Tarik HRH Coles, 26,
Entrepreneur, General Manager (NQC Management/Baseline Recording Studio), & Rookie Politician

Myspace is for losers, and we are all losers. (See: Myspace.com/TarikHRH)

I learned that its better to be cool for your work than to work to be cool.

After 25 things get different, its all about preparing for 30. All of a sudden I have stronger views and a stronger drive.

That to be President you don't have to be smart. I never thought I'd see the day when the President of the United States of America was an international joke.

That music isn't dead, and won't die. I don't care how u get it, u should hear the new Lupe album. And if u think musics dead, just say you don't like the music, cuz we don't care, plenty of us still do.

The more money I make, the less I actually care to talk about it. Most of my friends have a little money, so until we start hitting the millions its no longer a measure of who's doing better.

That some girls really do just wanna have fun, and sometimes life is serious. I'm turning thirty, its really not enough for us to just party and bullshit anymore, sorry.

I learned that if you have to tell people you're grown and sexy...you probably aren't that grown, or that sexy. (Hint: if it says grown and sexy on the invite and you got it from a bulletin on myspace, its not grown or sexy.)

At the end of the day the world will be what we make it. Forget all of this who controls this and who controls that. At one point they didn't and at one point a few of us will, so if at the end of the day you want to be part of it, get in...the waters cold, but u get used to it.

That money is abt much much more than sneakers, clothes, five star hotels and bottle service. Its for security, insurance, mutual funds, property, and retirement, anything beyond that is the icing on the cake.

Politics is a dirtier game than music, and with good reason, there's more power. There's more money where I am now (music) as it stands. I'm working on combining the two, we'll see how that goes.

That often you get the respect and power before the money. I know a ton of people who respect me and only a few of them pay me.

That if I don't decide to do the things I keep saying someone ought to do, it may never get done.

I learned to pace myself, and not to be in a rush. I used to announce I was doing something new as soon as I got the idea, go out and spend a bunch of money, buy something fly every time I saw or heard someone else was. I've stopped that.

And last but not least, sometimes its ok to be humble, to humble yourself according to the occasion. I recommend limiting those occasions.

Candy Reyes, 20
Pre-Med Student, Graphic Designer, Future Leader of the Free World

-To be in love is to have an addiction in every sense of the word. It's an indescribable high that no other substance can give you. But like any other addiction, you can overdose and die an epileptic, mouth foaming death or you can hit rock bottom and start climbing from there. Happy to say I'm apart of the latter. It's been an exhausting climb up that mountain but I have my harness on in case I fall. "Hi, I'm Candy and I've been clean for 14 months."

-A man doesn't define me, I define me. Being single is not that bad. I began the year not knowing what to expect, afraid of the foreign territory that is singlehood, but all-in-all, it's been good to me. Sure I have my moments where I really miss being a gf and doing all the little gf things but I'm not the type of girl to rush into a relationship just because the last one ended. I told myself to be single for at least a year, and I've surpassed that goal.

-Even if you get burned in the end, put your 200% into it. You don't want to die wondering "what if..."

-Not all men are dogs. But most of them are.

-Though it has always been an addiction of mine, shopping replaced the aforementioned. If I'm not zoned out by school/family/friends, I'm probably thinking about something that has to do with shopping. As bad as it is though, I DO know my limit... And its not the limit each credit card has set for me.

-Be a better friend/family member. My life was so consumed by that boy that I forgot about the others around me. It's like he gave me tunnel vision or something. I forgot that they need me just as much as I need them. Never again, though. My family and friends (or should I say extended family) mean more to me than even the proverbial "perfect man" ever will. Then again, the "perfect man" would share the same philosophy as I & encourage it.

-School isn't life. After 20 years of "school first" being drilled into my brain, I'm just realizing this. I've accepted the fact that I will be in school for practically the rest of my life but I refuse to let it completely consume me. I have to do what I love and enjoy this one life I get to the fullest. Finals time is a different story, though. Clearly (if you truly know me), I'm still working on this lesson. Lol...

-I need to be more selfish.

-I still want to have a kid/family before I go to medical school. Kudos to the women who put their lives on hold for their career and created their families much later in life but I don't want that. I'd like to be a young mom... Cause really, what kid wants to be 18 with 60 year old parents? That's too much of an age gap. Perhaps the very reason my parents and I don't see eye-to-eye on things. How likely it is I'll have a kid/family before medical school is what's up in air. I'd love for it to happen but I'm certainly NOT that pressed for time to be on the hunt for a man to breed/start a family with.

-My brain is more focused after 2am.

-I really miss art. Drawing, painting, sculpting, designing, doing make-up, composing random songs on the piano... I really miss it. Check my notebooks, half the pages are random sketches.

-I need to do more. But I guess this goes with my school isn't everything lesson.

-You can't always get what you want. But never settle.

-"No" is just the beginning of a negotiation. Refer to previous sentence.

-Thinking I could eat beef or pork again after not eating it for years was dumb. Who likes having their face in the toilet all night. *cringes at the thought*

-Thinking I could outdrink a 6'7, 200+ lb. man was even more dumb. That's one thing I don't mind you winning. Everything else is fair game.

-Learn from the past and live for the present with the future in mind by doing what you love with the people you love. This is what has made me happy this year.

Chris Sapp
Singer, Writer, Future Psychologist

-I've learned that college isn't hard at all. It's just having the reponsibility to do work without someone breathing over your shoulder.

-Music isn't my passion. I only do it for fun. My real passion is psychology.

-I don't even think I would wanna be famous. I like the quiet life. I would rather be a writer behind the scenes.

-Pussy is overrated. The male species will run through flames to get it. I like it but I'm not going to alter my life in order to get some.

-I take sports too serious. I didn't talk to my girl for 3 days because her team (Patriots) beat my team (Steelers). I'm still upset.

-I'm glad I'm a counselor cause this genration of kids are really gone. We got a lot of work to do with them.

-Being a singer ain't all it cracked up to be. I'm not even signed and I got a bunch of crazy chics telling me they wanna marry me and dudes that wanna fight me cause it's their girl. I mean, it's kinda funny, but damn......

Labels: what i've learned