August 27, 2024 • 43 mins
Summer, is that you? Sure, it’s August, but we have a few more weeks to enjoy this weather, so let’s celebrate accordingly.
Welcome to the TBG University podcast, tailored for the 20-something who’s still obsessing over the finale of Love Island, replaying the hottest song of the summer, getting her tote bag packed for the first day of classes, and everything in between. Here at TBG, we believe in the healing power of sisterhood, and one of our favorite parts of female friendship is getting to sit down and kiki about everything that’s going on in our lives at the moment. So in this special girl chat episode, Jayna Ellis, TBG Coordinator and the Associate Producer of the TBG Podcast, Zariah Taylor, took some time to reflect on our summers.
In our girl chat today, we explore the pressure to have a “productive” summer, dive in to some recent pop culture, and share some advice for both the people going back to school and the post-graduate whose feeling unsure about their new normal.
Where to Find Our Guests
Zariah Taylor
Jayna Ellis
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Interested in being a part of a future TBG U episode or suggesting a topic for us to discuss, send us a note HERE.
Order a copy of Sisterhood Heals for you and your girls HERE.
Our Production Team
Executive Producers: Dennison Bradford & Maya Cole Howard
Producer: Ellice Ellis
Associate Producer: Zariah Taylor
TBG University Host & Coordinator: Jayna Ellis
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Summer is that you. Sure it's August, but we have
a few more weeks to enjoy this weather, so let's
celebrate accordingly. Welcome to the TBG University Podcast, tailored for
the twenty something who's still obsessing over the finale of Island.
We're playing the hottest song of the summer, getting her
tote bagpack for the first classes and everything in between.
(00:30):
I'm your host and TBG coordinator Jana Ellis.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Hi, I'm Sorria Taylor, and I'm the TBG podcast production intern.
We'll return to Jana right after the break.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Here at TBG, we believe in the healing power of sisterhood,
and one of my favorite parts of female friendship is
getting to sit down and kei key about everything that's
going on in our lives at the moment. So in
this special girl Chat episode, myself and the associate producer
of the TBG Podcast, Zaria Taylor, took some time to
(01:09):
reflect on our summers. In our girl Chat today, we
explore the pressure to have a quote unquote productive summer,
dive into some recent pop culture, and share some advice
for both the people going back to school and the
postgraduate who's feeling unsure about their new normal. Here's our conversation.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Hi, Zaria, how are you doing?
Speaker 2 (01:33):
I'm good? How are you?
Speaker 1 (01:34):
I'm good. I'm so excited to have our little girl chat.
I know we don't get to do this often, but
I'm excited same. Let's start off by sharing a quick
overview of how our summers went. I can go first.
My summer honestly has been pretty slow, which has been surprising.
(01:55):
But this year, overall, I've been traveling a lot. So
this summer I felt like I didn't need to continue
the every weekend I'm somewhere or every other week I'm somewhere.
But I had two solid trips this summer, which I
think is a win. I think sometimes we can overwhelm
ourselves with like a planning of summers. I tried to
keep it super intimate and super chill overall in comparison
(02:18):
to like when I was in college and I did
a lot during the summertime. But how did your summer go? So?
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Of course I continued my work with TBG as the
associate producer of the podcast, and then I also worked
as basically a camp counselor for my college, Spelman College,
who has these different programs for young girls in high
school who want to go here and so they stay
here for like a couple of weeks. I was a TA,
so I took them on field trips, I was in
their classes, all of that, and this is my second
(02:45):
year doing that. So I really enjoy, you know, fostering
the youth, fostering the excitement about going to college, especially
black girls. So it was really fulfilling to work for
both therapy for black girls and also in real life
getting to live like my morals I guess or just
like live in that fostering a black girlhood. So I
love that. And then definitely the highlight of my summer
(03:06):
was the Therapist Summit. Being able to be there in
person or yes, holding space for the healers that was
so great. Is always awesome to meet the TVG team members,
and then on top of that, getting to do a
bunch of fun tiktoks with the attendees there and just
really being able to feel the vibe in person. So
that was the highlight of my summer.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
So jealous I wasn't there, like all the tiktoks are
so cute. I was lishing I was there real so
I'm curious I kind of mentioned this earlier, but have
you ever felt pressure from friends, families, mentors, professors, etc.
To have a productive summer And if so, what does
that look like for you?
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Yeah, so, I don't know if you can also relate
to this, but I feel like a lot of the
pressure to feel like, oh, I need to have an
internship or I need to have a job over this summer.
A lot of that for me is self inflicted or
just from comparison, from comparing myself to my peers. Every
time I go on LinkedIn, every time I go on Instagram,
somebody's posting I interned with this office or I was
with this senator for the summer and all this. And
(04:07):
it's especially bad at Spilman because it's just like a
certain standard that the girls set and it does make
you feel when you see it, what am I doing
in comparison to all of this, like making you feel
kind of like I'm not progressing at the same level.
And I think also I do occasionally receive this pressure
from professors as well, where they'll be like, you know,
you should spend your summer making films and doing that.
(04:27):
But I thought this supposed to be my break from
doing that, Like I thought that was my semester's work
and the summer I'm supposed to be chilling. But I
feel like there is this pressure to feel like you're
always using your summers wisely, I guess, but the definition
of wisely can look different for different people. For me,
I try to remind myself that this is going to
be the only time in my life where I'm going
to have a summer break, because once you hit the
(04:49):
quote unquote real world, you don't get the same time
to have a two month break from what you're doing.
So I try to spend it really relaxing and enjoying
my youth, hanging out with my friends, really foster in
my girlhood. That is what's meaning is a productive summer.
But I'm curious, have you felt that same pressure as well.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Well, this is the first summer that I've been an adult,
I would say, and I don't have the backing of
school to just kick my feet up. And while I
was in college, I always worked like I had jobs,
Like I was always busy and productive, and the summer
was normally spent planning for organizational work, and like organizational
(05:27):
work was still all going during the summer so the
productive summer has always been a thing for me, and
just LinkedIn within itself is just so stressful and to
your point, seeing, oh, I interned with this governor, I
was working in Washington on Capitol Hill, or I was
interning at Apple this summer and I met like Steve Jobs, Like,
(05:51):
I feel like the pressure to have a marketable summer
is just so exhausting, and I have just shined away
a lot from putting my trips on Instagram or putting
my updates on my life on Instagram. I just don't
like to do that anymore because I feel like I
(06:12):
feed into the productive summer or like I have the
best summer, like you're not topping this summer, and I
feel like it's just such a toxic mindset to have
instead of just enjoying every day of the summertime. I
always like the summer because it's my Birthday's time. But
I think we've put this huge pressure to just have
oh summertime, we have to have this or sometime we
(06:34):
have to do this, and it's like, no, it's just
the time of the year and it should be.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Treated as such.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
But I definitely have tried to stay away from putting
that pressure on myself to have the best summer and
have a trip every single day. Like, no, I'm going
to work and I'm working for TPG and I'm working
for myself and I'm supporting my portfolio. Like I'm doing
things for myself. That's just not a flight and that's okay.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Yeah, that's real. And also to add to that, I
feel like the pressure of the rat race to feel
like you're topping everybody else also stops you from being
able to recognize what you're doing currently and the value
in that because, like you mentioned, I'm working for TVG,
I'm in college, and I'm a producer of a very
popular podcast. Like sometimes you don't stop and think, wow,
I'm actually I'm doing the damn thing. M because you're
(07:20):
always comparing yourself to the next person. So that exactly
be the harm in that. Yeah. So in the theme
of kind of spending our summers in wellness, I'm wondering
what would be your dream summer vacation.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Oh, a dream summer vacation. Honestly, my mind goes to Jamaica.
My mind goes to the sun. Like just a rich
vitamin D moment with fruity drinks and water and sand
and culture and good food and good people. Ten out
(07:52):
of ten. I don't need a big group. I don't
need a lot of people myself. A solo trip honestly
sounds like a dream, just because I haven't done it yet,
and the girls on TikTok make solo trips look amazing,
so I really want to try one. But I would
say that's my dream CERI vacation, beach, sand, free, drink,
Jamaica alone.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
What about you?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Yeah? So, first of all, I feel like I keep
hearing people say that they've never been on a solo trip,
and I've been on several and I'm planning my next one,
so I really I love solo trips. But anyways, so
in terms of my dream summer vacation, I also thought
Jamaica definitely islands, water, hot, tropical, like that is what
gives summer vibes me. But for me also, I'm a person,
(08:33):
and I don't know if I'm alone in this where
I can really only be on vacation for the maximum
four to five days because then I start feeling like
I want to be in a familiar place. I'm tired
of being somewhere where I'm like in a hotel and
like having to abide by certain like I don't want
to say cleanliness because I'm gonna sound dirty, but just
like feeling like it's not my home. I want to
be able to just chill and be in my home space.
So for me, my dream summer would be four to
(08:55):
five days and like Jamaica somewhere else and then the
rest of it. I'm a homebody. I'm staying at home
doing nothing right.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
That's my Sorry, No, I totally feel you. After like
five days, it's like, okay, something to go back home.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
To go to that bed. For sure.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
That reminds me actually of a TikTok that Raymonte did
after coming back from Jamaica. He went to like five
guys and he was like, I've never been more patriotic
in my liafe just like I missed this, Like I
missed this.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Yes, that airport food hits different after you've been out
of it, hits different.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
I can attest to that.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Real. So I'm wondering, what was the best summer you
can remember in your lifetime?
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Yeah, I feel like you're gonna have a better answer
to this than I do, because I don't really have
that many memorable summers, unfortunately, because I've never really been
on a vacation for real on the summer. But I
would say, if I had to choose, when I was younger,
I used to go to Boston, where all my family
is from, and that used to be kind of a tradition,
and so it brings back my childhood memories of just
being around my extended family. So I would say, that's
the closest thing I can think of. But I feel
(09:52):
like I'm still trying to build my best summers. So
that's my answer.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
What about you, okay, period, I would say, again, my
bird birthdays during the summer, so I have a lot
of connections of birthday parties and trips around that it's
always the summertime. But what is coming to mind? I
remember I was turning twelve maybe, and I was at
(10:16):
daycare for the summer, like we did, like summer daycare
there all day every day from sun up to sundown.
And I remember I had a surprise birthday party, and
so my family was.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Able to get Subway.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Which subway back in the day was that girl?
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Subway was that girl?
Speaker 1 (10:34):
And I remember Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse having a
party for all the kids at the daycare, and it
just reminds me of just pure joy as a child,
and hands down, like that topped my summer. But that's
like childhood me, I think, to your point, adult me,
I'm still looking for that best summer and I think
(10:56):
I don't know if there's going to be one, but
definitely a memorable one.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
I'm still searching for her.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Let's manifest it. It's gonna happen for us.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
It's gonna happen hopefully next summer.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
So switching gears a little bit to some pop culture.
One of the things that I know both of us
have been deep in the streets of is this Dallas
Cowboys Cheerleaders documentary. So for people who are unaware, this
is a documentary that's on Netflix, and it's produced by
the same white man who made the cheer documentary and
then also The Last Chance You. So he's definitely known
for like giving these sports that you may not have
(11:27):
heard of that deep cinematic feel. And so I'm really
curious to know what you thought about the documentary and
just sharing our general thoughts because I feel like there
are so many themes that are applicable to us. As
gen Z and also college girlies. So to start us off,
let us know your general thoughts on the documentary.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Oh and also spoil or if anyone if you haven't
watched it, probably stop listening now. General thoughts. When I
first saw it, click, I'm going to watch it.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
That's all I remember seeing the DCC TV show. I
never watched it. I just remember it being like fat phobic,
racism and all these things that are still in the documentary,
trust me, But I thought that the documentary was the
direction was amazing. There are a lot of topics that
as I was watching, I was just having my own
(12:15):
therapy session and listening to a bit deeper, and they
touched on a lot of things that young women can
relate to, which I thought was great. I don't know
if Greg Whitley did that intentionally or unintentionally whatever, but
I resonated with a lot. I thought the athleticism amazing,
And we got a deeper dive into the organizational work
(12:36):
and like the choices and how we get to these decisions,
and like the people behind the decisions, and it's not
just what you see, it's like deeper than the surface.
But overall it was a great documentary. I do think
we could have gotten to like more topics about racism, colorism, texturism.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
We could have gotten into all those things, but I don't.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Expect that from so I think for a white man documentary,
it was good. It was mediocre, and it was good.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
It was good. It was good, But what did you
think overall in.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Terms of storytelling? It was a good documentary. But to
piggyback off some of the things that you mentioned, to me,
the most glaring issue with it was the lack of
him not addressing the racism aspect, because as a black
person watching this, it was so glaring to me that
the team probably had like three black girls and like
two of them being white skinned, Like it just seems
so obvious. And then on top of that the natural
(13:29):
hair thing them going to this hairdresser and having to
get a makeover for being able to be on the team,
and not only that, the two white women coaches them
kind of saying in the beginning, there's a certain look
we're going for, and we just know by looking somebody
that they're going to be a DCC. You can't tell
me that as two white women who are like old
that they're not in their heads imagining like blue eyed,
(13:52):
blonde hair, really skinny girl. You just can't tell me that.
And so I feel like the racism was just so glaring,
and yet it was never addressed. And so I mean,
like you said, this is a white man. I wasn't
expecting nothing better, but it was still disappointing to me.
And then as you also touched on the body image
aspects of it, it felt like it was glamorized or
almost normalizing this idea of having to get your body
(14:15):
down to a certain shape in order to be a
part of this team and the uniforms, having to fit
perfectly into these uniforms and they're not doing free sizes
and all of that. I forgot the girl's name, Victoria.
Her journey was really depressing, honestly, her just constantly seeking
this approval from the coaches and feeling like she was
never enough and having eating disorders, and towards the end
(14:36):
of the documentary kind of tried to make it seem like, oh,
Kumbaya happy, but it's like what I just saw was
a horror movie, Like none of this was cute. And
then on top of that, they're doing all of this
for like a Chick fil a worker salary and they
lost over that too, and I'm just like, what are
we doing here? This was not a happy watch. This
was not something that I would watch me like, oh
now I want to be a DCC, Like, no, this
is sad, and I felt like the documentary did not
(14:57):
do a good enough job at showing that those are
my thoughts.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
The Chick fil a worker salary was insane reference but
so true, and I think watching it and them responding
to that with yeah, we know it's not okay, and
you know it's terrible, but it's more than that. So
initially I was like, Okay, this is getting cold to me.
It's kind of giving culty. But then as I sat
(15:22):
back and I looked at it, I'm like, no, these
are young women who are impressionable and want community and
want to have people who understand them at the baseline,
and I don't think that's stressed enough. So I'm able
to understand the cheolers in a completely different way, like, yeah,
you're going to do whatever and put your hips and
(15:43):
your legs and your bodies through torture for a whole
season and maybe five seasons and come back and be demeaned,
talk down to, disrespected at times sexually and professionally, just
out of the opportunity to have sisterhood and community, which
(16:04):
again we can see that in our organizations, in our colleges,
at our workplaces, and our families, like we can see
that in so many different ways as well. So I
was able to have a lot of grace to these women,
but you know, like outside like k I'm like leave,
You're okay, It's fine, it will be okay. But I
totally related to seeking out that community.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Another thing about the documentary is that I feel like
they really made it seem like it was such a
big deal honor and privilege to be a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader.
And I'm not gonna lie, and this may be the
black person in me coming out, but I've never looked
up to idolize Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders at all. I feel
like they overstated the importance of what they were doing,
and that also made a give cult vibes because they
(16:47):
were constantly saying, like the honor and the privilege and
I'm just like, y'all perform at the Games. I don't
want to understate the physical labor that they do. But
another thing they were talking about how when they're on
the sidelines they have to improvise to each song the
dances that they do. Major heats do that every game
at AHCU, they do Major heads do that all the time.
So they made it seem like that was so unique
and difficult. Baby, there's black girl dance tings who will
(17:09):
eachhil up that do this every single game. To me,
I feel like, because the white people think that idalyze
these cheerleaders, I've never looked at them and be like
I want to be like that.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Ever, No, that's real, and I'm happy that you mentioned
that there are black women doing that. You're not the first,
you're not the last.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
That's it. That's all.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
So I'm happy you mentioned that because I think while
watching it, they sucked me into oh my gosh, and like, no,
to your point, thirds black women major white teams doing
that for nothing, for no money at all, like for joy,
for passion, for culture, not for a Chick fil A salary. So,
going off of that, did you relate to any of
(17:48):
the cheerleaders personally based off of their journey?
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Piggybacking off what you mentioned, I think that they really
did do a good job at capturing this feeling of
when you leave college where you have this built in
community and you're living literally in like a mini town,
going from that to entering the real world, even though
I haven't personally experienced that yet, just the fear of
that and no longer having that community and so finding
other places to seek that, even if it may be
(18:12):
harmful to you. I thought that was somebody that was
very poignant. And then another thing. I forgot the girl's names,
but it was the black girl and the girl who
was the older sister. They were always talking about how
we have no idea what we're doing with our lives,
and that's when we're friends because we just don't know
what we're doing. Yeah, and that's real zoo Like I
feel like that's a part of girlhood. It's just like
I just don't know what I'm doing with my life
and that's okay.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
And you mentioned Kat and Caroline. I also loved them down.
They reminded me of my self and my friend. We
get on the phone and we talk about this how
sucky postcrat it is sometimes and like we just both relate.
And Kat had this quote and she said I've never
(18:56):
had a job longer than DCC. I don't want DCC
to be the highlight of my life. I can't peek.
I can't peak at DCC, but it's so hard to
do it by yourself. I love having other girls with me,
like it's okay, girl, I'm sad too, but get your
a up because we have practice.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
I don't have that now.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
After she said that, I said, well, it's giving FaceTime.
It was giving a FaceTime call with my friend. And yeah,
just again, it goes back to like your frontal lobezon
developed yet and you're still trying to find who you are,
and that constant fear of it. Could you close one
chapter and that there won't be other chapters to read?
(19:35):
It's watching and I'm like, okay, I might have to
watch this in doses. This is like a mirror to
my face. When Caroline and Kat popped up, I'm like, oh,
let's speed through this. This is a reflection of myself.
But I really appreciate their honesty and their candor. When
Caroline was talking about how she was kind of jealous
of her little sister Anna Kate, she was very jealous
of her, and when they were lying in the bed
(19:57):
and Anna Kate was complaining. Caroline was like, I would
love to be your shoes, and I'm like, I felt
like that when I had friends that were still in
college and they're complaining. I'm like, don't complain too, But
life is not fun then it is, but it's just
constantly reminding yourself, which I think Kat and Caroline did.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Life is just different.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
I appreciate, if anything, of the DCC documentary I appreciated,
like that insight and like those quotes for sure.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Yeah, I really love the quote that you read. And
also Caroline, we could tell that she was hating like
your sister because every single scene put them together, she
was hating bad so girl, we could tell. It's relatable
a girl turn it down a little bit. Yeah, definitely
praying on her downfall and I don't know were But
also to add on to your point, even though I
can't relate to POSTCRAD life yet, I feel like similarly
(20:43):
applicable is this feeling of once you achieved this big
accomplishment the day after that, or like, I don't know
if you can relate to this, but this feeling of
like after you achieve your biggest thing, it's almost depressing
because it's like what now? So I feel like that
documentary also harped on that feeling of like emptiness that
you have after completing like a big chapter of your life. So, Hi,
(21:04):
I'm sorrya Taylor and I'm the TBG podcast production intern.
We'll return to Jana right after the break.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
So TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, whatever has bombarded us with Love
Island and it's taken up much of our brain space.
What is your thought on the push for dating shows
for people our age? What's your hot take?
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Let me just say I've not been sucked into the
Love Island peer pressure. The girls keep trying to get
me to watch this. Everywhere I go on my timeline,
it's just Love Island, Love Island, Love Island. TikTok, Twitter, Instagram.
I'm just like, I'm not watching this. I'm so sorry, y'all.
I refuse to get sucked into this peer pressure that
I feel like it's going on. Because one as soon
as I heard that these episodes are daily, I was like,
oh no, I don't have time for that. And then
(22:01):
every time I see a clip of it online, to me,
it looks so fake, and so I can't really buy
into it. But also another thing, I feel like going
back to DCC and like the body image thing. All
I ever see is them walking around in bikinis and
it just feels very like superficial. All the people seem
super young as well, and so I can't really trust
your intentions. I feel like half the people on here
are probably here to be famous. I will say the
couple that I think won this last season, I don't
(22:22):
know their names, but I keep seeing them on my time.
It's the girl with the braids and the step coum
piercing Serena. Yeah, they're such a cute couple. I can't
lie they are a cue couples that I'm rooting for them.
I'm rooting for everybody black, but I personally will not
watch a show. And on top of that, in terms
of like the push for dating shows people our age,
somebody from my school posted on their AUGI story that
they wanted to audition. I was like, girl, what, And
(22:43):
then on top of that, somebody from Morehouse is on one
of these seasons, and I'm like, I hope that's not
my classmate, child, because what are you doing here? I know,
what are you doing here? It just seems so strange
to me because I feel like dating shows are like
a last resort almost. I feel like it's more so
for older people, no shade, like just who just like
can't find love. But if you're young, you have so
(23:03):
many other avenues to find love. Why are you on
a dating show? So those are my what about you?
Because I know you're deep in the streets you actually
watch it.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
I'm similar to you, and I don't want the Love
Island it is to get me. I'm sorry. I just
wanted to die down a little bit. I might start
to watch it in October. A rebel in a sense.
I just don't want to watch things that everyone's watching
at the current moment. And there are some exceptions, you
know what I mean. But I also stopped watching Abbot
(23:32):
Elementary when everyone started watching and I said, I can't
do it anymore. Y'all ruined it for me. You ruined it.
It was a nice first season, it was quiet. I
remember Quinta from BuzzFeed. But for Love Island, I love
a good game dating show. But I think what's really
fascinating why is there such a big push to date?
(23:52):
Like I don't know if we all just love the
idea of the forever person. Because we're so young, it's
still like an option to have that optimism. But when
it was at its peak, every clip on TikTok was
Love Island or a recording of someone stitching a video.
And even now Love Island is done, Serena and Cordell One,
(24:15):
there's a trio of the girls like Leah, Janet and
Serena like go shopping, they're on talk shows, they're visiting
Leah's house, Like I'm more sucked into their real life
and like them now I care more. Now I'm like, oh,
like this is cute, Like they're girls girls, Like okay, cool.
But it's a breeding ground for a group of people
(24:36):
to feel isolated because they are not in relationship and
they're not in that position to be going on Love
Islands on. I don't know if that's the push and
that's why we like to watch it because again, like
we're searching for community people. I don't get it. I
don't understand. I do think we need to put it
into nineteen year olds being on a dating show.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
It is silly.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
It's getting to a point where it looks dumb to me,
and I don't think it's good for everyone's mental health
to aspire to be in a relationship or like continuously
watch that or see that, like that's not everyone's journey.
So I hope people are setting boundaries and like watching
that and not thinking that that has to be them
at all.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Yeah, I one hundred percent agree. When you were talking,
I thought about the fact that, like, why is it
that we feel so much pressure as young people to
find the one immediately? Because, like you mentioned that people
here on the show who are like nineteen years old,
why are you trying to find I just feel like
you should be okay with spending your twenties exploring and
seeing what's right for you. Why do you feel like
you have to be just like tied down immediately? And
(25:38):
it's funny Shameless plugged Session three seventy, one of the
main podcasts, the Centering Romance came out, and so it
goes right, it's alignment because it's like, I do feel
like we put so much value in whether or not
we're in a relationship or not. We feel like our
personhood is just decided by if we have a man,
And it's like just vibe like my twenties Sugges vibe.
I'm not trying to be tied down, So all of
(26:01):
that just it's troubling to me.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
But yeah, even outside of Love Island, like we see
that on TikTok, we see it on Instagram. Even before TikTok,
it was YouTube, the couple's channel, and like, I'm excited
to see in ten years someone do a case study
on it. And like Love Island, Love is Blind, the ultimatum,
the ultimatum, there's another.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
One perfect match, perfect match.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
There's just too hot to handle, too hot to handle,
like all of them, they just suck our generation right up.
We eat it up, and I'm a part of it.
I am a part of it, like Love is Blind,
perfect Match, ultimatum, Tek, You're gonna get me. But I'm
excited for the research in ten years.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
What is the brain rot that is caused by watching
all of these shows? Yes, we're gonna have to investigate.
But you mentioned all of these different dating reality shows
and I also indulge in them. I'm wondering, would you
ever want to be a contestant on any of these shows?
Would you tap in like that?
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Absolutely not, absolutely not. It's not my ministry. That's not
me at all. I will support my peers to an
extent that want to attend those dating shows or a
reality TV show or like I could see myself doing
a game show if that. But I also just like analyzing.
(27:17):
I don't need to attend. I just don't think it's me.
I consider myself like pretty low key.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
I don't like to do that.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
And in decisions and like people were playing your decisions
on TikTok oh my god, Like that's just too much.
Because the funny thing about Love Islands that they don't
have their phones, so they come back to their phone
and they're famous or they're hated, or like, that's too much.
It's too much for me. But would you go on
a dating show or a reality TV show?
Speaker 2 (27:47):
So I'm a huge Love is Blind fan, right, And
as I was watching the show, I Loki thought, like
I would be good for this show because I do
believe Love is Blind. I'm a personality dater or I
feel like if you have a good personality, it'll make
your looks go up, and so I want somebody else
to love me for who I am as a person,
not for physical attributes. And so for those reasons, I
was like, Loki, I would love to be on this show,
but for me, the obstacles that I don't want to
(28:09):
get married, that's the whole kind of goal and that show.
Not only that, but I just feel like so much
of reality TV it's edited a certain way to make
people look crazy, and then it feels like it's manipulated.
There's been stories with Love is Blind where they're like
feeding people so much alcohol that they end up doing
stuff they wouldn't normally do. And so I just don't
want to be under the mercy of a white production
team at all. So that's for me, the obstacles of it.
(28:31):
But generally, like y'all can put me in the pods
and I'll give y'all a show like Realness like I would.
So that's the only show that I would consider being on,
but I probably would never So Netflix, Loki, call me, listen,
call me. I can be convinced. Right Hi, I'm sorry, Taylor,
(28:53):
and I'm the TPG podcast production intern. We'll return to
Jana right after the break.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
What other things are you watching, paying attention to, or
listening to right now?
Speaker 3 (29:13):
What's been the thing?
Speaker 2 (29:14):
I feel like everything on my feed right now is
like election related, So that's heavy yeah, that's pretty much
everything that has been on my timeline. I mean, and
the theme of reality TV. Another show that I really enjoyed.
This is not dating related, but Survivor and also a
Big Brother And those are two shows that I also thought,
like Loki, I could win these shows. However, my obscool
(29:36):
with those that I can't be away from my phone
for that long. I really can't, and it's bad, Like
I cannot spend however many months without my phone and
like just no entertainment. I would be so bored. So yeah,
those are the things I'm paying attention to right now.
But what about you?
Speaker 1 (29:47):
I am so happy. There's just like a certain feeling
in my heart. What anyone mentions that they love Big Brother?
Speaker 2 (29:53):
I love?
Speaker 1 (29:54):
Which is fascinating to me that you don't like Love
Island but you like Big Brother.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
It's different, Like I know what you mean, because they
have the same level of episodes, like it's like almost daily.
But I don't know, it's just different. I'm a hypocrite.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
Maybe it's like the alliances and like the strategy and
all the things I would like to think I could.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
I'm definitely not.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
A Survivor girl, like no, no, no, no, no, But
I need a shower. I need a shower and food
that's not slop.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
But like I was gonna say slop.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
But I would never get that. I would be in
the right group. I would be in the right group.
But I also like to think if certain people can
make it on that show, I can make it on
the show, like at least a couple episodes. But for
right now, when someone asks me this question, it's always
really hard because I brain rot on TikTok. So it's
(30:45):
like you're asking me, like what are we watching or
paying attention to? And it's like, I'm on TikTok every
day and I've watched a thousand videos. I don't know
the answer to that because I'm watching so many things
at one time and I'm paying attention to everything. But
you know what, honestly, truly, I'm not embarrassed by this.
I'm good to watch early two thousands TV and like
(31:08):
shows and like movies and game shows. So right now,
this is very corny. But I'm watching prison Break. It
just popped on Netflix. I have no notes. I have
no notes. I love any show that has a flip
phone or like a BlackBerry or anything vintage looking. Although
(31:29):
I was born in the early two thousands, I've been
enjoying it, and I've been watching the Real World like
early seasons. Again, love anything before social media for real,
like when they were living life and acting was for real.
Acting was for real, for real. So those are my
comfort things. I just love early two thousands, nostalgia, nosalgia.
(31:52):
Oh there's another TVG episode, but nostalgia, and I just
love nostalgic things and they make me feel pretty comfortable.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
You are really speaking to me right now with prison
Break in the real world, because prison Break, I've watched
it like twice. I didn't know it was on Netflix.
I was out here watching it on the bootleg websites.
So now I know what I'm gonna do with the
rest of my week is I'm gonna binge watch it.
And I love the Real World as well. That's the
show I low key would consider going on because it's
like it's te Lo Stakes. Is just you living life
in a house with other youth. But they do be
fighting on there, so that's a little bit like let's
(32:21):
let's lot get it.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
Yeah, I could see myself being in the real world.
It might get too real, but personality higher.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
I could do that.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
I could do that, but like in the early two
thousands that, like before social media, you had to use
the VHS. I guess to watch episodes again, I don't know.
So sorry, you are a bought to start your junior
year a Spellman College. What are you looking for it too?
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Yeah, so I'm not gonna lie. I'm one of those
people who was ready to graduate. And I hope I
don't trigger any of the postgrag girlies because I know
everybody is like, you should take advantage of your time.
You're gonna miss it so much. I'm sorry, I'm ready
to go. I'm ready to go. I'm tired of it,
I'm tired of Grandpa. I'm ready to go. But in
terms of I'm looking forward to, I mean I have
a smaller course load than usual. I'm definitely usually like
a twenty credit hours girly, but this semester I was like,
(33:06):
let me chill, so I'm taking a little bit less.
I think I'm like at sixteen credit hours. So I'm
just trying to, you know, embrace my wellness self care era. Also,
I'm going to be an orientation leader for the second
year in a row. So I'm definitely one of those
people who's going to be screaming at you as you're
moving in school spirit, school pride. That's the one time
why I feel pride for my institution, like yes, welcome
to Felvin. So that's what I'm looking forward to for sure. Now, Jana,
(33:27):
for you, I know this is your first full year postgrad,
so I'm wondering what are you looking forward to in
this time and what sorts of feelings are coming up
for you. I'm very curious.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
Uh, the side is so real, and I hope everyone
feels seen by that side. But my first full year postgrad,
I have seen a lot. I've experienced a lot, and
I think now when this was like my whole thing
for my gap year, I'm now able to see the
career I want, Like I'm finally opening the window and
(34:00):
smelling the air and just seeing this is the path
I want. This is the work it takes to get it.
Don't tell yourself no, like very simple. This is the
era I feel like I'm entering when I graduated. I
want it to take some time away from higher ed
in academia to find that and find that inner voice
(34:20):
that's been suppressed by achievement, success pressure, and it just
explodes into congratulations, You've graduated, and it's like great, and
so now I am finally just getting my bearings. I
feel like into being hungry. I'm hungry. I have that
hunger again, had that dog in me again. And it's
(34:44):
funny because my friend and I were talking about this,
there's no one there to motivate you when you graduate,
like it's all you, which it's you in college. But
again we have our peers, we have our family and
our year. And so now I've rea ignited that spark
in myself, like I'm twenty three. Now I'm ready. I
(35:05):
see it, I see what I can have, and it's
now a matter of time. And so around this time
it's just aspirational and like motivational. I also just turned
twenty three, so that's my era. It hasn't been a
month yet, so I'm still in that glorifying era of like, oh,
it's gonna be a great year, it's gonna be perfect.
But yeah, like knowing that I have the control of
(35:26):
my life and I can make decisions for my career,
for my development and my skill set and all these things.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
So love that for you. I love that for you,
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
I'm wondering if we could share some basic back to
school tips in terms of how to start your year
off on that right track.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
What comes to mind for you.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
I'll kick us off with junior Senior, So I would
say for me, one of the most essential things to
get in my school year off right is putting everything
that's happening in the semester on my calendar. So putting
on my class is on my calendar, putting all my
potential club meetings or organization meetings, and also finals, midterms, breaks,
like I need to know in events when all of
that is happening. That just gets me off on the
right track being organized. And then another thing I would
(36:13):
encourage for really any grade level in college is making
sure that you know what classes you need to take
to graduate and ensuring that you are on track each year.
I have a document I use every semester. I'm checking Okay,
do I have the classes I need? Do I have
the credits I need? Because no shade, but these advisors
be planning in your face for real, Like advisors do
not want the best for you. In a lot of cases,
(36:34):
they will not give you the information that you need.
And so you don't want to be in a position
because I've seen it where you're in your senior year
and you all of a sudden get told, oh you
need to take this class and now you can't graduate.
You do not want to be in that position. So
make sure that you are checking, double checking, triple checking
every semester. Make sure that you are on track. So
those are the two tips that come to mind for me.
And of course, have fun, joint organizations, take advantage of
your time.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
So those are good. Those are good.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
And Zaria's completely right. The academic a visors well want
to see you fail, so don't let them take the
w don't let them do that. That's insane, and it's
insane that we have to say that as well. Like
you just should want the best for your students, but
that's not always the case. So only you have your
best interests at heart, So look out for yourself and
protect yourself. I would say for our first year going
(37:20):
into college, honestly, have fun, like it's nothing serious. Know
the classes you need to take. Don't bring too many
things to your class. You don't need the elementary school supplies, like,
don't bring everything, have an outfit on that you're confident in.
Be yourself, be honest, be welcoming to people. Take it
all in like, have a good time, like the sun
(37:43):
still outs warm, go out to parties, like be safe,
be smart, enjoy it. Sophomore year, we do need to
take life a little serious. I think the biggest thing
that I would tell myself softmore year, which also was
I was a COVID sophomore year. Early look into those
(38:04):
early talent programs early. Literally they start to populate in
the fall, and if you know the companies you're interested in,
have that list ready by August September, so you can
be prepared to have the alerts on your phone and
have the application up and have it saved and bookmarked,
because a lot of the times you're just going through
(38:26):
the motions of your semester and by the time you
look up, it's Thanksgiving break, then this winter break, then
the finals, and the application has been passed. So just
making sure that you're keeping your nose up with all
those things. But both first year and second year have fun,
have a blast.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
And I want to touch on two points you mentioned.
So one freshman's on notorio is for like bringing way
too much stuff to campus that they don't end up meeting,
especially that point about the elementary school supplies. Most of
your work is gonna be on the laptop these days,
so honestly, wait until you actually go through the class.
You see the syllabus and see from there if they
ask for additional supplies. The trash cans when I was
moving out in my freshman year, like almost everything got
(39:03):
thrown away, So don't pretty much the pointless stuff. And
then the second thing that you mentioned about these application deadlines,
I know we mentioned like not really prioritizing the grind,
and that's still very true. However, if you do want
a spring internship, you really got to start applying in
the fall. Same if you want to study abroad in
the spring, things of that nature. So just come in
with that mindset of you got to start taking in
advance for the opportunities that you want. So those are
the two, right, yeah, right, So we touched on the
(39:25):
girls who are going back to school, but for the
POSTCRID girlies like Jana to maybe feeling unsure about their futures,
I'm wondering if you could share some tips, Jana, what
advice do you have around that.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
So it's not a marathon, it's a sprint. Know that
all the choices you've made, and whether they're good or bad,
they're for you right now. I'm also speaking this to myself,
but take your time. Remember that time is in our favor.
Say you graduated with a degree and you went into
(39:55):
the field right after college, and now you're like, ah,
don't really like it, and you're trying to switch careers.
Like all this is attainable. We have so much time.
Time is fake one, but time is in our hand,
and so not to feel rushed or that we're behind.
I feel like that is the biggest thing that a
lot of my friends and my friend groups that like
(40:16):
we talk about it is the fear of being behind,
especially when you see people around this time, like going
to med school or going to law school. Everyone's journey
is just so different. And I hate hearing that. I
hate it when people tell me that. But that's the
biggest reminder. I want to recommend some tdgu episodes to
(40:37):
listen to, where we touch on finding yourself and discovering
yourself in new conventions and spaces, definitely Black girls and
art spaces. I remember us talking about the journey of
self discovery, and Casey was able to talk about finding
herself in the art space and I also related to
that in my personal life. And then we have securing
your first big girl job. Listen to that one if
(41:01):
you're in the postgrad era and you're in your early
career era and you're wanting some tips on staying true
to yourself and also knowing your path and knowing what
path is for you. But yeah, just stay calm, stay patient.
Time is in your hands. It's gonna be okay.
Speaker 2 (41:18):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
So, Saria, where can we keep up with you? Tell
me what are the social media handles?
Speaker 2 (41:27):
The girls can find me on Instagram at Yours Truly Zaria.
My name is spelled Zarah, and then you can also
find me under LinkedIn as Zaria Taylor. Hit me up
with your internship and career opportunities. So, yeah, what about you, Jana.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
So you can keep up with me on my LinkedIn
It's Jana Ellis. Feel free to connect with me. Chat
me and yeah, I like to yap so we can gap.
But thank you so much, Saria. I really appreciate talking
with you today. I always enjoy talking to you. I
feel like we just yap we yap under time constraint,
(42:03):
but I always love talking with you and it's been
a great conversation.
Speaker 2 (42:07):
Yes, samsey'sun no reverse to everything you just said. I
want to thank Jana for inviting me to be a
part of this episode. Summer break is over for now,
but here are some affirmations that take with you. I
have the ability to define what a successful summer break
looks like for me, and it's okay for that definition
to look different from my peers. Just because I've exited
(42:30):
or I'm about to exit an important chapter in my
life doesn't mean that there aren't just as many joys
ahead of me. It's okay to explore what I want
my life to look like, even if it means switching
past and taking my time to figure out what's right
for me. To learn more about the work we're doing,
or to do more research on this topic, be sure
to visit Therapy for Blackgirls dot com slash tvgu.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
This episode was produced by Elise Ellis and Zaria Taylor.
Editing is by dennisent Radford.
Summer is that you. Sure it's August, but we have
a few more weeks to enjoy this weather, so let's
celebrate accordingly. Welcome to the TBG University Podcast, tailored for
the twenty something who's still obsessing over the finale of Island.
We're playing the hottest song of the summer, getting her
tote bagpack for the first classes and everything in between.
(00:30):
I'm your host and TBG coordinator Jana Ellis.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Hi, I'm Sorria Taylor, and I'm the TBG podcast production intern.
We'll return to Jana right after the break.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Here at TBG, we believe in the healing power of sisterhood,
and one of my favorite parts of female friendship is
getting to sit down and kei key about everything that's
going on in our lives at the moment. So in
this special girl Chat episode, myself and the associate producer
of the TBG Podcast, Zaria Taylor, took some time to
(01:09):
reflect on our summers. In our girl Chat today, we
explore the pressure to have a quote unquote productive summer,
dive into some recent pop culture, and share some advice
for both the people going back to school and the
postgraduate who's feeling unsure about their new normal. Here's our conversation.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Hi, Zaria, how are you doing?
Speaker 2 (01:33):
I'm good? How are you?
Speaker 1 (01:34):
I'm good. I'm so excited to have our little girl chat.
I know we don't get to do this often, but
I'm excited same. Let's start off by sharing a quick
overview of how our summers went. I can go first.
My summer honestly has been pretty slow, which has been surprising.
(01:55):
But this year, overall, I've been traveling a lot. So
this summer I felt like I didn't need to continue
the every weekend I'm somewhere or every other week I'm somewhere.
But I had two solid trips this summer, which I
think is a win. I think sometimes we can overwhelm
ourselves with like a planning of summers. I tried to
keep it super intimate and super chill overall in comparison
(02:18):
to like when I was in college and I did
a lot during the summertime. But how did your summer go? So?
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Of course I continued my work with TBG as the
associate producer of the podcast, and then I also worked
as basically a camp counselor for my college, Spelman College,
who has these different programs for young girls in high
school who want to go here and so they stay
here for like a couple of weeks. I was a TA,
so I took them on field trips, I was in
their classes, all of that, and this is my second
(02:45):
year doing that. So I really enjoy, you know, fostering
the youth, fostering the excitement about going to college, especially
black girls. So it was really fulfilling to work for
both therapy for black girls and also in real life
getting to live like my morals I guess or just
like live in that fostering a black girlhood. So I
love that. And then definitely the highlight of my summer
(03:06):
was the Therapist Summit. Being able to be there in
person or yes, holding space for the healers that was
so great. Is always awesome to meet the TVG team members,
and then on top of that, getting to do a
bunch of fun tiktoks with the attendees there and just
really being able to feel the vibe in person. So
that was the highlight of my summer.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
So jealous I wasn't there, like all the tiktoks are
so cute. I was lishing I was there real so
I'm curious I kind of mentioned this earlier, but have
you ever felt pressure from friends, families, mentors, professors, etc.
To have a productive summer And if so, what does
that look like for you?
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Yeah, so, I don't know if you can also relate
to this, but I feel like a lot of the
pressure to feel like, oh, I need to have an
internship or I need to have a job over this summer.
A lot of that for me is self inflicted or
just from comparison, from comparing myself to my peers. Every
time I go on LinkedIn, every time I go on Instagram,
somebody's posting I interned with this office or I was
with this senator for the summer and all this. And
(04:07):
it's especially bad at Spilman because it's just like a
certain standard that the girls set and it does make
you feel when you see it, what am I doing
in comparison to all of this, like making you feel
kind of like I'm not progressing at the same level.
And I think also I do occasionally receive this pressure
from professors as well, where they'll be like, you know,
you should spend your summer making films and doing that.
(04:27):
But I thought this supposed to be my break from
doing that, Like I thought that was my semester's work
and the summer I'm supposed to be chilling. But I
feel like there is this pressure to feel like you're
always using your summers wisely, I guess, but the definition
of wisely can look different for different people. For me,
I try to remind myself that this is going to
be the only time in my life where I'm going
to have a summer break, because once you hit the
(04:49):
quote unquote real world, you don't get the same time
to have a two month break from what you're doing.
So I try to spend it really relaxing and enjoying
my youth, hanging out with my friends, really foster in
my girlhood. That is what's meaning is a productive summer.
But I'm curious, have you felt that same pressure as well.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Well, this is the first summer that I've been an adult,
I would say, and I don't have the backing of
school to just kick my feet up. And while I
was in college, I always worked like I had jobs,
Like I was always busy and productive, and the summer
was normally spent planning for organizational work, and like organizational
(05:27):
work was still all going during the summer so the
productive summer has always been a thing for me, and
just LinkedIn within itself is just so stressful and to
your point, seeing, oh, I interned with this governor, I
was working in Washington on Capitol Hill, or I was
interning at Apple this summer and I met like Steve Jobs, Like,
(05:51):
I feel like the pressure to have a marketable summer
is just so exhausting, and I have just shined away
a lot from putting my trips on Instagram or putting
my updates on my life on Instagram. I just don't
like to do that anymore because I feel like I
(06:12):
feed into the productive summer or like I have the
best summer, like you're not topping this summer, and I
feel like it's just such a toxic mindset to have
instead of just enjoying every day of the summertime. I
always like the summer because it's my Birthday's time. But
I think we've put this huge pressure to just have
oh summertime, we have to have this or sometime we
(06:34):
have to do this, and it's like, no, it's just
the time of the year and it should be.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Treated as such.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
But I definitely have tried to stay away from putting
that pressure on myself to have the best summer and
have a trip every single day. Like, no, I'm going
to work and I'm working for TPG and I'm working
for myself and I'm supporting my portfolio. Like I'm doing
things for myself. That's just not a flight and that's okay.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Yeah, that's real. And also to add to that, I
feel like the pressure of the rat race to feel
like you're topping everybody else also stops you from being
able to recognize what you're doing currently and the value
in that because, like you mentioned, I'm working for TVG,
I'm in college, and I'm a producer of a very
popular podcast. Like sometimes you don't stop and think, wow,
I'm actually I'm doing the damn thing. M because you're
(07:20):
always comparing yourself to the next person. So that exactly
be the harm in that. Yeah. So in the theme
of kind of spending our summers in wellness, I'm wondering
what would be your dream summer vacation.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Oh, a dream summer vacation. Honestly, my mind goes to Jamaica.
My mind goes to the sun. Like just a rich
vitamin D moment with fruity drinks and water and sand
and culture and good food and good people. Ten out
(07:52):
of ten. I don't need a big group. I don't
need a lot of people myself. A solo trip honestly
sounds like a dream, just because I haven't done it yet,
and the girls on TikTok make solo trips look amazing,
so I really want to try one. But I would
say that's my dream CERI vacation, beach, sand, free, drink,
Jamaica alone.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
What about you?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Yeah? So, first of all, I feel like I keep
hearing people say that they've never been on a solo trip,
and I've been on several and I'm planning my next one,
so I really I love solo trips. But anyways, so
in terms of my dream summer vacation, I also thought
Jamaica definitely islands, water, hot, tropical, like that is what
gives summer vibes me. But for me also, I'm a person,
(08:33):
and I don't know if I'm alone in this where
I can really only be on vacation for the maximum
four to five days because then I start feeling like
I want to be in a familiar place. I'm tired
of being somewhere where I'm like in a hotel and
like having to abide by certain like I don't want
to say cleanliness because I'm gonna sound dirty, but just
like feeling like it's not my home. I want to
be able to just chill and be in my home space.
So for me, my dream summer would be four to
(08:55):
five days and like Jamaica somewhere else and then the
rest of it. I'm a homebody. I'm staying at home
doing nothing right.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
That's my Sorry, No, I totally feel you. After like
five days, it's like, okay, something to go back home.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
To go to that bed. For sure.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
That reminds me actually of a TikTok that Raymonte did
after coming back from Jamaica. He went to like five
guys and he was like, I've never been more patriotic
in my liafe just like I missed this, Like I
missed this.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Yes, that airport food hits different after you've been out
of it, hits different.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
I can attest to that.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Real. So I'm wondering, what was the best summer you
can remember in your lifetime?
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Yeah, I feel like you're gonna have a better answer
to this than I do, because I don't really have
that many memorable summers, unfortunately, because I've never really been
on a vacation for real on the summer. But I
would say, if I had to choose, when I was younger,
I used to go to Boston, where all my family
is from, and that used to be kind of a tradition,
and so it brings back my childhood memories of just
being around my extended family. So I would say, that's
the closest thing I can think of. But I feel
(09:52):
like I'm still trying to build my best summers. So
that's my answer.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
What about you, okay, period, I would say, again, my
bird birthdays during the summer, so I have a lot
of connections of birthday parties and trips around that it's
always the summertime. But what is coming to mind? I
remember I was turning twelve maybe, and I was at
(10:16):
daycare for the summer, like we did, like summer daycare
there all day every day from sun up to sundown.
And I remember I had a surprise birthday party, and
so my family was.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Able to get Subway.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Which subway back in the day was that girl?
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Subway was that girl?
Speaker 1 (10:34):
And I remember Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse having a
party for all the kids at the daycare, and it
just reminds me of just pure joy as a child,
and hands down, like that topped my summer. But that's
like childhood me, I think, to your point, adult me,
I'm still looking for that best summer and I think
(10:56):
I don't know if there's going to be one, but
definitely a memorable one.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
I'm still searching for her.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Let's manifest it. It's gonna happen for us.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
It's gonna happen hopefully next summer.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
So switching gears a little bit to some pop culture.
One of the things that I know both of us
have been deep in the streets of is this Dallas
Cowboys Cheerleaders documentary. So for people who are unaware, this
is a documentary that's on Netflix, and it's produced by
the same white man who made the cheer documentary and
then also The Last Chance You. So he's definitely known
for like giving these sports that you may not have
(11:27):
heard of that deep cinematic feel. And so I'm really
curious to know what you thought about the documentary and
just sharing our general thoughts because I feel like there
are so many themes that are applicable to us. As
gen Z and also college girlies. So to start us off,
let us know your general thoughts on the documentary.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Oh and also spoil or if anyone if you haven't
watched it, probably stop listening now. General thoughts. When I
first saw it, click, I'm going to watch it.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
That's all I remember seeing the DCC TV show. I
never watched it. I just remember it being like fat phobic,
racism and all these things that are still in the documentary,
trust me, But I thought that the documentary was the
direction was amazing. There are a lot of topics that
as I was watching, I was just having my own
(12:15):
therapy session and listening to a bit deeper, and they
touched on a lot of things that young women can
relate to, which I thought was great. I don't know
if Greg Whitley did that intentionally or unintentionally whatever, but
I resonated with a lot. I thought the athleticism amazing,
And we got a deeper dive into the organizational work
(12:36):
and like the choices and how we get to these decisions,
and like the people behind the decisions, and it's not
just what you see, it's like deeper than the surface.
But overall it was a great documentary. I do think
we could have gotten to like more topics about racism, colorism, texturism.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
We could have gotten into all those things, but I don't.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Expect that from so I think for a white man documentary,
it was good. It was mediocre, and it was good.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
It was good. It was good, But what did you
think overall in.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Terms of storytelling? It was a good documentary. But to
piggyback off some of the things that you mentioned, to me,
the most glaring issue with it was the lack of
him not addressing the racism aspect, because as a black
person watching this, it was so glaring to me that
the team probably had like three black girls and like
two of them being white skinned, Like it just seems
so obvious. And then on top of that the natural
(13:29):
hair thing them going to this hairdresser and having to
get a makeover for being able to be on the team,
and not only that, the two white women coaches them
kind of saying in the beginning, there's a certain look
we're going for, and we just know by looking somebody
that they're going to be a DCC. You can't tell
me that as two white women who are like old
that they're not in their heads imagining like blue eyed,
(13:52):
blonde hair, really skinny girl. You just can't tell me that.
And so I feel like the racism was just so glaring,
and yet it was never addressed. And so I mean,
like you said, this is a white man. I wasn't
expecting nothing better, but it was still disappointing to me.
And then as you also touched on the body image
aspects of it, it felt like it was glamorized or
almost normalizing this idea of having to get your body
(14:15):
down to a certain shape in order to be a
part of this team and the uniforms, having to fit
perfectly into these uniforms and they're not doing free sizes
and all of that. I forgot the girl's name, Victoria.
Her journey was really depressing, honestly, her just constantly seeking
this approval from the coaches and feeling like she was
never enough and having eating disorders, and towards the end
(14:36):
of the documentary kind of tried to make it seem like, oh,
Kumbaya happy, but it's like what I just saw was
a horror movie, Like none of this was cute. And
then on top of that, they're doing all of this
for like a Chick fil a worker salary and they
lost over that too, and I'm just like, what are
we doing here? This was not a happy watch. This
was not something that I would watch me like, oh
now I want to be a DCC, Like, no, this
is sad, and I felt like the documentary did not
(14:57):
do a good enough job at showing that those are
my thoughts.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
The Chick fil a worker salary was insane reference but
so true, and I think watching it and them responding
to that with yeah, we know it's not okay, and
you know it's terrible, but it's more than that. So
initially I was like, Okay, this is getting cold to me.
It's kind of giving culty. But then as I sat
(15:22):
back and I looked at it, I'm like, no, these
are young women who are impressionable and want community and
want to have people who understand them at the baseline,
and I don't think that's stressed enough. So I'm able
to understand the cheolers in a completely different way, like, yeah,
you're going to do whatever and put your hips and
(15:43):
your legs and your bodies through torture for a whole
season and maybe five seasons and come back and be demeaned,
talk down to, disrespected at times sexually and professionally, just
out of the opportunity to have sisterhood and community, which
(16:04):
again we can see that in our organizations, in our colleges,
at our workplaces, and our families, like we can see
that in so many different ways as well. So I
was able to have a lot of grace to these women,
but you know, like outside like k I'm like leave,
You're okay, It's fine, it will be okay. But I
totally related to seeking out that community.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Another thing about the documentary is that I feel like
they really made it seem like it was such a
big deal honor and privilege to be a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader.
And I'm not gonna lie, and this may be the
black person in me coming out, but I've never looked
up to idolize Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders at all. I feel
like they overstated the importance of what they were doing,
and that also made a give cult vibes because they
(16:47):
were constantly saying, like the honor and the privilege and
I'm just like, y'all perform at the Games. I don't
want to understate the physical labor that they do. But
another thing they were talking about how when they're on
the sidelines they have to improvise to each song the
dances that they do. Major heats do that every game
at AHCU, they do Major heads do that all the time.
So they made it seem like that was so unique
and difficult. Baby, there's black girl dance tings who will
(17:09):
eachhil up that do this every single game. To me,
I feel like, because the white people think that idalyze
these cheerleaders, I've never looked at them and be like
I want to be like that.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Ever, No, that's real, and I'm happy that you mentioned
that there are black women doing that. You're not the first,
you're not the last.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
That's it. That's all.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
So I'm happy you mentioned that because I think while
watching it, they sucked me into oh my gosh, and like, no,
to your point, thirds black women major white teams doing
that for nothing, for no money at all, like for joy,
for passion, for culture, not for a Chick fil A salary. So,
going off of that, did you relate to any of
(17:48):
the cheerleaders personally based off of their journey?
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Piggybacking off what you mentioned, I think that they really
did do a good job at capturing this feeling of
when you leave college where you have this built in
community and you're living literally in like a mini town,
going from that to entering the real world, even though
I haven't personally experienced that yet, just the fear of
that and no longer having that community and so finding
other places to seek that, even if it may be
(18:12):
harmful to you. I thought that was somebody that was
very poignant. And then another thing. I forgot the girl's names,
but it was the black girl and the girl who
was the older sister. They were always talking about how
we have no idea what we're doing with our lives,
and that's when we're friends because we just don't know
what we're doing. Yeah, and that's real zoo Like I
feel like that's a part of girlhood. It's just like
I just don't know what I'm doing with my life
and that's okay.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
And you mentioned Kat and Caroline. I also loved them down.
They reminded me of my self and my friend. We
get on the phone and we talk about this how
sucky postcrat it is sometimes and like we just both relate.
And Kat had this quote and she said I've never
(18:56):
had a job longer than DCC. I don't want DCC
to be the highlight of my life. I can't peek.
I can't peak at DCC, but it's so hard to
do it by yourself. I love having other girls with me,
like it's okay, girl, I'm sad too, but get your
a up because we have practice.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
I don't have that now.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
After she said that, I said, well, it's giving FaceTime.
It was giving a FaceTime call with my friend. And yeah,
just again, it goes back to like your frontal lobezon
developed yet and you're still trying to find who you are,
and that constant fear of it. Could you close one
chapter and that there won't be other chapters to read?
(19:35):
It's watching and I'm like, okay, I might have to
watch this in doses. This is like a mirror to
my face. When Caroline and Kat popped up, I'm like, oh,
let's speed through this. This is a reflection of myself.
But I really appreciate their honesty and their candor. When
Caroline was talking about how she was kind of jealous
of her little sister Anna Kate, she was very jealous
of her, and when they were lying in the bed
(19:57):
and Anna Kate was complaining. Caroline was like, I would
love to be your shoes, and I'm like, I felt
like that when I had friends that were still in
college and they're complaining. I'm like, don't complain too, But
life is not fun then it is, but it's just
constantly reminding yourself, which I think Kat and Caroline did.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Life is just different.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
I appreciate, if anything, of the DCC documentary I appreciated,
like that insight and like those quotes for sure.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Yeah, I really love the quote that you read. And
also Caroline, we could tell that she was hating like
your sister because every single scene put them together, she
was hating bad so girl, we could tell. It's relatable
a girl turn it down a little bit. Yeah, definitely
praying on her downfall and I don't know were But
also to add on to your point, even though I
can't relate to POSTCRAD life yet, I feel like similarly
(20:43):
applicable is this feeling of once you achieved this big
accomplishment the day after that, or like, I don't know
if you can relate to this, but this feeling of
like after you achieve your biggest thing, it's almost depressing
because it's like what now? So I feel like that
documentary also harped on that feeling of like emptiness that
you have after completing like a big chapter of your life. So, Hi,
(21:04):
I'm sorrya Taylor and I'm the TBG podcast production intern.
We'll return to Jana right after the break.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
So TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, whatever has bombarded us with Love
Island and it's taken up much of our brain space.
What is your thought on the push for dating shows
for people our age? What's your hot take?
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Let me just say I've not been sucked into the
Love Island peer pressure. The girls keep trying to get
me to watch this. Everywhere I go on my timeline,
it's just Love Island, Love Island, Love Island. TikTok, Twitter, Instagram.
I'm just like, I'm not watching this. I'm so sorry, y'all.
I refuse to get sucked into this peer pressure that
I feel like it's going on. Because one as soon
as I heard that these episodes are daily, I was like,
oh no, I don't have time for that. And then
(22:01):
every time I see a clip of it online, to me,
it looks so fake, and so I can't really buy
into it. But also another thing, I feel like going
back to DCC and like the body image thing. All
I ever see is them walking around in bikinis and
it just feels very like superficial. All the people seem
super young as well, and so I can't really trust
your intentions. I feel like half the people on here
are probably here to be famous. I will say the
couple that I think won this last season, I don't
(22:22):
know their names, but I keep seeing them on my time.
It's the girl with the braids and the step coum
piercing Serena. Yeah, they're such a cute couple. I can't
lie they are a cue couples that I'm rooting for them.
I'm rooting for everybody black, but I personally will not
watch a show. And on top of that, in terms
of like the push for dating shows people our age,
somebody from my school posted on their AUGI story that
they wanted to audition. I was like, girl, what, And
(22:43):
then on top of that, somebody from Morehouse is on one
of these seasons, and I'm like, I hope that's not
my classmate, child, because what are you doing here? I know,
what are you doing here? It just seems so strange
to me because I feel like dating shows are like
a last resort almost. I feel like it's more so
for older people, no shade, like just who just like
can't find love. But if you're young, you have so
(23:03):
many other avenues to find love. Why are you on
a dating show? So those are my what about you?
Because I know you're deep in the streets you actually
watch it.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
I'm similar to you, and I don't want the Love
Island it is to get me. I'm sorry. I just
wanted to die down a little bit. I might start
to watch it in October. A rebel in a sense.
I just don't want to watch things that everyone's watching
at the current moment. And there are some exceptions, you
know what I mean. But I also stopped watching Abbot
(23:32):
Elementary when everyone started watching and I said, I can't
do it anymore. Y'all ruined it for me. You ruined it.
It was a nice first season, it was quiet. I
remember Quinta from BuzzFeed. But for Love Island, I love
a good game dating show. But I think what's really
fascinating why is there such a big push to date?
(23:52):
Like I don't know if we all just love the
idea of the forever person. Because we're so young, it's
still like an option to have that optimism. But when
it was at its peak, every clip on TikTok was
Love Island or a recording of someone stitching a video.
And even now Love Island is done, Serena and Cordell One,
(24:15):
there's a trio of the girls like Leah, Janet and
Serena like go shopping, they're on talk shows, they're visiting
Leah's house, Like I'm more sucked into their real life
and like them now I care more. Now I'm like, oh,
like this is cute, Like they're girls girls, Like okay, cool.
But it's a breeding ground for a group of people
(24:36):
to feel isolated because they are not in relationship and
they're not in that position to be going on Love
Islands on. I don't know if that's the push and
that's why we like to watch it because again, like
we're searching for community people. I don't get it. I
don't understand. I do think we need to put it
into nineteen year olds being on a dating show.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
It is silly.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
It's getting to a point where it looks dumb to me,
and I don't think it's good for everyone's mental health
to aspire to be in a relationship or like continuously
watch that or see that, like that's not everyone's journey.
So I hope people are setting boundaries and like watching
that and not thinking that that has to be them
at all.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Yeah, I one hundred percent agree. When you were talking,
I thought about the fact that, like, why is it
that we feel so much pressure as young people to
find the one immediately? Because, like you mentioned that people
here on the show who are like nineteen years old,
why are you trying to find I just feel like
you should be okay with spending your twenties exploring and
seeing what's right for you. Why do you feel like
you have to be just like tied down immediately? And
(25:38):
it's funny Shameless plugged Session three seventy, one of the
main podcasts, the Centering Romance came out, and so it
goes right, it's alignment because it's like, I do feel
like we put so much value in whether or not
we're in a relationship or not. We feel like our
personhood is just decided by if we have a man,
And it's like just vibe like my twenties Sugges vibe.
I'm not trying to be tied down, So all of
(26:01):
that just it's troubling to me.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
But yeah, even outside of Love Island, like we see
that on TikTok, we see it on Instagram. Even before TikTok,
it was YouTube, the couple's channel, and like, I'm excited
to see in ten years someone do a case study
on it. And like Love Island, Love is Blind, the ultimatum,
the ultimatum, there's another.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
One perfect match, perfect match.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
There's just too hot to handle, too hot to handle,
like all of them, they just suck our generation right up.
We eat it up, and I'm a part of it.
I am a part of it, like Love is Blind,
perfect Match, ultimatum, Tek, You're gonna get me. But I'm
excited for the research in ten years.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
What is the brain rot that is caused by watching
all of these shows? Yes, we're gonna have to investigate.
But you mentioned all of these different dating reality shows
and I also indulge in them. I'm wondering, would you
ever want to be a contestant on any of these shows?
Would you tap in like that?
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Absolutely not, absolutely not. It's not my ministry. That's not
me at all. I will support my peers to an
extent that want to attend those dating shows or a
reality TV show or like I could see myself doing
a game show if that. But I also just like analyzing.
(27:17):
I don't need to attend. I just don't think it's me.
I consider myself like pretty low key.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
I don't like to do that.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
And in decisions and like people were playing your decisions
on TikTok oh my god, Like that's just too much.
Because the funny thing about Love Islands that they don't
have their phones, so they come back to their phone
and they're famous or they're hated, or like, that's too much.
It's too much for me. But would you go on
a dating show or a reality TV show?
Speaker 2 (27:47):
So I'm a huge Love is Blind fan, right, And
as I was watching the show, I Loki thought, like
I would be good for this show because I do
believe Love is Blind. I'm a personality dater or I
feel like if you have a good personality, it'll make
your looks go up, and so I want somebody else
to love me for who I am as a person,
not for physical attributes. And so for those reasons, I
was like, Loki, I would love to be on this show,
but for me, the obstacles that I don't want to
(28:09):
get married, that's the whole kind of goal and that show.
Not only that, but I just feel like so much
of reality TV it's edited a certain way to make
people look crazy, and then it feels like it's manipulated.
There's been stories with Love is Blind where they're like
feeding people so much alcohol that they end up doing
stuff they wouldn't normally do. And so I just don't
want to be under the mercy of a white production
team at all. So that's for me, the obstacles of it.
(28:31):
But generally, like y'all can put me in the pods
and I'll give y'all a show like Realness like I would.
So that's the only show that I would consider being on,
but I probably would never So Netflix, Loki, call me, listen,
call me. I can be convinced. Right Hi, I'm sorry, Taylor,
(28:53):
and I'm the TPG podcast production intern. We'll return to
Jana right after the break.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
What other things are you watching, paying attention to, or
listening to right now?
Speaker 3 (29:13):
What's been the thing?
Speaker 2 (29:14):
I feel like everything on my feed right now is
like election related, So that's heavy yeah, that's pretty much
everything that has been on my timeline. I mean, and
the theme of reality TV. Another show that I really enjoyed.
This is not dating related, but Survivor and also a
Big Brother And those are two shows that I also thought,
like Loki, I could win these shows. However, my obscool
(29:36):
with those that I can't be away from my phone
for that long. I really can't, and it's bad, Like
I cannot spend however many months without my phone and
like just no entertainment. I would be so bored. So yeah,
those are the things I'm paying attention to right now.
But what about you?
Speaker 1 (29:47):
I am so happy. There's just like a certain feeling
in my heart. What anyone mentions that they love Big Brother?
Speaker 2 (29:53):
I love?
Speaker 1 (29:54):
Which is fascinating to me that you don't like Love
Island but you like Big Brother.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
It's different, Like I know what you mean, because they
have the same level of episodes, like it's like almost daily.
But I don't know, it's just different. I'm a hypocrite.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
Maybe it's like the alliances and like the strategy and
all the things I would like to think I could.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
I'm definitely not.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
A Survivor girl, like no, no, no, no, no, But
I need a shower. I need a shower and food
that's not slop.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
But like I was gonna say slop.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
But I would never get that. I would be in
the right group. I would be in the right group.
But I also like to think if certain people can
make it on that show, I can make it on
the show, like at least a couple episodes. But for
right now, when someone asks me this question, it's always
really hard because I brain rot on TikTok. So it's
(30:45):
like you're asking me, like what are we watching or
paying attention to? And it's like, I'm on TikTok every
day and I've watched a thousand videos. I don't know
the answer to that because I'm watching so many things
at one time and I'm paying attention to everything. But
you know what, honestly, truly, I'm not embarrassed by this.
I'm good to watch early two thousands TV and like
(31:08):
shows and like movies and game shows. So right now,
this is very corny. But I'm watching prison Break. It
just popped on Netflix. I have no notes. I have
no notes. I love any show that has a flip
phone or like a BlackBerry or anything vintage looking. Although
(31:29):
I was born in the early two thousands, I've been
enjoying it, and I've been watching the Real World like
early seasons. Again, love anything before social media for real,
like when they were living life and acting was for real.
Acting was for real, for real. So those are my
comfort things. I just love early two thousands, nostalgia, nosalgia.
(31:52):
Oh there's another TVG episode, but nostalgia, and I just
love nostalgic things and they make me feel pretty comfortable.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
You are really speaking to me right now with prison
Break in the real world, because prison Break, I've watched
it like twice. I didn't know it was on Netflix.
I was out here watching it on the bootleg websites.
So now I know what I'm gonna do with the
rest of my week is I'm gonna binge watch it.
And I love the Real World as well. That's the
show I low key would consider going on because it's
like it's te Lo Stakes. Is just you living life
in a house with other youth. But they do be
fighting on there, so that's a little bit like let's
(32:21):
let's lot get it.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
Yeah, I could see myself being in the real world.
It might get too real, but personality higher.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
I could do that.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
I could do that, but like in the early two
thousands that, like before social media, you had to use
the VHS. I guess to watch episodes again, I don't know.
So sorry, you are a bought to start your junior
year a Spellman College. What are you looking for it too?
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Yeah, so I'm not gonna lie. I'm one of those
people who was ready to graduate. And I hope I
don't trigger any of the postgrag girlies because I know
everybody is like, you should take advantage of your time.
You're gonna miss it so much. I'm sorry, I'm ready
to go. I'm ready to go. I'm tired of it,
I'm tired of Grandpa. I'm ready to go. But in
terms of I'm looking forward to, I mean I have
a smaller course load than usual. I'm definitely usually like
a twenty credit hours girly, but this semester I was like,
(33:06):
let me chill, so I'm taking a little bit less.
I think I'm like at sixteen credit hours. So I'm
just trying to, you know, embrace my wellness self care era. Also,
I'm going to be an orientation leader for the second
year in a row. So I'm definitely one of those
people who's going to be screaming at you as you're
moving in school spirit, school pride. That's the one time
why I feel pride for my institution, like yes, welcome
to Felvin. So that's what I'm looking forward to for sure. Now, Jana,
(33:27):
for you, I know this is your first full year postgrad,
so I'm wondering what are you looking forward to in
this time and what sorts of feelings are coming up
for you. I'm very curious.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
Uh, the side is so real, and I hope everyone
feels seen by that side. But my first full year postgrad,
I have seen a lot. I've experienced a lot, and
I think now when this was like my whole thing
for my gap year, I'm now able to see the
career I want, Like I'm finally opening the window and
(34:00):
smelling the air and just seeing this is the path
I want. This is the work it takes to get it.
Don't tell yourself no, like very simple. This is the
era I feel like I'm entering when I graduated. I
want it to take some time away from higher ed
in academia to find that and find that inner voice
(34:20):
that's been suppressed by achievement, success pressure, and it just
explodes into congratulations, You've graduated, and it's like great, and
so now I am finally just getting my bearings. I
feel like into being hungry. I'm hungry. I have that
hunger again, had that dog in me again. And it's
(34:44):
funny because my friend and I were talking about this,
there's no one there to motivate you when you graduate,
like it's all you, which it's you in college. But
again we have our peers, we have our family and
our year. And so now I've rea ignited that spark
in myself, like I'm twenty three. Now I'm ready. I
(35:05):
see it, I see what I can have, and it's
now a matter of time. And so around this time
it's just aspirational and like motivational. I also just turned
twenty three, so that's my era. It hasn't been a
month yet, so I'm still in that glorifying era of like, oh,
it's gonna be a great year, it's gonna be perfect.
But yeah, like knowing that I have the control of
(35:26):
my life and I can make decisions for my career,
for my development and my skill set and all these things.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
So love that for you. I love that for you,
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
I'm wondering if we could share some basic back to
school tips in terms of how to start your year
off on that right track.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
What comes to mind for you.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
I'll kick us off with junior Senior, So I would
say for me, one of the most essential things to
get in my school year off right is putting everything
that's happening in the semester on my calendar. So putting
on my class is on my calendar, putting all my
potential club meetings or organization meetings, and also finals, midterms, breaks,
like I need to know in events when all of
that is happening. That just gets me off on the
right track being organized. And then another thing I would
(36:13):
encourage for really any grade level in college is making
sure that you know what classes you need to take
to graduate and ensuring that you are on track each year.
I have a document I use every semester. I'm checking Okay,
do I have the classes I need? Do I have
the credits I need? Because no shade, but these advisors
be planning in your face for real, Like advisors do
not want the best for you. In a lot of cases,
(36:34):
they will not give you the information that you need.
And so you don't want to be in a position
because I've seen it where you're in your senior year
and you all of a sudden get told, oh you
need to take this class and now you can't graduate.
You do not want to be in that position. So
make sure that you are checking, double checking, triple checking
every semester. Make sure that you are on track. So
those are the two tips that come to mind for me.
And of course, have fun, joint organizations, take advantage of
your time.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
So those are good. Those are good.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
And Zaria's completely right. The academic a visors well want
to see you fail, so don't let them take the
w don't let them do that. That's insane, and it's
insane that we have to say that as well. Like
you just should want the best for your students, but
that's not always the case. So only you have your
best interests at heart, So look out for yourself and
protect yourself. I would say for our first year going
(37:20):
into college, honestly, have fun, like it's nothing serious. Know
the classes you need to take. Don't bring too many
things to your class. You don't need the elementary school supplies, like,
don't bring everything, have an outfit on that you're confident in.
Be yourself, be honest, be welcoming to people. Take it
all in like, have a good time, like the sun
(37:43):
still outs warm, go out to parties, like be safe,
be smart, enjoy it. Sophomore year, we do need to
take life a little serious. I think the biggest thing
that I would tell myself softmore year, which also was
I was a COVID sophomore year. Early look into those
(38:04):
early talent programs early. Literally they start to populate in
the fall, and if you know the companies you're interested in,
have that list ready by August September, so you can
be prepared to have the alerts on your phone and
have the application up and have it saved and bookmarked,
because a lot of the times you're just going through
(38:26):
the motions of your semester and by the time you
look up, it's Thanksgiving break, then this winter break, then
the finals, and the application has been passed. So just
making sure that you're keeping your nose up with all
those things. But both first year and second year have fun,
have a blast.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
And I want to touch on two points you mentioned.
So one freshman's on notorio is for like bringing way
too much stuff to campus that they don't end up meeting,
especially that point about the elementary school supplies. Most of
your work is gonna be on the laptop these days,
so honestly, wait until you actually go through the class.
You see the syllabus and see from there if they
ask for additional supplies. The trash cans when I was
moving out in my freshman year, like almost everything got
(39:03):
thrown away, So don't pretty much the pointless stuff. And
then the second thing that you mentioned about these application deadlines,
I know we mentioned like not really prioritizing the grind,
and that's still very true. However, if you do want
a spring internship, you really got to start applying in
the fall. Same if you want to study abroad in
the spring, things of that nature. So just come in
with that mindset of you got to start taking in
advance for the opportunities that you want. So those are
the two, right, yeah, right, So we touched on the
(39:25):
girls who are going back to school, but for the
POSTCRID girlies like Jana to maybe feeling unsure about their futures,
I'm wondering if you could share some tips, Jana, what
advice do you have around that.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
So it's not a marathon, it's a sprint. Know that
all the choices you've made, and whether they're good or bad,
they're for you right now. I'm also speaking this to myself,
but take your time. Remember that time is in our favor.
Say you graduated with a degree and you went into
(39:55):
the field right after college, and now you're like, ah,
don't really like it, and you're trying to switch careers.
Like all this is attainable. We have so much time.
Time is fake one, but time is in our hand,
and so not to feel rushed or that we're behind.
I feel like that is the biggest thing that a
lot of my friends and my friend groups that like
(40:16):
we talk about it is the fear of being behind,
especially when you see people around this time, like going
to med school or going to law school. Everyone's journey
is just so different. And I hate hearing that. I
hate it when people tell me that. But that's the
biggest reminder. I want to recommend some tdgu episodes to
(40:37):
listen to, where we touch on finding yourself and discovering
yourself in new conventions and spaces, definitely Black girls and
art spaces. I remember us talking about the journey of
self discovery, and Casey was able to talk about finding
herself in the art space and I also related to
that in my personal life. And then we have securing
your first big girl job. Listen to that one if
(41:01):
you're in the postgrad era and you're in your early
career era and you're wanting some tips on staying true
to yourself and also knowing your path and knowing what
path is for you. But yeah, just stay calm, stay patient.
Time is in your hands. It's gonna be okay.
Speaker 2 (41:18):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
So, Saria, where can we keep up with you? Tell
me what are the social media handles?
Speaker 2 (41:27):
The girls can find me on Instagram at Yours Truly Zaria.
My name is spelled Zarah, and then you can also
find me under LinkedIn as Zaria Taylor. Hit me up
with your internship and career opportunities. So, yeah, what about you, Jana.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
So you can keep up with me on my LinkedIn
It's Jana Ellis. Feel free to connect with me. Chat
me and yeah, I like to yap so we can gap.
But thank you so much, Saria. I really appreciate talking
with you today. I always enjoy talking to you. I
feel like we just yap we yap under time constraint,
(42:03):
but I always love talking with you and it's been
a great conversation.
Speaker 2 (42:07):
Yes, samsey'sun no reverse to everything you just said. I
want to thank Jana for inviting me to be a
part of this episode. Summer break is over for now,
but here are some affirmations that take with you. I
have the ability to define what a successful summer break
looks like for me, and it's okay for that definition
to look different from my peers. Just because I've exited
(42:30):
or I'm about to exit an important chapter in my
life doesn't mean that there aren't just as many joys
ahead of me. It's okay to explore what I want
my life to look like, even if it means switching
past and taking my time to figure out what's right
for me. To learn more about the work we're doing,
or to do more research on this topic, be sure
to visit Therapy for Blackgirls dot com slash tvgu.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
This episode was produced by Elise Ellis and Zaria Taylor.
Editing is by dennisent Radford.
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