Interview: Sherman Watkins

Last week, our Journalism class interviewed Sherman Watkins. Mr. Watkins is an amazing artist. His story was absolutely incredible and a true inspiration to me.

Mr. Watkins was born in Danville, Virginia and orphaned at age 5. He was given to his aunt and uncle who would beat him constantly and his siblings were given to other families. At age 6, he began drawing stick figures. He says that drawing would take his mind off of his situation and make him stop worrying about where his siblings were. From there, his talents grew by the day.

He is now a very successful and  well known artist. His works are incredible and sell for thousands of dollars. Not only is his art featured in museums, it is also featured in the houses of celebrities…yes, you read that right…celebrities! For example, he is heading to Georgia soon to deliver artwork to none other than…Tyler Perry. In addition to this, he has painted portraits for United States Presidents as well as rulers all over the world. He is currently working on finishing a Civil Rights collection. This collection already has 42 paintings, but he is hoping to get a few more pictures (about 8 more) in there before he calls it complete.

One of his best pieces of advice was, “Everyday is a new day to learn. You are always better today than you were yesterday.” This advice can rein true in anyone’s life. No matter what you are going through, stay strong because you, along with what you do, will continue to get stronger.

Written by Ashley Burnette

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Interview: Sean Slaughter

Sean Slaughter, a musician, producer, loving father and husband, was interviewed by the Journalism class last Friday. The man came in and immediately started dropping rhymes. Everyone in the class was impressed by his allusions and lyrics. Slaughter went from rhymes to his life story, which began with music. He was born in Queens, NY, and from there came a lot of his inspiration for music he would make later in life. His career started at 19, when he was living in the basement of a friend with small recording equipment right next to his bed. He named the "producing" business Slaughter Music. The production kicked off when he started making beats for the Wu-Tang Clan. After a couple years of working for them and several others, he started producing his own music and became a more independent studio. His first two albums came out on the same day, August 22, 2001, "The World Is Not Enough" and "Justice for All."

Some of his greatest accomplishments include having his album Prototype on the best selling Top 50 list on iTunes and his song "Die Daily" as a Grammy nominee. He now lives in Hampton, VA and enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters, Melody and Lyric. Over the last couple years he has branched out from music and moved into running businesses. Slaughter owns the Virginia Recording Arts Institute, Life Power Music Mentoring, and is Executive Director of YH Thomas Community Center. He was a pretty awesome guest. Give some of his music a listen and comment below what you think!

Written by Keira Zirkle

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Staff Interview: Dr. Letitia Lyons

Dr. Letitia Lyons, 2003 high school basketball player of the year at Woodside High School and OBGYN at one of the largest hospitals in Texas, was interviewed by our Journalism Class.

The class interviewed her on September 11th, where she gave a summary of her journey from scholarship basketball player at ODU to doctor in a prominent hospital.

Ms. Lyons was born in Germany to two army parents. From there, she lived in Korea and four different U.S. states. During high school, she was a 6'0" shooting guard and ended her career with 1,700 points under her belt. From there, Ms. Lyons went on to major in Biology with a minor in Sports Management at Old Dominion University.

During her time in college, Dr. Lyons met many difficulties. She tried several times to pass the MCAT, a standardized test that decides if you can enter medical school. When she took the test a fifth time and got 1 point away from passing, the medicine school allowed her to still be accepted, proving that even in failure you can still have success. She gives God all the glory for the favor shown to her. While in medical school, she studied to become an orthopedic surgeon, but throughout the course decided being a gynecologist was better for her. She currently works at the sixth largest medical university in the nation, the University of Texas - Houston.

Here are some excerpts from our interview with Dr. Lyons

• What made you want to become a doctor?
• "My grandmother would always talk about her treatment by doctors. She talked of how she was never truly looked after and never felt cared for. Plus I watched this show called Operation," (popular doctor show in the 90s), "I thought it would be cool to do surgeries."
• What is the 'craziest' birth you have ever had to help deliver?
• "A lady came in at preterm, which preterm means the pregnancy is at 32 of 40 weeks, so the baby is still small. So we're setting up the room and team and we tell the lady, 'Don't push.' The lady doesn't listen, and I hear a grunt. The lady pushes and a baby comes flying at me. I catch the baby, but it was reflex action."
• What is your standpoint on abortion?
• "As a Christian, I don't agree with it. I understand though, the need for it. If the baby is going to harm the mother, or it's better for the baby to not be born, then I see the necessity for it. However, I will never want to or will perform an abortion, I will pass it off to a doctor who would do it."
• Any advice for becoming a doctor or entering the medical field?
• "Honestly, stay focused, especially on your end goal of becoming a doctor. Study, lots and lots of studying, which goes along with focus. Learn how to study, I didn't really learn to until my third time taking the test which hurt me."

Written by Keira Zirkle

Staff Interview: Brandon Santos

On Friday, September 25th, our HCA Journalism Staff interviewed Brandon Santos, a close friend of our supervisor, Mr. Brickhouse. Mr. Santos was very interesting and insightful. He told us his story and gave us some advice.

Mr. Santos went to Alliance Christian High School before attending the college of William and Mary for law school. After he graduated from William and Mary, he moved to Washington D.C, where he currently lives.  While working with the government, He started his own company doing consultations and contracts . The main contracts that he attends to are to help veterans and current service members, along with their families, maintain their well-being. He says his favorite part of owning his own company is that he doesn’t have to answer to anyone. He also likes the fact that you are constantly trying to outsmart someone else. Mr. Santos’ company is growing rapidly and I believe it will continue to flourish.

During the interview, the staff asked him to give us some advice on careers and life in general.  He was very helpful and  inspirational, giving us such quotes as “Meet as many people as you can who will be able to further your career,”and  “Don’t let anyone dictate your decisions.” The best piece of advice?  “You never understand yourself until you are faced with adversity.” From the very beginning of his interview, Mr. Santos was a very charismatic and passionate man. His talk was incredibly interesting, and  I believe many of us could benefit from his advice and example. 

-Ashley Burnette

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