I am Marti Jones, but I go by MJ. Why do I go by MJ you ask? Well that’s not complicated at all… my dad wanted a boy… but unfortunately I am NOT a boy… so they named me after him to compromise.
I was born and raised in Chicago. The city is also known as “Chiraq”. But apparently, I am pretty good at dodging bullets, so here I am in Georgia attending Agnes Scott College, an all women’s college. After the first few days of being here, I noticed that I was not good with creating interesting conversation with new people or making any friends. Growing up, I moved from neighborhood to neighborhood, and from school to school. I never had the time to settle somewhere and learn how to develop long-lasting relationships. This is ironic because I am a Chicago posse scholar (a prestigious scholarship given to a select amount of students in the city of Chicago to go to different colleges around the United States). So, I came to Agnes Scott with friends from posse; however, I could not just follow them around for my entire college career.
Joining teams and clubs was a tool that I was familiar with using in order to make friends. I have always had in interest in cheerleading. I was able to bond with people in highschool over the latest game or latest competition. I find it easier to build relationships with people when I am aware of our similarities.
As you have probably noticed… I had a fast-paced childhood ..
My fast-paced childhood also impacted my academics. I was always the dominant person in the group. I had a need to go fast through everything, so I could mark it off my to-do list and not have to worry about it later. However, this approach has seemed to fail me now that I am in college. For example, I am interested in Anthropology and speeding through readings will not benefit me. I will forget all of the big and small concepts from the reading. It is important that I learn to slow down.
Fast MJ was me. Careful MJ will be me.
