By Chantal KwadeHey, my name is Chantal Kwade and I am a new intern at MAP. I currently attend Buffalo State College. I am a junior and my major is Business with a concentration in Marketing.
I really didn’t want to come to school at Buffalo, but I got accepted, so I came here. After undergrad, I will go to law school for Business Law. I don’t know what law school I want to go to as of yet, but hopefully it’s a place I can afford. I should and must get an internship this summer either working with a company on their marketing team or anything to do with law.
I was born and raised in the Bronx but my parents are from Ghana and my two older brothers were born in England. I am the only US-born baby in my family.
The firstborn in my family attended the University at Buffalo and graduated with a degree in Public Relations. My second brother attended Binghamton University and graduated with a degree in Sociology. It’s funny because the firstborn is now a pastor and the second one works in the medical field. Hopefully I stick to what I chose to do as a career. Buffalo is a different atmosphere for me. New York City is fast paced, while Buffalo is a place where you can just go with the flow.
For me, describing myself is hard, not because I cannot articulate something about myself, but I just don’t know what is so interesting sometimes about myself. Using three words to describe myself I would say I am giving, self-motivated, and responsible.
Giving to me is natural. I never think twice about helping others, even if it is something so small to me. I like that quality about myself, it also keeps me at peace knowing that someone has a smile on their face because of me. I consider myself self-motivated because I can pick myself up when I’m down or I can push myself to do better just by using the inner energy in myself, I think it’s a gift. Responsibility is something everyone else sees in me, but I know that it is one quality that will go on in me until I grow old.
You could say that I’m a spoiled little daddy’s girl. Of course I wouldn’t say that, but my friends and family seem to think it’s true. I am close with both of my parents, it’s just that they both have different qualities that attract a different part of me. Somethings I would go to mother for, and other things I would go to my father for. That’s just my life, I assume.
I am into the whole social media frenzy and I love to blog on Tumblr. I am a big fan of fashion and I love getting into the new trends that’s are out and talking about them on blogs, social media, and with friends. I enjoy singing, dancing, and going to church. Some people find church boring, but I like the environment and the different emotions I encounter.
I am a member of my church's dance ministry, Zion’s Chosen. I’ve been a member for about 6 years now and I love everything about it. Our mission is to minister the word of God through the language of dance, offering a sacrifice of praise that so pleases our Lord. We aim to usher God’s people into a spiritually soothing atmosphere appropriate for worship. I love my team and it’s always fun when I’m around those girls. I had the opportunity this year to actually go to a studio and sing one of my friend’s songs that he wrote and I loved every moment of it. At first I was nervous, scared, and shy, but eventually I opened up and started to enjoy what I was doing.
I just recently joined MAP as an intern, and I know I can learn a lot of new things about myself, about Buffalo, and about the people of Buffalo. Learning new things is a great experience in itself and it should be an enjoyable and exhilarating semester. I knew that nutrition was a big deal in life, but joining MAP made me aware that just by changing the way someone eats, it can change his or her entire life.
I was astonished to learn how many programs that MAP has to offer the community, especially for youth. I think it’s great to get the youth involved in the community, and it helps them for their futures. MAP does a lot for the community and for the people of Buffalo and I admire that about the organization. As I continue to work with Rebekah and the rest of the team I hope to be become more of family even in this short duration of time that I am here.
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