COLLEGE

College...
It's such an interesting place
I thought my high school was diverse
But, my goodness
College is like a new world
There are wide ranges of different people
Big, small, white, black
Fast, chill, funny, serious
For instance, having a girl dating two different people
This is what gave Dom, Ricky, and I the idea to play with this for our trio topic
The woman is bisexual
And, although, I do not know much about this topic
I am totally accepting of the topic
I would never choose the ignorant path
simply to ignore another group of people
that provide beautiful diversity in our world
Everyone is unique
Everyone is special
How boring would it be if everyone was the same?
No one would stand out
So typical
So normal
So predictable
I would want to scream
i would wanna stand out
and be different
Pretty glad life is not lived that way!
=)

Role Models <3

I think it's important to commerate
those that are crucial in our lives
I love my parents
They mean everything to me
There are more people in life,
also, that I admire
Professors are people
that are always there
for help and education
For guidance and leadership
They are mentors and role models
Without them,
we'd be lost
Thanks to them,
we are where are today
We need these people in our lives
And, hopefully, one day, we'll be just like them
As a result, we can keep the cycle going
The next generations would appreciate us
We would be on the other side
We would be making an impact on life
Changing the world
Making an impact on society
We owe our role models so much
It's completely priceless
What would we be without them?

The Meaning of My Name =)

Born with the name Milagros

for a number of reasons

Born during a time of very religious seasons

Named after a saint in Peru

where Mom and Dad come from

They were born and raised there

working harder than some

Moved to this great nation

for a better life

Can't say they changed much

or forgot about the strife

Now raise a beautiful family

that will always stay strong

The love we have for each other

will last so long

Love them for the support

cause now I'm grown

Thankful for teaching me everything I've known

Now I'm out here at Lehigh

to earn much success

Wanna come out on top

be better than the rest

All my life my family struggled

cause I grew up poor

But I was grateful

I never asked for more

My Love for Hip Hop <3

Hip hop is a style of various things. It is a style of music, dance, song writing, singing and so many more. It can be either one of these, and it is whatever you make of it. Hip hop gives you the opportunity to express yourself and your emotions. It makes you feel free when you let go and give your all to hip hop. It brings out character and personality. It allows you to be who you truly are at any given point in time. Hip hop is a technique that encourages people's individuality and creativeness. It seeks different tastes and flavors from various characters. Hip hop liberates the mind and soul. It gives you an escape when all else fails.

HIP HOP THEATRE SHOW!

I was so happyyy with the way the show went this past Sunday afternoon! It seemed as though everyone was on point, and it all went so smoothly. The performances were so much bigger and better, and it really felt special. The positive feedback that everyone had after the show felt really good too! So many people were talking about wanting to take the clas next year.

Every came out of their shell and let it all out the stage. The laughter and comfort from the audience helped a lot too. You can tell they really enjoyed themselves during all the performances.

It took me until Sunday night to realize how diverse all of our topics were. We had topics that covered racism, love, personal lives, women's rights, hometown love, facebook, freaks, and poop! haha It was such a nice mix of topics.

One thing I gotta say is I appreciate the creativity in Kashi's coaching. It's amazing how far two minutes of touching up can take you. There were some things that I had seen for the first time on Sunday, and you can tell that it really made a difference. It went a long way. Kashi coached us on our Facebook trio during the tech rehearsal, and I think it really turned around in a positive way. Dom left the audience laughing in their seats, and I loved the way it turned out.

The day after, I realized how much I was going to miss this class! It was sad to not be able to go back this past Tuesday. I really wish we could perform it again, and I'm trying to be positive and hope that we do. If anything, a reunion would be nice because I really feel like we all have a special vibe and connection in Hip Hop Generation 3.0. If I could take the class again, I would in a heartbeat!

More importantly, that performance was very essential in promoting Hip Hop and Theatre across the Lehigh University campus. The turn out was great, and you can tell that this was something that our student body needed. Not only was it entertaining, but it also helped to spread awareness, and I am glad to help provide that.

Although a sleepover would be really crazy(!), I really wanna spend more time with each of the talented people in my class. I was so privelleged to working with each and every one of them. I can not say that there is a single person in that class that I would not be comfortable with. I hope that we continue to work together in the years to come!

THIS WAS A BEAUTIFUL EXPERIENCE <3333

Two days away!

It's crazy how excited I am!
One-Acts open tonight. Although we have been working really hard on one-acts for about a month now, we have been working on this hip-hop show ALL SEMESTER! I know I probably shouldn't feel this way, but for some reason, I feel as though this Hip-Hop show is going to be bigger.
It's funny cuz everytime I tell someone to come to One-Acts tonight, they say, "Oh, I'm going to the Hip-Hop Show on Sunday!!!"
That's a really good thing.
It means we really pushed the publicity for this show, and we gotta keep going hard!!

TWO DAYS AWAY!!!

Promos Yo!

So, I just finished watchin the newest promo (and the older one too), and you have no idea how excited I am for this show this weekend! Today's one-on-one with Kashi helped so muchh!! I felt really good and comfortable with my solo piece, and hopefully it'll start to show with a lot more rehearsal. (Thank you so much, Kashi!)

Aside from that, today's class in Diamond was so effective! You can tell that everyone really cares about their performance pieces, and everyone is expressing their talents!

I invited 215 people on Facebook last night!

UPDATE:
123 Attending and I know there's only more to come!!

<3

Special Thanks!

I just really wanted to thank Tara and Charles who spent a lot of time with us on Tuesday and helped us brainstorm some ideas. Coming up with an idea is a lot harder than I thought, and it was really nice to have their support. They gave us stuff to work off of, and it's nice to know that they're caring.

Also, I thought they're piece was really impactful. The topic they chose was so powerful and creative. I love they way they work off of each other when they perform. The way they incorporated a real-life problem on campus was so effective. It really makes you stop and think about the events that are happening around us everyday. It's cool to see topics that people can relate to (like Abe and Fran's, for example haha)

Thank you for giving us the facebook idea Kashi! =)
I'm looking forward to meeting Monday afternoon.

As for Thursday's class, I was soooo impressed with everyone's duet pieces. It's amazing to see how well two people can work with each other. Everyone has similarities and differences, and they mesh so well. I'm glad Kashi picked the duets that she did because I'm really seeing a side of people that I haven't seen yet, and it's awesome. Everyone is working really hard, and it really shows in class.

All in all, everyone is really stepping their game up, and I'm even more excited to see the next stage of our work =]

My ladies!

For the past couple of nights, the girls and I have been meeting at Charrell's apartment, and I just wanted to say how nice it's been to come together and brainstorm with a bunch of really intelligent girls. It's rewarding because I feel like everytime we come together, we come up with clever ideas. It's nice to feed off of each other and expand from the basics. Aside from the work aspect of this project, I'm really glad that I have the opportunity to work with these girls because I'm getting to know each of them on a more personal level. I'm happy that we can get closer and have fun while working on this project. When we feel that we have been really productive, it's nice to hang out with the girls and watch American Idol or For the Love of Ray J to get more ideas on our female values haha! I really hope that our project keeps growing so that we can have a phenomenal performance on April 26th along with the other two groups!

<3

Self Remix

Honestly, Robert's presentation in class was so inspiring. Everything he said had a reason and so much intelligence. I enjoyed all of the helpful hints and tips that he gave for performing. What I found even more touching was his Self Remix performance on Thursday night. After watching him perform in class, I was totally expecting a very comical and entertaining piece. Although I definitely found that, his performance went way beyond that. He invited us into his personal life, welcoming us to relive the rough experiences that he went through. I felt so connected to him. I had only known him for hours, and it felt as if I had known him for years. Many people get up and perform a stand-up comedy or a spoken word. However, it takes a lot of courage and energy to get the audience to feel and believe everything that comes out of your mouth. I was amazed at how powerful his piece was.

The show had begun, and there was joy and happiness in the atmosphere as he constantly made the audience laugh. However, he really had me thinking about reality. I think it was the part where he spoke about the struggle his parents went through. He talked about how both his parents immigrated from different countries across the world in search of better life. They both suffered while they were receiving minimum wages. They worked very hard to have food on the table for their families. I think the part that hit was when his father pulled him aside and told him that everything he does is to better the life of his son, Robert. I can't count the number of times that my dad has said that to me. Just like Robert's father, he always tells me that he works very hard for me. He tells me to study very hard so that I can be successful and not have to go through the struggle that he had to go through. That instantly triggered my emotions, and I started tearing up. I felt as though I had an emotion connection to Robert while he was giving us his real-life accounts and experiences. I think this happened because of how well I was able to relate to his life. I completely understand what it's like to have two parents come to this country and give their children their all. This is something that I always remember, but it was great to be reminded of it one more time in this performance. I appreciate everything that they are doing for me so much. I, honestly, can't even type this write now without crying. It made me want to just hug and kiss my parents, and tell them how much I love them.

Another very touching segment was the part where he was being discriminated against for being half Iranian and half Guatemalan, or multicultural in general. So many children are victims of bullying by their peers, whether it deals with race, ethnicity, gender, or even appearance. People try to tell others that they don't fit in. What I would like to know is what is the point of fitting in when it's so beautiful to be unique and different? I don't understand why elementary school students go out of their to make others feel miserable and upset. They expect everyone to look, dress, or act a certain way. Anyone that doesn't fit into these categories are automatically made fun of and bullied. In this case, they even went to the extent of using violence. While I watched Robert get beat up, I completely lost it. I felt so upset for him, and I wish there was something I could have done to eliminate this from his past. Clearly, these simply remarks brought on my peers are something that live with you for the rest of your life. They follow you and shape you into the person you become in the future. They have obviously impacted his life, or else he would not have been standing there in front of the audience reliving all of those negative events. Although they were not to that extent, I can definitely relate to some things that affected the way I see myself today. They were definitely influenced by the kids that bullied me when I was younger. No matter how hard I try, I think I will always have those comments in the back of my mind. It, honestly, is so hard to erase those negative things from your past.

I think that Robert's performance was phenomenal! I am so happy that I had the opportunity to relive his life while he performed it on stage for us. It was a chance that I'm very happy I took. Thank you so much for bringing him to class, Kashi!! =) Just like I'll never forget elementary school or everything that my parents have done for, I will also never forget the Robert's Self Remix performance.

I love you honey, but I just can't smile!

So, the day that we played this game in class, I learned so much! What Kashi said is so true..it's so much easier from the audience's point of view. It's really not so easy once you're up there. I thought it would take three tries tops, but I was definitely wrong. As I watched other people go before, I was starting to get nervous about how my turn would turn out. Kashi's positive advice was to not think and just do. She told us to just "let our bodies go." I thought this was going to be a bit of challenge from me, and I was scared that I was going to be too shy wtih my actions. However, when I got up there, I don't know what got into me. I don't think that I stopped for a second. Things just kept coming to me,and I was afraid to do anything. I didn't have time to think about whether or not those things were embarassing in front of the audience. (Not gonna lie, I would never be caught doing any of those things ever again in my ilfe!) I guess what happened was I just wanted to get Greg to smile that badly, and I was willing to do almost anything to get him to smile. I was glad that he wasn't such an easy target after all because that taught me a lot in class.

Another thing that I realized was when I got really close to poking his face. Everyone was saying that it looked like he smiled. Even if he did smile, I don't think that I wanted to be let off the hook that easily. It wouldn't have felt as rewarding. When he burst out into laughter, I felt much more successful than when he gave a little smirk, so I'm kind of glad that I stayed in for that long.

I think the most important lesson that I got out of this is that you can do whatever you set your mind to. That day in class, I said that I wanted to perform well in the fashion show. I really think that it helped to say it out loud because it made me re-evaluate what my objectives really are. Walking out of that class gave me much more support and comfort in the fashion show that night. =)

In a much bigger case (like becoming famous, for example ;]) it's still possible. No one can stop anyone else from fulfilling their dreams because it is up to their personal capabilities and beliefs to know that you can do anything that you set your mind to.

If I tell myself that I will become Chris Brown's back-up dancer in his next music video, and I truly believe and stick to it, I can make it come true!

=]

America's Best Dance Crew =]

Hey guys! I'm not sure if anyone watched the Finale of America's Best Dance Crew tonight, but Quest Crew won! This is their final battle, and it's really hot =)

Part Dos

Coming from the small town of Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, 19 year-old Milagros Pacheco has always had love for the hip hop game. As a young child back in '95, hip hop hop's top sellers were always played around the house. Whether it was Biggie, Tupac, Salt-n-Pepa, Eve, Ruff Ryders, or Jay-Z, Millie enjoyed the rhythm that these artists' carried. At that young age of 5, Millie always knew that she wanted to be a performer. Maybe it had to do with her dad's love of music or her mom's love for dance. Either way, it was something that was always inside Millie's heart. From that point on, she has performed on her high school stage for talent shows a number of times. On top of that, she has done various dance performances and recitals. The adrenaline rush that she feels from these performances are so rewarding. She only hopes that one day she will be able to perform on a real stage in front of a HUGE crowd.

A salary is a fixed compensation periodically paid to a person for regular work or services. Meanwhile, reality is something that exists independently of all other things and from which all other things derive. Sometimes, unfortunately, reality does not provide us with a high salary. Sometimes, people have to accept what they are given and be grateful that they have, at least, that much. There is a chance that someone out there might not even have as much as you do. The point is you must never take anything for granted. Thank God that you are safe and healthy and in good living conditions. You never know, people out there might be begging to have what you have. In other words, salary is a nice thing to have. You can do a lot with a lot of money. But is it the root of all happiness? Absolutely not. Reality is facing the facts...living life the way you're supposed to live it, not wishing you had more. Basically, a high salary is a benefit to life, but you can do without it. On the contrary, reality is what you make of life and the good that you take out of it.

This brings a very important issue to hip hop today. Some hip hop artists believe that salary is everything. As long as they have a nice crib or a hot whip, that's all that matters. Is that really the case, however? My mom always tells me, "Some people have all the money in the world but lack health. Although we might not have that much money, we have to thank God that we have our health." This is statement that not everyone realizes. It is not clear to everyone in today's hip hop game. Many people would rather have that expensive watch or bling than spend time with their family or loved ones. This is not the way it should be. Therefore, everyone should learn to be extremely grateful for every little thing they are given. Each and every one of these gifts is a blessing and should be treated as such. Never take anything for granted.

Milagros Pacheco still loves the hip hop game, regardless. However, she hopes that one day she can join the game and participate as an artists as well. Given this opportunity, Millie will remember her roots and encourage others to do the same. In her future, she will not allow material objects or cash flow get in the way of her simple lifestyle. She will live the normal life that she has lived her entire life, listening to Eve and Jay-Z in the small living room of her apartment. No matter where life takes her she will never stop loving her beautiful mother, strong father, and intelligent little sister who have brought her such a long way in life. She thanks them everyday for everything that they have given her and will cherish them for the rest of her life. Above all, she thanks God, the One above, for giving her this opportunity of living in this exciting world of hip hop.

Grateful

Thriller by Michael Jackson

My performing arts major class performed this at our Senior Year Halloween Assembly! =)

(The dance starts like a minute into the video.)

Old School Baby ;]

Today in class we presented our old school projects, and I honestly had so much fun performing that today! I'm not going to lie, I have been a little nervous for the past couple of days, thinking about the ways to make this performance successful. However, I told myself that I was going to fill myself with energy walking into the class. I told myself to use that in today's performance. 

For some reason, when the seats were all set up in the audience, I looked around the class, and I really felt comfortable with every single person seated there. I felt that we were providing each other with a lot of positive energy, support, and comfort. This made me feel really good. 

At this point, I was no longer nervous or worried. I said I was just going to let go and be free. I was really happy with everyone's performances, and I think that everyone did such a fabulous job!!

At 11:30 P.M., I still have an adrenaline rush from today's class. I really wish I could just perform it again and relive the experience right now! It feels so good to be on stage and perform and watch other people express their talents as well! =]

Step up, step back, introduce yourself!

So, to this day, I still have that catchy phrase stuck in my head. But I love it because it brings back really good memories. All of them are funny. Honestly, if we were to get back into a circle, I could probably go around and say what each person's rhyme was about. This is probably because each person really brought something special to the group that really stood out to me. They each brought something unique to the table, and I really liked that. I love everyone's originality and what everyone contributes to this class. It really is special. =)

First Week

Hi Everyone! I'm really glad to be a part of this class. It's so nice that we're working together to become a family, rather than just classmates and supervisors. I feel really comfortable in front of this group of people because of the fact that I feel we are beginning to trust each other. It takes a lot of work, but I can see a lot in the near future for us. On top of that, I love how each and every person brings something creative and unique to the class. I really don't think it would be the same even if one person had been missing from the group.

This semester, I'm excited to learn so many new things. From the history of hip hop and African Studies to the place where it's brought us today. Also, I am eager to be able to let go and express myself in a free way. It's going to be so interesting to watch everyone else in this class do the same. I really think that this class is going to bring so much out of everyone, including the beauty that we all have inside of us. =)