Sumaira McCloud

Okay- I know I am not the only person this has happened to... I walk into the gym pumped up to do some cardio because God knows I prefer elliptical running over concrete- and I see a plethora of empty machines and think YES! ALL THIS IS MINE! I AM THE CHOSEN ONE! I feel as if I have just won the lottery! No one around to bug me! I can pick any machine I want, the world is MINE! And then...it happens....about 10-15 mins into my awesome playlist and furious running on the elliptical someone decides to join my party... THERE ARE SO MANY EMPTY MACHINES. WHY ARE YOU CHOOSING THIS ONE NEXT TO ME? YOU ARE RUINING MY FOCUS.  So many things running through my head as I continue to run on this elliptical. Bonus workout, my brain? No, we are not racing. Why do you smell like that? Wait, do I smell like that? What is your intention? Am I an asshole for getting annoyed? Did you just fart? Why did you do this? Why are you running so fast and you just started?

Jealousy…let’s define it. According to Dictionary.com: Jealousy is resentment against a rival, a person enjoying success or advantages etc or against another’s success or advantage itself. If this is the case, why do we often experience jealousy from a loved one? Weird, right? Well, too bad the reality is that many people do get jealous of their friends and family. It is quite unattractive... but it happens. Few people are obvious about their feelings of jelly while others can keep their jealous feelings a secret…that is of course a secret for a small time, it begins to show soon! I have been jealous before. Truthfully, most of my adolescent years were wasted being jealous of things or other people. The root of my jealousy, and majority of most people, is insecurity. When a person feels inferior or believes they lack some quality or trait that others have. I was so incredibly insecure and unsure of myself at all times. I yearned for approval from everyone I w

Going into this internship a few weeks ago, I knew very little about laws, court systems, non-profits, and Victim Advocates. I had a small understanding. Laws exist, Florida has their own laws, the court is there to determine outcomes of defendants, non-profits are companies that normally work without the intention to make a profit and Victim Advocates are people who help those that are in need of help. Right? Boy, was I wrong about that last one. On Google after searching "Victim Advocate" the definition appears: "Victim Advocates are professionals trained to support victims of crime. Advocates offer victims information, emotional support, and help finding resources and filling out paperwork. Sometimes, advocates go to court with the victims." For a generic answer, fine, that's acceptable. But let me take a moment to further explain what exactly the VA's at Compassionate Family do. I would say for their job, but that's a bit insulting. This is

I must say. The most common misconception about working in a restaurant is that the number one problem is customers leaving bad tips. This is not true. We do hate those people (especially if we gave good service) but, the most common aggravation and frustration and reason for most servers to quit restaurant after restaurant (while struggling in college or what have you) is poor excuses for managers. If you're reading this and you are a manager at a restaurant, only take offense if the next few bullet points relate to you and your behavior. If not, keep up the awesome managing and try to rub off on others. How to tell if you're a sorry-excuse-for-a-manager:  You hate your job You get upset when servers "who are below you" are in school or working toward anything to brighten their future since they do not have the desire to stay in restaurant world for ever, like you have chosen/been forced into doing. You are petty; you cut hours on the servers who need t

In honor of a popular social media trend, "Woman Crush Wednesday" (often found on Instagram) where users upload an image of an attractive woman honoring their favorite "woman" for the world to see; I have decided to dedicate an entire blog post on my amazing best friend, woman crush, Heather aka Hutch. Any woman who has ever had a real best friend will appreciate this blog post. I want to humbly brag about mine, because she is has been such an amazing bestie for quite some time now. We met yearsssssss ago (2008) at Florida Community College of Jacksonville (Which is now a state university) as we both were failing math class. Things haven't changed since, we both still hate math hence us both being communication majors.                                   Our very first photo ever (eww) during 2008:  Anyone who knows me or reads my blog avidly already is aware that I am big into relationships.  What I sometimes don't unde

Two years ago while I was 24 I read something inspiring on Elite Daily and decided to make my own blog version of such. I titled it 24 and still learning and I wrote 13 different "tips" that I felt were worthy of sharing. There are times I re-read old blogs, Thought Catalog , Buzzfeed , and in turn inspire myself all over again, haha. So here it is, two years later, the list continues to grow! 26 and still learning.... 1. You are where you are for a reason, learn to appreciate it now. With all this social media craze it is so incredibly easy to get lost for hours on Pinterest, Tumblr, and Instagram just admiring and being jealous of others' lives and all that they have. What we often forget, however, is that these people are showing their highlight reel- and we are comparing our behind the scenes. Stop it. We don't know how this person got to where they are. The struggles, fights, low points are something not being shared. Instead of being envious or dreaming

Every third Thursday of each month Compassionate Families has an open public meeting to all survivors. This meeting starts at 5:30 P.M. in Downtown Jacksonville ( Free Parking on street after 6:00 P.M .) at 126 W Adams Street (Floor 5, conference room) and any person who is a survivor to a homicide is welcome to come (free to come, and no obligation to stay) Typically these meetings are intended for survivors to come forth and share their story. Who they lost, how it happened, what their life is like now, and meeting new people who are in the same position as them. The meetings run until 8:00 P.M. It does not matter if the crime occurred in another state or city; long as you, the survivor, are here in Jacksonville this Thursday, you may come! I've taken the time to target the dates for each meeting this entire year for 2015. January: Thursday, January 22, 2015 5:30 P.M. - 8:00 P.M. February: Thursday, February 19, 2015 5:30 P.M. - 8:00 P.M. March: Thursday, March 19, 2015

In 1971 Martin Luther King Jr. had a day named after him, and by 1986, January 19th became a Federal Holiday in the United States of America. It is important to recognize figures such as MLK, because he stood for justice and equality. He fought many battles to bring peace to all people. Sadly, he was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee.  My favorite part of MLK's famous speech from August 28, 1963  reads: "...I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal. I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia that sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one da

Every third Thursday of each month Compassionate Families has an open public meeting to all survivors. This meeting starts at 5:30 P.M. in Downtown Jacksonville ( Free Parking on street after 6:00 P.M .) at 126 W Adams Street (Floor 5, conference room) and any person who is a survivor to a homicide is welcome to come (free to come, and no obligation to stay) Typically these meetings are intended for survivors to come forth and share their story. Who they lost, how it happened, what their life is like now, and meeting new people who are in the same position as them. The meetings run until 8:00 P.M. I've taken the time to target the dates for each meeting this entire year for 2015. January: Thursday, January 22, 2015 5:30 P.M. - 8:00 P.M. February: Thursday, February 19, 2015 5:30 P.M. - 8:00 P.M. March: Thursday, March 19, 2015 5:30 P.M. - 8:00 P.M. April: Thursday, April 16, 2015 5:30 P.M. - 8:00 P.M. May: Thursday, May 21, 2015 5:30 P.M. - 8:00 P.M. Ju

If you live in the Jacksonville area you already know how many non-profits are around every corner! I love finding out new places, but when I find a place like Compassionate Families I must tell the whole world about it! Let me start by explaining what Compassionate Families is... This non-profit focuses on assisting homicide survivors. A survivor is any person who just lost a loved one due to crime and homicide. This ranges from mother, father, sister, brother, cousin, niece, uncle, aunt, friend, neighbor, and so on. A lot of people can be classified as a survivor. How it Became... Glen Mitchell and his wife Margaret Mitchell lost their beloved son during 1993. Due to this life changing tragedy, they decided to create this company to assist others during the same difficult circumstances. This non-profit consists of a staff that are all survivors. This sad connection brings together these amazing, hard working people. Although they endured the worst possible event, they now d

Every blogger secretly hopes that one day one of their better blogs will be featured in either Buzzfeed , Elite Daily , Business Insider , or something of this nature. From this share hundreds of people are exposed to your writing and thoughts and from there who knows what could come. Last night as I was in bed (tired as anything) I was doing my usual Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube catching up. During my scrolling on Facebook I saw a friend from high school post a blog link from a random author that was titled, " I am not dating a racial slur " and the link was wordpress.com which I am far too familiar with. I clicked it, read it, and felt so proud that her blog was getting exposure. Not only was the author a young college student, but she was in the same situation that I could relate to. See, she is dating an African American, and for some odd reason during 2015 a lot of people have an issue with this. She, herself, is Caucasian if I am not mistaken. Although I am Paki

Business Insider posted an interesting article . I decided to answer these 30 something questions for fun. Reminded me of MySpace days from high school! Set 1 1. Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?  *Denzel Washington, no explanation needed  2. Would you like to be famous? In what way? *Not famous because I wouldn't enjoy my life being exploited but I wouldn't mind being internet famous from things like YouTube or Vine etc.  3. Before making a telephone call, do you ever rehearse what you are going to say? Why? *LOL, yes, I do, but only for professional calls. 4. What would constitute a "perfect" day for you? *Not having to work or go to school hahaha. But really, it would start by cooking for a lover, either Donald or Heather, both are the same, and eating a ton with them, then cleaning right away because I have OCD, doing Hookah with mojito flavor, then working out or jogging or something of this nature,