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Aba Mfrase-Ewur
Year: This is so strange, I am a junior in college now.
Major: Creative Advertising with minors in French and Art History
Hometown: Hampton, Virginia
Why did you choose VCU?
Believe it or not, because I was paying for my education, I only applied to three schools my senior year of high school: VCU, ODU, and CNU. I don’t think there needs to be anymore explanation as to why I picked VCU.
What is your favorite thing about Richmond?
Ah! There are so many things that I love about Richmond. I don’t want to be that girl and say how diverse it is, so I’ll say all the pizza places around here! I also have still not gotten over how many beautiful people live and go to school here and I don’t know if I will.
Who or what inspires you the most?
Good question. Honestly I would have to say that any and everything inspires me. I know many people do not believe that an encounter with difficult situation or a difficult person can be inspiring but I firmly believe that anything can give you that spark or that little kick in the butt that gets the gears in your mind going. As a Creative Advertising major, when you’re looking for inspiration anywhere, even in little pieces of gum stuck to the bottom of the desk in your 8 am class. You start to see the ways that ideas can be formed and the ways that they can grow through any experience. Whether it’s camping or attending a seminar or getting your ad chewed apart or getting whistled at while making your way to work. You might find that while you’re getting chewed up by mosquitos in the wilderness that sounds of nature and the cat-call combined would make an awesome layer to a track you’ve been trying so hard to finish. Or that attending that seminar might change your entire summer if you score an internship. Anything can happen at any time for the good or for the not so good. You just have to remember that it’s all happening for a reason and to take something, take anything from it.
What organizations are you involved with at VCU?
I used to be very closely affiliated with HerCampus but ever since I added my second minor and began blogging daily, all of my time is divided carefully between eating pizza, not really sleeping, modeling, school (of course), blogging, networking, and trying to convince my friends and family that I still exist in this world. However, recently I was looking into joining SHHO, which is the Student Hip Hop Organization here at VCU. I have a deep love and respect for Hip-Hop and I’m definitely interested in bringing some more people into my life that feel the same way.
What is the name of your blog? What is the focus?
The name of the blog is Virtual Mutt. It is a music, fashion, and culture blog based on the lives of Chance Llanes and myself. We blog about the things we love in the fields of fashion, music and culture. Unlike many blogs, we are a collective. A collective of bodies of minds, of ideas and puppy love. A collective of not only two, but many and all with a single goal: to bring the power back into credibility.
How has your blog grown since its beginning?
Ah, funny story. This blog actually used to be solely Chance’s. It was more of a place for him to express himself and talk about things he liked and found to be interesting but after we met about 7 months ago in the middle of the street on a Saturday night, he asked me to join him in this endeavor. I was incredibly nervous because Chance is one of those ridiculously talented and gorgeous people who are entirely too unaware of how amazing they are because they are too busy being themselves. You know, those people. Needless to say I said yes and began the life of a blogger. It was something I never imagined myself doing. I never thought I would be good at it but I shocked Chance and myself when we posted our first interview with Apolis (an amazing California based company that makes impeccable menswear) that we snagged on the fly. We had the most traffic to the site than we had ever had and the kickass folks at Need Supply gave us mad props. People from around the world were reading and commenting. Apolis even featured Chance’s photographs on their blog. It was an awesome experience that drove us forward. Ever since that post, we’ve been striving to keep that momentum going; to make even more connections and to grow our collective. Since then, we’ve had our friend who is a metalsmith join our crew and our other friend help us out on the PR end of things. Thanks to him, we’ll be collaborating with a clothing line out in LA in the next couple of weeks. We’re growing fast and in a hurry and we definitely are not complaining.
Do you plan on incorporating your blogging interests into your future career? What is your dream? And how do you plan on getting there?
I already have, as a matter of fact. Virtual Mutt provides me a platform to speak my mind and the minds of others who think the same way and care about the same things that I do. It allows me to obsess over fashion and great music and make ridiculous puppy puns. It affords me the opportunity to learn what it entails to begin a business, to create an image and uphold yourself to standards. I am living my major at this point, it’s basically a self appointed internship and I plan on making something huge out of it. I have already met so many people, made so many great connections and made friends with a lot of the people I severely admired when I was wide-eyed in rva for the first time. It feels good to know that I can empower myself. That I can propel myself forward with my own will. But let me tell you, it isn’t easy. I just really love it. My belief in my ability to do whatever I out my mind to is what’s going to get me there. The fact that I have so many great friends that believe in me helps as well. Also, pizza.
What is something everyone should know about you?
That I was not named after the Lion King, my parents are from Ghana in West Africa.I rarely wake up upset and that I’m addicted to carbohydrates.
A word of advice?
Do not ever stop learning. Study people, study situations, study yourself. If there is anything that we have massive abundance of on this earth, it’s information. Make the effort to learn as much as you can with this life. Take chances and do things you have never even thought about doing. You might end up hating them but I guarantee you’ll learn from them. Your horizons will broaden and what’s more attractive than being informed and educated? Nothing.
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