I'm on a College Budget

 Five pajamas, two flip flops, and a some sweats are now the necessities.

 I used to spend one hundred dollars on a pair of J's, but now I can only afford to pay for some PJ's. 

I always wondered how do one begin budgeting, but now I am here living the reality.

I used to have prestigious wine, and fine rice but now Ramen Noodles and Capri Suns are my only refuge from going broke. I am on a college budget not because I choose to, but the budget chooses me. I used to get a shapeup hairline almost every other week, but this college budget makes me want to grow some dreadlocks. I never liked writing, nor did I used to record daily activities and stories but this college budget inspires me to write a plethora of top ramen noodles narratives.

I'm on a college budget and yet I do not plan to major in money management. 

I'm from

I am from a place where most people wants to escape.

Escape the misery, tribulation, and the poverty.

It’s not the richest place in the Western Hemisphere,

But it has helped me with cultivating so much.

So much that money cannot afford.

I do not have anything to complain about,

Because where I am from teaches me to be strong.

I am from a place where gratis is with a price.

A place where the government does not subsidize nor care about assisting its people.

I am from a place where do it myself and all by myself is obligated.

I am from a place where our wherewithal is our stoicism.

It cannot be taught, but somehow I learn to cultivate fortitude.

I am from a place where most people wants to escape;

And like everyone else I escape with my family multiple times,

Even though I am forced to live under the multicultural shade

Where I am from will always be coded in my DNA.

FYI, I am originally from Haiti.

The Role of Art in Communities

             In my opinion "Art" does not have a role in a culture, but plays every role because of the fact that art is ubiquitous. It can be found anywhere within a particular culture; although people have different interpretation of the art. A couple of common roles of art in cultures are symbolism and memory, but if digging deeper into one piece of art it might reveal more than two memories and demonstrate more than one role in a culture. I watched a documentary titles "Waste Land"  by a Brazilian artist, Vik Muniz, from which he reunited a very disgustingly dirty community, which is one of the most populated cities in the World and has the world's  largest garbage dump. In this documentary Vik did not only demonstrate and challenge the familiar notions of art in this community, but he brought hope back to the people of that community.

 Art is like the oxygen that we are constantly breathing in; it's omnipresent, except that it's in different forms, different interpretation and representations.