing that is not fulfilling at all, so I refuse to let myself be average for another year. So far I have done a great job of applying myself, and it is so fulfilling, and ironically, I have MORE energy. By putting everything into working toward what I want to become, there is no possible way I can fail. So I’m not going to lie, a relationship just isn’t a priority right now for me. But that’s where I began to question myself. I forgot for a moment that him being in my life was not an obligation for me, was not a part of my job description, and not what I was working for. He is what I have as a release. He is who is there when I feel overwhelmed, and just want to clear my head. He is my breath of fresh air. And when I figured that out, it made this whole relationship thing seem a whole lot easier. And it takes one hell of a man to be able to understand his role in all of this. To be able to understand what I am doing, and respect it, and stand by me regardless. And for that I do cherish the love that we share.

I was talking to my long time friend about this, and I began to feel a little selfish. But I felt okay with it. Because I didn’t feel selfish in a bad way, but more so that I was supposed to be selfish. I am 20 years old, and who knows where I am going to be in 5 years. But during this time, this is the time where I help determine that. Now is the time that I am supposed to be selfish, I am supposed to be focused on me so that I can get where I want to go. I feel like this time period is most important in my life because it will help determine where I am going to be. I have been molding myself all of my life, and my entire life has helped shape me into the person that I am today. But during college, this is where I feel I am really starting to come into my own. Starting to see my future more clearly. So with that, I am satisfied.
Well it was a long one but I hope it was interesting enough to hold your attention span…
Be blessed ya’ll
Jay

So I have a FEW minutes

So this is from the clinic we did today! LOL, had to come back and add it. These women were impressive



Wow, although my life is crazy and time consuming, I wouldn't change it for the world. Sometimes when I am at home and doing nothing, I feel out of place. Lord knows that I am meant to be out here getting work done, and striving to be the best at whatever I do.

Okay so just a brief update, School is going really well. I am devoting myself to putting more hours into studying, and less hours into television. Even on those days where I want to be extremely lazy, and just lay on my couch, I know that I will have less stress on my shoulders if I get my work done in, let's just say an ordally fashion. As for hoop, practice starts next thursday, and believe me, I have been waiting for this moment. Some people would dread the idea of practice, but to me practice means season. And this season, I get to play! I havent played since march of 2007, and that can hardly qualify as playing in my eyes. So I'm ready. Right now we have individuals, so our coach is allowed to have everyone for 2 hours a week. Which is NOTHING compared to practice when they're allowed to have us for like 40! no lie. Gotta love it though. So I'm loving the feeling of getting to play with my teammates and not against them. Redshirt year, I had to act as the other team, so over that. I'm ready to resperesent my school.

Okay so my schedule for the day

945-1045 study hall
I swear work is piling on me, but its all good. At least I have things to do in study hall.

11-1150 Class
OMG my teacher needs to talk louder. She bugs. But she's nice so whatever. We had to turn in our first assignment last friday. She was talking about it like it was some huge thing, and it was clearly a 2 page paper. Don't get me wrong, I'll write 2 page papers all day. But that just didnt seem like it should be a midterm. I guess that 1 year at UCLA was a lot more beneficial than I thought. The shortest paper I had to write was 5 pages. So I am not complaining. What was funny to me though was that everyone in my class was. Like omg school is so hard. Like you've got to be kidding me. Whatever turned it in, lets hope all this talk doesnt get me a B! =/ (undecided face)

1 - 2 Individuals
Guards go for half an hour than the post comes on with us, and we run POWER. yeap our motion offense. It feels good being a 2nd year, because I really don't have to learn as much, now its my turn to lead the kiddies. lol.

330 Meeting
So me, along with 2 other of my teammates were chosen to represent our team on the SAAC committee. (Student Associated Athletic Committee). I think Ive talked about this before. But yea, I couldn't even really tell you what this meeting was about. I know I'll be there to listen and give input.

5 - 7 Bball Clinic for the elderly women's league
I am almost positive they have a better name than that. But basically we'll be putting on like a camp type deal for women that range from ages 55 - 84!!! They be hoopin though...talk about ballin for a long time, I dont know what we're supposed to show them! Should be fun

7-940 Class
This teacher has us read so much! Right now we are studying violence against women. Sad topic but definitely something we should all want to know more about.

on that note, im off to class...its gonna be a long day.

oh yeah, cant forget this..
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to my love. We've been at it for 2 months (technically), and still going strong. I've got a good man on my side. Baby, you got a whole entry comin your way, I just need a little more time. Loves you

be blessed yall
Jay

good lordy

I AM BUSY... there is really no other way to put it people. School is getting kinda heavy with papers and tests, and a gabillion pages of reading to do. But I am hanging in there. I'm mad because I havent had time to update this thing with my wonderful busy schedule. So sometime this weekend that will happen. Moral of this story is, without my family, without my man, and without my teammates, coaches, and counselors, I wouldn't be able to do what I'm doin. Stay tuned yall, the best is yet to come.

1st game: November 10! mark ur calenders!

Be blessed yall

Jay

Been a few days

So clearly I've been away for a while, I had to take some time to catch myself up in school. Not that I fell behind, but my load was getting extremely heavy. Well, it is heavy, but I figured I'd take a few minutes to catch everyone up. This weekend was very relaxing yet productive. I dedicated the entire weekend to homework, literally. I left the house to run some errands, and go out to eat. Other than that, not much else went on.

As for basketball, we have our first official practice next thursday. I can't believe my redshirt year is over. It went by extremely fast, and as it much as people may percieve it as being hell, it wasn't. Workouts are beginning to center around practice and games. You know, speed as opposed to strength. The summer is used to get stronger, and we accomplished that. Now its time to get in game shape. Gotta get this shooting arm warmed back up. My team is doing great. My coach assigned a new captain this year, and I myself can't be happier. I'm confident that Lil San will lead our team in a great way. She is an excellent leader, not to mention funny as hell. She makes every workout seem fun.

I have a lot more to say but I gotta wait until I have a little more time. Be blessed yall

jay

Is exhaustion mental?

I think in some cases, it is only your mind telling you that your tired, because all you want to do is lay down and sleep. But in other cases, there are times when your body can only handle so much. But when do you know your limits? I know that as a student athlete, we are forced to push ourselves and push ourselves, and there is stopping. Which makes me wonder how long I can actually go. The time that I do have to rest, I take advantage of. Like the time I have in between classes, or when my day is over, I love to just sit on my couch and rest my brain. Sometimes I find it hard to lay down and clear my head of everything that is going on and everything that I have to do in my life. Which I think can also make a person feel exhausted. I feel like everyday I can go and go and go, but I have to have a cut off time, when I am able to rest. Like take the whole day to get all of my work out of the way, then that way when I get home, I have nothing to do. We live in a society where our minds are constantly going and going, society teaches us to think all of the time. To think about what we are going to wear, or how much money we have, or what bills we have to pay...which reminds me that tomorrow is the first so I have to remember to pay those... but see, we are in a constant movement with our brain. So on top of that, keeping my body in the shape it needs to be in, and trying to maintain an above average gpa, it can feel exhausting. But I learned thatif i tell myself that I'm exhausted, my body might listen. So I have to balance it out. Use good judgement and rest when I'm supposed to, and I will never fall. My old teammate from UCLA used to say this phrase all the time, and Ive never forgotten it... "They don't understand how I bend but don't break" (Noey!). There is so much truth in that statement. By bending, your limits are tested, but you remain so strong that you never ever break.

Yesterday seemed so tiring.

MONDAY
11-1150 class
130-2 Shooting
2 - 3 Open Gym
330 - 5 Conditioning
5 - 7 Stay at school and get this paper done that was due the next day.
Was home by 8, but i was reminded that I hd an exam in Natural Disasters, and I couldnt slee until I knew the information that was going to be on that test. And by this time I'm fighting to keep my eyes open. So from about 830 - 1030 I studied for this test... Unfortunately I almost felt like my brain had no power because I was so tired, So i just prayed that I could remember what I studied.
By 11 I was falling asleep watching Sex n the city the movie, which is way too long and could put anyone to sleep.

TUESDAY
8am wake up call, and had a beautiful breakfast
930 Im in class and the teacher clearly doesn't show up within 15 minutes, which pissed me off because that's clearly cutting into mysleeping time. So the class is allowed to leave if the teacher isnt there within 15 minutes. Now I am mentally preparing for this dang test I have at 11am.
11am
is test time, OH JOY! Gotta love it when they use the multiple choice technique to test your knowledge. I really think i did good, but whenever i say that i do bad, so pretend i didnt say that! We'll see how it went.
12-1
much needed Nap... felt like i slept for a day, it was lovely.
2-3
Individuals, let's just say it is clear that practice is upon us! Things are lookin up on the floor, my shots are fallin, hehe. might i remind you to buy those tickets! Thanks for the support!
330 - 6 Studying...
Its going to be a long week of getting work done. Still trying to recover from the weekend.

Well, it was good keeping everyone posted on my life... now i gotta get back to it. Ha...
Be blessed my people, much love
Jay

Weekend recovery

That had to be the longest weekend ever. So I'm just going to run through the events and try to remember them as best I can.

Friday

11-1150 Class
2-3 individuals
330-430 Strength & Conditioning
530-645 Marine Corps event with my teammates.
The general, which is the only woman general in America, has decided to support our team and tell all the marines to come to our game on Dec. 4th. Its a real big deal so we had to show our appreciation for her and what she's doing to support us.
7-9 Dinner with the recruit
By this time I feel exhausted but i know that saturday is going to be long so I went home and tried to relax my mind, didnt end up falling asleep until midnight.

Saturday

5am wake up call!!! And yes it was indeed still dark outside. My body jut isnt used to that. So i was standing in the shower mentally preparing myself for the day trying to wake myself up.

6am-10am Girl Scout Walk
After picking up my teammates some donuts, we all headed to the Girl Scout walk in point loma.
We were all volunteers at the event. Which had a major turnout. Alot of people ran/walked to support the girl scouts. We were all sleepy but we made a good impression, signed some autographs, and we were off to our next event.

11 - 2 Ride the ferry with the recruit
So 3 of us were able to get like 20 minutes of sleep before leaving to go downtown, so we're trying to stay awake. But we were able to be pretty good hosts to hre and her family.

3-600 Football tailgaiting event for the sports
After the ferry we had to run home, change really fast, and rush to the game. We signed some autographs, ate, mingled and went into the game. After the 1st quarter we got to go on the field along with the men's basketball team and get introduced to the fans. Our football team won their first game! So that was exciting.

630-745 Dinner at SEAU's with the recruit, team, and her family
That food was bomb!!!!

8-9 Bowling
Bowling is always fun, enough said. lol.

930 til around 1am
Was just time to hang out with the recruit. She turned into like a little sister, which is great because she committed! ha...so all in all it was a very successful weekend!

Sunday = Day of rest and study hall!
Moral of this weekend, we gotta do what we have to do, to do what we want to do. We want to be great, and we need to be respected with a foundation in order for that to happen. We are well on our way to have a great season.

tata for now because I'm still really off schedule with my sleep,
Jay

Starting to feel like season

Today really wasn't that long, but I think a combination of long days are beginning to catch up with me. I spent the morning getting all beautified for picture day. We took pictures for the media guide today, everyone was all dressed up, lookin all nice. It was fun. Thank God my mom has style, I didnt have to worry about finding anything to wear since I can just go to my moms closet.

Then it was off to workouts. Today was our 1st day with the whole team. I keep saying this but I cannot wait for season to start!!! We are going to be good. I talked to one of my teammates about this the other day, we're tired of saying and hearing that we are GOING to be good. Because it almost seems like we're reaching for somthing we can't have. We ARE good! But it starts with us, and I strongly believe that this year is the year that we know we are good. I'm tellin you, buy your tickets now people. We would love to fill those stands with loud fans. Either way, we're something to watch.

And so we head to the lockerroom to go over the itinerary for this weekend. Woooooo, its going to be a long one. We have a recruit coming, and this business is all about recruiting. We have to add the right people to build a great program. But on top of having a recruit, we have a lot of community work to do as a team. 615am on saturday, and yes I said 615am on saturday, we have to be at the girlscouts walk. But I love doing stuff like this. I may not enjoy that alarm clock going off at 530am but I love giving back. Things like this humble us as athletes. I think sometimes we take for granted all that we have been blessed with and what we are able to do through hard work. Aside from that, people out there do admire us and look up to us for that. So whenever we can be a positive influence for anyone, young or old, we should be humbled by that experience. especially as a woman, an being a woman that young women can look up to is fulfilling. We also have this thing with themarine corps, and i have no clue what exactly we are doing but whatever... all I know is that these people agreed to come to our games! Which is a lot of people. Oh yeah, with the marine corps band! Ha, its all love. But what I love the most is that we are able to represent ourselves in a positive way. Being an athlete you are not only representing yourself everywhere you go, but your representing your team, school, and institution. So it is extremely important to make sure we represent ourselves well and respectably.

School is going well. Its in full effect now, a lot of things are due so I'm just staying on top of my game with that. I can't allow myself to fall behind or put too much on my shoulders at one time. This is the time of year when full focus is required. In order to exceed expectations, I can't allow any negativity to come my way. Its easier said than done but it is very doable. I think to maintain my sanity, I have to make everyday fun. I have to wake up everyday saying, "yaaaay we have practice." Or "yaaaaay, its time for class". Ok so we all know that probably won't happen, but if I keep a positive mentality about everything, I won't feel so stressed. Sounds like a good plan to me, and I'm off to a good start so far.

So here's tomorrows schedule, let's see if I can remember everything without looking at the calender.
11-1150 class
(I have to remember to pick up my football ticket some time before workouts)
2 - 3 Basketball individual
330 - 430 Strength & Conditioning
530-645 Volunteering with (at the?) Marine Corps
7-9 Dinner with the recruit

woooo, best believe Im sleeping until 1030 ;-)

Sidenote: It is extremely hard to maintain a relationship with this schedule, but my baby is making it easy. Having someone that only wants you to do better is refreshing, and can do nothing less then help take away any stress I may have. My Sboogie understands what I do and respects it, and for that I thank him. I know it has to be hard to have a girlfriend that you never see, and can barely talk to because I'm always doing something... He doesnt sweat it, he's a tough guy (or so he says lol). Its like what my dad says about my mommy, that she just makes life seem so easy. She just has that demeanor to her, that nothing can get in the way of her happiness, and that just makes my daddy a better person. SLove just makes life seem so much easier, because trust, things can always be a lot harder.

Im outta here folks, need to rest my mind and body
Tata for now,
Jay

Common - I Used to Love Her

I am ON this song right now. I never really listened to the words. And I am reading this book called "After Mecca" for my Women of Color class, and loving it. Education can do so much for you. okay that was a quick entry time to go back to work.

Tata for now,
Jay

Got a long week ahead

Today was a day dedicated to recovery. Monday was a hard day for me emotionally, which tends to take a tole on my body. The moral of the day was that "Our toughness is tested through adversity". And to make this short, we will overcome any obstacles that come our way as a team. And as a team we are the only ones that can get in the way of accomplishing greatness, can't let little things get in the way.

Its almost as if God knew it was time for me to come home and take a nap today, because my class was cancelled. Which goes to show that He will never give you more than you can handle. With that said, I will maintain my focus as an individual, and pray that it trickles down to the people in my life that may need some support.

This week is jam packed with events. We have workouts, media pictures, and its a recruit weekend. Which basically means we will be MIA this weekend.

Stay Tuned,
Jay

The weekend just flew by me

So its Monday and I feel like there was no weekend. I spent all day friday cleaning myself up a little. Went to get a get a mani/pedi with my mommy. That felt so good because my feet were looking extremely vicious. My mom and I got a chance to catch up on things which always feels refreshing. My dad put it perfectly, there is jut something about my mom, that makes the hardest things in life seem so easy.

Then I was off to my hair appointment, which I was again way past due for. My friend asked me who I was trying to look cute for? I replied, absolutely nobody, I just pride myself on keeping myself clean cut. I like to look my best at all times, no matter who happens to see me. It isn't for anyone, its for myself. And being an athlete, your skin, feet, fingernails, etc. can get messed up real fast, and I have to take care of it.

The day was filled with a whole bunch of errands! Which means a whole bunch of money being spent! ugh... But I don't splurge as much as I used to. Mostly because I can't. lol. But I have to be responsible and manage what I have, only using my money for the things I need the most. Even with that, the costs add up. But I can live comfortable so there are no complaints.

Sunday was a typical sunday. Layed around for the most part. Watched the WNBA playoffs and then it was off to study hall. A very poductive one at that. I had to write a poem about who I am and call it, "Child of the Americas". I didn't know where to go with it at first, I needed to draw some inspiration from somewhere. So I listened to what has to be one of my favorite poems, biracial hair. A lot of who I am comes from me being a biracial child. And this is exactly what I needed to include in this poem. I needed to talk about my roots. My black roots, my white roots, indian roots, and all that was in between. This is what I came up with...


"Child of the Americas"

I am a product of many things
Many things un-noticed
I am a mixed a breed
A mixed breed mistaken
Often forsaken
For never more than one
Little do they know that I am so much in one.
I am a biracial child and a product of biracial blood.
I am a product of “overcome racism to be together” type of love.
A child of my America
And not the America dreamin one you’re thinkin of.
I am child born into poverty
The kind my mother had to fight generations to get by
To make me a child of prosperity
I am a child of privilege and oppression
Privileged because my mother’s a white woman
Oppressed because she married a black man
So here I stand, and I am proud.
I am a child of a battle well fought
And just for that, I check the other box
I have biracial skin, biracial hair, with a biracial label,
But if you cut me, I do not bleed black and white!
I bleed all that is in me.
I am a child of my roots
From the roots to my head, where my daddy said,
I get from the red roots on my great-grandmothers head.
To the roots of my Creole ancestors
Holding down the soil along the Louisiana Bayou
Fighting amongst Mother Nature and hurricane Katrina
I am a child of my roots
That traveled from Europe and found a home in Chicago
Where my mothers, mothers, mother, started our family a long time ago.
This is my America, a place that I call home
And the soil that I know as my foundation, is not literally the soil of my country
But the foundation who made me their creation
I am a child of my family
With that comes many things, many things noticed
I am my mother’s child
In which I bleed intelligence and beauty
I am my father’s child
In which I bleed courage and wisdom
I am my sister’s sister
In which I bleed laughter and happiness
I am my brother’s sister
In which I bleed passion
In all of this, I have discovered that I bleed love
No color, no shape, no size
I am a child of, if had to be defined
The America that I call mine

I can't really call this the finished product, there's so much more I feel like I need to say. So its still a work in progress. When I got home I read over my familys blog (wesodontgetit.blogspot.com), and I was left with nothing but inspiration, to put my entire life into words! This way I can save them. Words are my form of art. They are my release, and my visions.
I'm off to class and another long hard day.
Todays Schedule:
11-1150 class
1 - 2 team meeting
2-3 open gym
330-5 Workouts
530-7 SAAC meeting (I am a rep for my team)
HOME!

Ta Ta for now
Jay

Thank God Its Friday

This week went by pretty fast....

11 to 1150 Class
My teacher is officially weird. Shes a women's studies teacher who (and I quote), "uncomfortable talking about sexuality". What in the world??!!! No comment, she just needs to get past that.

I then go home to eat before workouts.

We got our new shoes and stuff today. They are FLYY, and super comfortable. I can't wait to play in them.

2-3 Individuals...
Went really well, and the team is looking really solid. I can feel myself getting into the shape that I need to be in to compete at the highest level. I am beyond basketball hungry right now. That whole sitting out for a year is hitting me right in my stomach. You know, where you get butterflies...right there. Its to the point where I can't wait for practice. All last year i played against my team, it feels so good to finally be playing with them!

330pm hits and I am officially done for the week. It feels so weird not to have anything to do. But its the WNBA playoffs and I can't wait to get home and watch them. So after downing a 32oz Slurpee because its so hot outside, I watch 5 hrs of basketball. Which just makes me want to get up and go to the gym. I have yet to feel like Ive even started my collegiate career, so this whole watching thing needs to end. But its good because I learn from watching but still, I'm ready. I have never ever felt this way about ball before. Where I just wanna run, and shoot, and play. and when I'm done, I wanna keep going, and when I go to sleep, ball is ALL i think about. Sometimes I wanna stop thinking about it so that I can go to sleep! Its true what they say, I eat and sleep basketball. I'm to the point where I can FEEL all this work paying off, it has to!

Just a side note: I never knew that being in a relationship can help you and push you harder. Having my boyfriend around is nothing short of motivation. If I don't feel like pushing myself, he'll push me. If I feel like I'm going to fall or break, he's right there to catch me and pick me up. So maybe I'm just not used to having a guy like him, he's a special one. I know that I would be doing just as well if he wasn't around, but he makes life a whole lot easier. Knowing that he's there after a great or horrible practice makes the weight on my shoulders feel like a cloud. We always talk about how we are a team. Playing basketball for so long I know the importance of a team, and what it needs to function properly. He is the perfect teammate. Having him around is nothing but a blessing and can only help me go further. Love You Sboogie.

So I'm a day late

Okay so lets see if I remember what happened yesterday.

945 to 1045 Study Hall
I hated having to come to school earlier than I had to, but I got a paper done and felt super duper relieved.

11 to 1150 Class
Again, I swear this teacher womps. We were talking about racism and slavery, which I am always interested in. And my teacher asks the class, "Did anyone ever own a black doll growing up?" So like 5 people raise there hand, and she says, "OhMyGosh are you serious? That's more than I have ever heard of." I see her point, but did she have to be THAT shocked. I don't know, I think she doesnt really understand how she comes off. She seems super oblivious to some things. But whatever moving on.

12 to 1 Eat and rest, enough said

130 to 3 In the gym
Open gym is always fun. Today however, I felt like I couldn't feel my legs. I felt like I was running in slow motion. But today I tried my hardest to work on what I needed to. Better decisions with the ball, a quicker release on my jumper, and handling the ball with confidence. Ball handling seems to be kickin my ass right now and I can't let it knock me. We had some good games and this team is really starting to come together. its a lot more balanced than last year which is good, we have more depth. Can't wait to play.

330 to 5 Strength & conditioning
Short monty today!!! Where we run around the neighborhood and up this hill, which after a while begins to feel like a mountain. But its a good run, very effective and its pretty short. You get done in less than 10 minutes, and I think everyone on my team improved their time from the last time we did it, things are lookin up. So into the weightroom we go to squat our asses off!!! literally. reps of 10 8 6 6 6, NO JOKE!!! and heavy reps at that! Woo, Im headed to the hot tub!

530 to 630
Headed home to eat, shower, and get ready for class. Oh yea and respond to my sisters blog. lol

7 to 940 class
Yes at this point I feel almost exhausted, but I have to find it in me somewhere to stay focused, since I'm working for a 3.5 this semester. but goodness 940!!! My days just seem so long, but if you stay busy like this, they go by fast and are really productive.

Sleep time by midnight =/

Yes today was long and I must keep my head right for the next day. Another day means another day to get better....
tata for now

Another day at the job

Haven't made it home just yet, and I'm beginning to feel really sleepy. So let's see wat was on todays schedule....

930-1045 Women's Studies: Cross-Cultural perspective

My teacher is officially hilarious. Maybe some wouldn't think of it as humorous because her brutal honesty may offend some people, but I myself find her exteremely fascinating. It is hard to sum up what happened today but I'll try. So my teacher asked the class what we thought of the reading. The reading was by a black woman basically arguing that because whites are priveldged, they tend fight for feminism tends to be more about race and class rather than sex. She argued that we needed to focus a lot more on sisterhood, and put an end to the racial issues. Majority, if not all of my class is white. When asked about the reading, they all said stuff like, it was bad, real one-sided, and stuff like that. They seemed like they were in defense mode. As the lone black person in the class, I sat there feeling the complete opposite from what everyone else saying. The author spoke as a true woman who was oppressed. And the reactions from my peers seemed to fall right along the lines of what she was saying. So after people spoke their opinion, my teacher crosses out what they said about the reading, and said, "Your all wrong". I thought to myself, wow. My teacher told my class that they all got offended because subconsciously, they knew the author was talking to them. She said they everyone in there was were white priveledged women, who cannot see what it is like to be oppressed because of your race. I wanted to stand up and clap. Never in my life would I expect any teacher to say anything like that. And it was true. To have your educator tell you that your priveledged and it might help to open your eyes and try to see it from the other side, can be a bit scary or releaving. To everyone else, they were offended. Myself on the other hand, I felt...well, defended, and a little releaved. My professor was not trying to put anyone down, or put anyone else on a pedistool, she was simply saying that life is about critical thinking, and we all should be able to critical think. I loved it.

11 to 1215 Natural Disasters

Quiz day... So before he handed out the quiz, he said that it was open note, open book, and we can work in groups... How freakin sweet is that?? Because I felt beyond prepared, but after going over the quiz, I probably only felt comfortable answering 1/3 of the questions accurately without any notes or anything. Seemed to be the reaction of the class, but who can complain when we pretty much have permission to cheat. Put it like this, if I didn't get an A, I'll be pissed.

1230 to 130

Locker Room time with my teammates and eating. I swear the people in this athletic facility will have you in tears. Today is was my track girls. Can't blast anyone but let's just say we had a ball today talking about people. It's really a habit that we should all try to break, but when stuff is funny its just funny. Lord forgive us, we mean no harm.

2 to 315

Individuals... I had something to prove to myself today after that last workout. I feel I did it. I was mentally locked in and ready to go. As a team, let's just say I cannot wait until our opener, we are going to be something to watch. Aside from my ball handling, which has always been a challenge, I left the gym with my head up. Everyday is another day to get better. I have a long way to go if I want to be great. Trust, I'm working on it, it doesn't stop here. As for my team, we are right around the corner from accomplishing greatness. You can see the fire in our eyes, in our coaches eyes, we will be ready. So after some shooting, ball handling, passing drills, we finished up the workout with some 3 on 3 stuff. Smells like season to me.

330-4
Ice bath!!!!!!! yes, my legs feel refreshed. Contrary to what people may say or think, ice baths feel great! They seriously only hurt for like 30 seconds, but after your in there, you won't want to get out. Gotta try and keep these legs young and fresh. Sidenote: can't believe I'm 20!

4-6
Study hall. Mind as well get all this work out of the way so when I get home, I can enjoy being at home. Feels good to be ahead, just gotta keep it this way throughout the semester, no let up.

Well, I'm outta here folks... goin home to a homecooked meal ;)...POSSIBLY. I don't know if I could be a stay at home mom. LoL. I grew up rippin and runnin, so I wonder if my future husband will want to be a stay at home dad? lol.

TaTa for now....

Its MONDAY!!!

Mondays, oh how we all love Mondays. Its the very beginning of the week, and a whole 5 more days until the weekend. Now that I am at home and have a chance to rest my legs, figured I'd share today's schedule with you.

11am Women's Studies: Sex, Power, and Politics
I am so grateful that my 1st class isn't until 11am, waking up at 10 is great. This teacher on the other hand makes me want to go right back to sleep. What we talk about is interesting, but I swear she is so dull, that it makes it boring. We talked about the stereotypes of different races. And the topic came up about a professor who said, "Blacks are known for their physical parts below the waist, whites are known for their intellectuality, and Asians are somewhere in between". I couldn't believe my ears. You would think that as time passes, people would open up their minds just a little bit, but maybe ignorance cannot be Untaught.

12 to 1
go up to the basketball office and pick up my workout schedule for the following day, visit with coaches, eat my homemade lunch (which is saving me A LOT of money), get taped, and make my way to the gym.

1 to 2
Me and a few of my teammates pull out the shooting gun and get some extra shots up. That gun will get you sweating.

2 to 3
Open gym with the team. I swear everyone felt like we were running in slow motion. This is when it really starts to feel like Monday. All that laying around over the weekend is starting to catch up to me. We played about 6 games, competitive and good games.

330 to 5
This is where the real work starts. This is the part we dread but appreciate the most. Strength & Conditioning with Coach Rich. He starts us off with some stretches, and some ladder exercises. You know where you have to move your feet in and out of that ladder super fast, yeah that. Followed by a little warm up run, just to get our blood going. And then to the field. Yep field, as in football field, as in hot hot turf. I swear that field gets so much bigger every time we run on it. Ill do my best to describe this run. We line up on the sideline of the football field, jog to the hash mark (about 15 yards, and when I say jog, its an uptempo jog), sprint to the far hash mark(about 10 yards), jog to the other end, and do the same thing on the way back. We did that 16 times. I swear it felt like my hamstrings and thighs were about to fall off. But as a team, our pace was good, the hardest part was sprinting like crazy from hash to hash. You could probably see it in our eyes that we were tired, but we kept those sprints up and finished strong.
After that, we run back into the weight room, to get stronger. Did some hang clings, bench press, and some other random exercises and some abs, broke it down, and walked real slow back into the locker room. We knew it was a real effective day. That hour and a half can go by so slow sometimes, but we know that these workouts are going to help us win a championship. The 1st person Pat Summit thanked after winning her national championship last year, was their strength and conditioning coach. You can be as talented as you want, but at this level, you will get nowhere without strength and endurance. We know how important our trainer is, and how much time and effort he puts into us, we couldn't go home knowing we gave him anything less than all we have. There are some days when we have to dig deep to give it to him. Because what our best may seem like to us, is only half of what he KNOWS we can give. He always talks about potential, and how we have yet to reach our potential. We can and will be great, because of the hours we put into it.

So today I'm going to wrap it up with some studying, reading, and some Monday night football. Resting to wake up to another day to get better. Another day of school and workouts. My personal goal for tomorrow is to be mentally locked in to what my coach is saying, and go my hardest with no mistakes. I mean no little mistakes. I feel like I haven't really played basketball for years, and especially coming fresh off of a red shirt year, where I had to sit out, I have to get my mind and body back into the swing of things. Get back to doing things right, smart, and how I know how to do them. Focus is key in this business.

TaTa for now...

Just Another Sunday

Well, another day of football and studying. The Chargers lose in almost the exact same way they did last week. As soon as the 1minute mark hits, me and my teammate spin usually start aiming eachother, either super excited or extremely disapppointed. lol. But the raiders got a win. Ironically I am a raider fan and my dad hates it. oh well. 5pm study hall I swear is the worst. My team has study hall every sunday from 5 to 7, which has its good and bads. Of course we NEVER want to go because its right smack in the middle of the day, and we would all rather be in bed watching tv and eating. Which is probably why its mandatory. It does help to have a place to go to get your work done that is due the next week. Helps alot more when you HAVE to be here, because it forces you to do your work. We all get here and talk about how we DONT wanna be here. One of these days, me and my team will stop complaining about everything my coach MAKES us do, because I think subconsciously, we all know it helps us for the better. It all makes sense, just the whole getting out of bed and driving to the school makes us not want to go. Its all good though. Now I am ahead of the game for my studies next week. Natural Disasters quiz on tuesday, I am pretty confident about it. Shouldn't be that hard, since I've been paying attention and I am interested in the subject. Especially with all of the hurricanes, fires, and earthquakes we've been dealing with over the past decade. A paper due thursday, and a grip of reading due for wednesday. So far I'm on pace for a great semester.

School alone is hard to juggle, when you add basketball to the equation, you realize that you cannot have anything else to focus on. Your everything must go into being a great STUDENT-ATHLETE. Sometimes it seems like the word athlete should come first. We are allowed to miss class to compete. And I swear more time goes into working out and practice then the classroom. That's where our dedication comes in. Because we cannot play unless we keep our grades decent, and more importantly, we won't graduate, now we can understand why student comes 1st. I have to make my mind up to apply myself to the classroom just as hard as I apply myself on the court. It gets tiring, some would call it exhausting, but at the end of the day, its a blessing. I don't know what else I would be doing anyway, probably just sitting around lol. This all may contribute to why so many people look up to us as athletes. We have to do it right to get respect. But if we don't do it right, we fail.

And this is why we go to study hall ;)

Wadda Saturday

May I take a second to point out the price of groceries at every grocery store EXCEPT Food 4 less here in San Diego. So me and my guy go to Ralphs to get some basic stuff...butter, bread, etc. I swear I walked out of there with 6 items at most and spent dang near 30 dollars!!! When right down the street, I couldve got the same stuff and maybe more for half that price. I'm sorry but being a college student is tough. You start to learn how much your parents spend on you growing up. And do not get me started on the price of CEREAL!!! why does it cost like 5 dollars for a box?! Props to my parents for puttin up with us only wanting the froot loops, honey comb, and all the most expensive cereals out there. LOL. So here's my question, is it actually cheaper to cook rather than eating out??? With the cost of groceries you wouldn't think so, but groceries can go a lot further. Who knows... after all, its all about eating healthy right? RIGHT! I'm telling you, you feel that cheeseburger when your running during strength and conditioning. But being a college student, living away from the dorms where they don't cook for you, I live off of hamburger helper and corn. And of course cereal, which I really savor because of the dang price.

So after my analyzing of that grocery store, I sat down for the rest of the day and watched college football. I think last weekend had much better games to watch. I hate to blast my boys from UCLA, because I love them to death, but 59 to 0 the final score, almost brought tears to my eyes. That has to suck. As hard as you work every single day to not score a single point, and allow the other team to score 59, ugh...heartbreaking. My fellow Aztecs are up in San Jose as we speak seeking their first win, and USC remains #1 in the land.

So with a trip to the grocery store, some college football, and some consistant reading for one of my classes, it pretty much sums up my saturday. And for some reason, I feel sleepy. ha...go figure. Just the thought of the week ahead makes me want to take complete advantage of these days off, because trust me, on the days that I don't have off, I wish I was doing exactly what I did today. (not all the time, you get hungry to be in that gym and weight room. Trust me this won't last long). Oh yea, just a sidenote: those jokes that are on popsicle sticks are RETARDED, but they always make me laugh. However, I'm always left judging the people who are forced to write them. Their job is to strictly TRY to entertain after we've filled our tummys with frozen fruit flavored water, wadda job. ha...

Well, I'm off to...well, watch some more football and pretty much finish up my saturday by doing nothing. Ohhhh...to do nothing, lovely. Excitement is to come ya'll, STAY TUNED

INTRO

I figured that since I love to write, I would blog it. I also figured that my life has to be interesting enough that people will want to read about it, and if not, at least I'll have a well kept record of the events in my life.

The name is Jerica, but most call me Jay. I am a 20 year old woman, and a student athlete at San Diego State University. One of the main reasons that I wanted to start this blog is to give people an inside look in the life of a student-athlete. The grooling schedules and pressure can only be appreciated by the ones who have done it, and are doing it. Do not get me wrong, I LOVE what I do and would not change it for the world. Only recently have I come to realize that many people would kill to be in the position that I have been blessed to be in. I believe that some people, and may I note that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, would consider student athletes to be lucky. I beg to differ that luck has anything to do with scholarship athletes. It is about hardwork, determination, and as my coach loves to say, mental toughness. Not discrediting what "regular" students do. As we love to call them. I respect any and everyone who is passionate about whatever it is that they do.

okay I am beginning to ramble... with this blog I plan to share the days of my life with you as they pass. From the great days, to the down days, to the days where I swear nothing happened. From my laughs to tears, my only goal is document the moments that I may take for granted.

Stay tuned and enjoy