akeishalari

[akeishalari]

I told y’all I would come back to my favorite quote. Here is something I wrote 6ish years ago for an initiative we were doing in TMP called #MentorMonday.

"Live, Laugh, Love... and Learn."

This has been my motto for the past 9 years as I ventured through my first Undergraduate Degree, a second Undergraduate Degree and my Masters, as I grew into a professional in the field of Student Affairs, as I found my life partner, got married and started creating my family, as I made and lost friends along the way and as I continued to grow stronger with my own family- pretty much, as I lived life.

It has inspired and motivated me through my tough moments and celebrated with me through my happiest moments.

This quote holds words that I truly believe in with my entire Akeisha heart. By sharing it with all of you for today’s Mentor Monday feature, I hope that you can take it in and use it for your own guidance as you all venture through your own academic and personal pursuits.

Live- Live everyday to its fullest and wake up in the morning knowing what you want to achieve in that day and have a plan for how you will achieve it!

Laugh- Laugh a “belly laugh” everyday. Let your laughter-lines on your face be badges of honour that let’s other know, you are surrounded by happiness!

Love- Give love and get love. Everyday. Tell those you love that you love them often and don’t ever be afraid to tell someone what they mean to you…they may need it at that moment more than ever!

And Learn- I believe that Knowledge is Power and I am most powerful when I can share the knowledge I have attained in my life. From books for sure, but moreso from the 3 things listed above:

From living, laughing and loving, I have learned so much.

I hope that my words today make you pause, reflect and move forward stronger and more motivated to do what you gotta do to be successful on your own terms!"

“Live, Laugh, Love…and Learn!”

Akeisha

#TMPFam #WeAreTMP #MentorMondays

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Now, back to today. Well, two days ago. Nov 1, 2018.

November 1 was my one month anniversary in my new role at UOIT as the Equity and Inclusivity Advisor. So far, its been amazing! I am so fulfilled in my work that I don’t even mind the 1 hour-1 hour 10mins commute (one way) fron TO to Oshawa. Haha!

I’ve already felt like I’ve made a difference. The field of Equity work is hard. Don’t get me wrong. But following my motto, I have been doing something that matters so deeply to me that the challenges are met with my desire to educate, which is giving me the motivation to do good and teach. I’m rejuvenated. I’m excited.

And, I’m ready to launch the first series of my blog:

Each One, Teach One.

Which will be a series focused on examining traditional and non-traditional ways of educating.

Stay tuned.

Until Next Time...

Akeisha

PS. Shoutout to my homegirl, Ghazala, for the shirt that she gifted me in the photo title of this post. 💕

[akeishalari]

Who is Akeisha Lari

So, you decided to keep reading my blog! Excellent! 

I figured after introducing my blog and what I will be writing about, I should introduce myself. 

If you don’t know me at all, or, if you just need a refresher, here are some key facts about me. Kinda like what you get on Wikipedia when you search people. I figured this is a good way to intro my blog so keep reading if you’re interested in learning more about the person up there in that square photo smiling and radiating positive vibes into the world!

Key Facts: Mrs. Akeisha Lari

Age: 33

Birthday: November 28

Spouse: Nima Lari

Children: Aria Lari and Mina Lari

Mother: Feroza Mohammed

Lives in: Toronto, ON

My Motto: Live, Laugh, Love and Learn (you’ll hear more about this in a future post).

Favourite...

Movie: The Lion King

Book: I Love You Forever- Robert Munsch (each of my daughters have their own copy that I bought and signed for them with a special love note)

Singer: Will Smith

Actor: Will Smith

Colour: Blue

Food: Spaghetti and Beef Meat Sauce or Stew Chicken, Curry Channa and Aloo and Roti. (depending on how I’m feeling)

Hype song: Goapele- Closer or TuPac- All Eyez on Me (Clean Version) (depending on how I’m feeling)

Season: Summer

Country: Trinidad and Tobago

City: Toronto

Sport: Basketball (Go Raptors!)

Dessert: Dark Chocolate

Drink: Coffee or Red Wine (depending on how I’m feeling)

Fast Food: Mc D’s

TV Show: The Simpsons

Toy: Racoonya

Music Genre: Slow Jams from late 90′s early 2000s (Aaliyah, Usher, Brian McKnight, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Monica, Brandy, Boys II Men, Dru Hill, Jagged Edge, Kci and JoJo, Mary J Blige, Faith Evans and the list goes on and on....)

Soca Song: Naya George- Trinidad (Right Hand) and now I’m gonna stop typing for a few minutes to take a whine on my couch! LOL!

This is me. 

Until Next Time...

Akeisha

[akeishalari]

Welcome!

For a long time now, I have been wanting to start a blog. I kept thinking to myself ‘What could I possibly write about?’. Then, it came to me, I should write about what I know best: Life. Specifically, My Life- what I’ve learned from my 30+ years here on this planet which has made me into the person I am today. (A pretty amazing person if you know me!). I have always been told that I am a person who lives what I believe and practices what I preach. I am a firm believer in equality and social justice and I live my life in a way that I hope inspires others to be kind, positive, authentic and to treat others the way they want to be treated. 

My goal with this blog is to share my ‘everyday’ with you all and inspire you all to live a life where you are conscious about those around you, where you can be yourself, uncensored, yet still be aware of the diversities that exist in our society and be an ally to those who need someone to go through life with someone beside them. I plan to focus on diversities specifically from my personal realm of experience (either myself directly or through those in my family/friends circle) which include racialized people, women, those from low/mid-income families, parents/caregivers of young children, aging parents, those who have varying accessibility needs and those who identify as LGBTQ2S+. A lot of what I plan to write about will include interactions with my peers and colleagues, my family, my husband, my children, my friends and strangers so be ready to hear different perspectives. 

If anything catches you in a way that makes you upset or uncomfortable, I encourage you to contact me so we can work through it together. I am not open to ‘commenting wars’ and will not participate in them on this blog. I am open to honest, truthful, sometimes uncomfortable conversations that will ultimately lead to learning and educating each other on different perspectives. 

I hope that you continue to read my blog and let me share a little piece of my life with you all through this platform. I’m excited to write and even more excited to interact with all of you so please, comment, ask questions and if you don’t want to post here, send me a message: [email protected]. 

Until Next Time...

Akeisha