So I graduated...

This year marks a milestone for me, I graduated from SMU with two majors and a minor. Last Saturday, May 19, 2007, I walked the stage in front of the Owens Fine Arts Center and was handed a diploma from the Meadows School of the Arts. All of my family and friends have been telling me this is a huge feat and I know that, but honestly the diploma, the degree means little compared to the lessons I have learned in the last four years. SMU has not only offered me one of the finest educations in the nation but it has enabled to grow into the person I am today.

The lessons I have learned in college are priceless, especially this last year, senior year. I have made amazing new friendships, lost some old ones, discovered what keeps me going and how much my family really does mean to me. You see, I am not a first generation American, I didn't even become an American citizen until I was 13 but growing up here in the US, I always wanted to go to college. My mom and dad understood that and sacrificed everything to get me to there, to pay for my tuition, my apartment and sorority.

I remember as a freshman, my mom one day decided to sell her Lexus SUV to help pay for my SMU, at the time I was speechless, I got it, but I didn't. You see my education was more important than a car, my dream was more important than a label.

The American Dream was what mattered most to my mom, my American dream and my family's American dream: to graduate from an American University and I did it! I am the first in my family to do this and it feels so surreal. I didn't do it alone, so I want to say thank you to everyone who helped me make it; yall know who you are.

But anyways, speaking of the fine education SMU offered me, I received the neatest advice during the ceremony from our new dean, Dean Bowen. He started off with the very cliche advice of practice, practice, practice in order to get to Carnegie Hall. Of course this is great advice, but I've heard it many times from my mom, Linda and Gigi but it was this next thing that hit home.

Mr Bowen said practice is one thing, a social support network is necessary but honesty is the third. Self honesty that is. And it was like "duh," a light bulb totally went off.

As artists, as creative minds our "art" is on display. Whether you are writing, composing, painting or dancing, it is open to praise and criticism, and criticism hurts but its what makes you grow, evolve and create the best work you can. So self honesty is probably the main ingredient because you are your own worst critic. You have to be realistic, open to change but never loose faith in yourself. Well that just sounds impossible.

So, in order to be a successful artist, you have to one never loose faith in yourself but also have self honesty? How so? Well practice for one and that whole social support thing is vital. Everyone needs cheerleaders, encouragers and those people who just tell ya to shut-up and get the job done. So, Dean Bowen thanks for those final words of wisdom.

Theres always next year...

Ok, so by now everyone should know the terrible turnout of yesterdays Mavericks game. I personally did all I could to help them out and in the process lost my voice. I guess I thought that would make a difference.

So, immediately this morning I ran to Mark Cuban's blog, which I consider important to keep up with. Especially if you live in Dallas. I mean its one of the most popular blogs, in most search engines it will pop up in the top ten most popular blogs because lets face it, Mark Cuban is a smart guy. I mean , he did create the Dallas Maverick brand, machine and trend. The mavs are the most popular team in the nation and after last night they are even more popular, given to the negative publicity now surrounding them.

Well I checked blogmaverick because I thought Cuban would have posted a response to the this season and the playoffs, which many reporters know most of his comments and quotes in the media come directly from his blog. But nothing. And I guess it was dumb of me to assume he would make a comment. He doesn't need to and its also too soon to respond without your emotions getting the better of you, which we have all seen happen to him.

So, since I didn't get his view on the series except for his vague comment last night in which he said they would "not blow everything up." Meaning no drastic changes would be made to the team, which I totally support. They have a great formula going, they just have trouble in the playoffs. They can't seem to function under pressure, which is vital for anyone to succeed in the hard world of competition.

So I began to think, our society thrives on competition, its what makes our nation so great; we have winners and losers. We have success and failure. We have ups and downs. My economics teacher, W. Michael Cox taught me an important lesson when it came to our economy. We thrive because we have a competitive market. Human beings need competition to achieve great things. That's why socialism and communism have failed throughout history, it removes competition and the need to thrive among your peers.

The trick is learning to compete. Training, practicing, studying, whatever it is that you compete in, you must master. There is a psychological theory, the Yerkes-Dodson law, which demonstrates an empirical relationship between arousal and performance. It says that performance increases with cognitive arousal, but only to a certain point. When the levels of arousal become too high, performance will decrease. Even if its a mastered task, too much arousal can lead to a decreased performance. Maybe for the mavericks, the playoffs are so hyped up, Dirk has the added pressure of the crowd yelling M-V-P and they just put so much pressure on themselves to deliver, they caved in.

I mean, Lord knows I would definitely buckle under that much pressure. The mavs were probably facing some difficult mental games. The coach of the Golden State Warriors was a former mavs coach, he trained Dirk, he knew us inside and out. That in itself is hard to overcome and then all of the previous mentioned stressors. Winning would be hard.

So, there is always next year.

Moving to myspace at last...

Check out my new myspace page at myspace.com/mercymorales

Its Go Time...

Everyone support the Mavericks as they have two more wins to go!! I believe!