Name: Bria Eriel Akomah
Year: 3rd year
Program: Communications
What is your favourite Holiday Starbucks drink?
My favourite holiday Starbucks drink is definitely the peppermint mocha – hate gingerbread and hate pumpkin spice. Peppermint mocha is definitely my drink. I get a venti with two shots of espresso. They have these chocolate bits on top. I love coffee. Coffee is awesome!
Would you rather start over as a first year or be forced to kiss the Hawk every time you walked by it?
Would I have to change my life? I really liked my first year life. Honestly, I’m pretty religious about not stepping on the Hawk. This is really hard. I think I would relive my first year life only so I can have that 10 GPA that I dreamed of. That and I don’t like kissing floors. Everything else about my first year life I wouldn’t change. I had a pretty unreal first year. #KingsCourtProblems
You’re King’s Court Problems?!
I created it and it was really crazy. It wasn’t supposed to happen! Basically what happened in the first week of school I was miserable, I didn’t have my hair extensions in, and I was vulnerable and meeting new people. King’s Court was going through some sketchy problems; light fixtures were broken, no hot water, green water coming out of the sink, moss; we were legitimately going through problems. I tweet a lot, so as the week went by people started liking my tweets and said I was funny when I put #KingsCourtProblems so my roommates, my don, and my ice breakers made me perform in a talent show reading my tweets. They had to literally drag me on stage, but I did it and my heart was pounding out of my chest and I had no idea if people were laughing. I was worried they would think I was just some random first year reading her problems, but I guess some people thought it was funny. When I came off stage people loved it! We went from 50 followers to something like 360 followers on Twitter and then we hit 800 for a bit. People started tweeting me their problems and I would retweet them. People started recognizing me on campus as #KingsCourtProblems, it was such a celebrity moment. I still get tweets here and there and I’ll use it to retweet stuff once in a while.
Tell us about your involvement on campus
I’m really involved on campus. I feel like that’s one of my best things to do. I was always involved in high school. One of the reasons I came to Laurier is that there’s literally a club for everybody. I really wanted to be a part of that. Right now I am in Rec Dance at the AC, we have a recital coming up this Sunday and all proceeds go to the Waterloo Food Bank, so that’s really good. I’m also a part of ALIAS – this dance group that was established in Fall 2012 and I became a part of it Fall 2013. I fell in love with it. Since we’re not competing anymore this semester, I feel withdrawal from the group, like I really need to see them more often. I also work at Wilf’s on campus. I love seeing my usual take-out people and talking about their day; I feel like that job was made for me, I love it!
If you could go back and advise first-year-you on anything, what advice would you give yourself?
In Mississauga I lived a pretty privileged life. I had a group of friends, a good group of girl friends, my fair share of significant others, and I was well rounded at school and had dance and everything. I feel like moving to a new area, you represent yourself. Even though you still carry your identity with you, in this new area it’s all you. I really struggled with that. Falling to peer pressure from friends and roommates while deciding what to do with my time. There’s still pressure now in third year! Do the things you like to do and if you stop liking something, me true to that. Don’t force yourself to adapt to things that don’t make you feel comfortable. I would just say be true to yourself and be yourself because at the end of the day nobody else can tell you you’re doing that wrong. That’s a motto I try to live by.
What is your best dance move?
My best dance-move… are we talking Phil’s? That’s hard. People say I’m a really good groover. When I go out I like doing groovy stuff in the club and just doing my own thing. I feel like I have a good ability for feeling the beat and putting accents on things that are good. I’m a really good groover. They also say I’m a good twerker…
What is your proudest accomplishment in your Laurier career?
It’s always hard to pick out. I want to say it was actually this semester with ALIAS when we won O.U.C.H. for the very first time. We took it home and we were so happy! We are a very healthily competitive group and we’ve always wanted to bring it home for Laurier. Even though I didn’t actually dance because I’m the manager of ALIAS, it was really good to watch all twelve dancers grow and actively achieve what they wanted to achieve. We were able to inspire the audience by being different and authentic and brought home the prize. I didn’t tell anybody on ALIAS but I actually cried a little in the curtains just before the final bow.
Is there anything you wish you had gotten involved in that you didn’t?
Yes. I wish I had gotten involved in the Fashion and Lifestyle Society! My university career is not over yet! I really want to be a part of that group. I used to do makeup for a coop placement and I’m constantly looking at clothes and accessories. I’m a sucker for girly things.
What does being a Golden Hawk mean to you?
Being true to yourself! Knowing your worth and knowing who you are as an individual. I feel like there is something golden about everything that people may not realize. Laurier has a unique way of embodying that. Being a Golden Hawk is just being yourself and shining to your fullest potential because that’s really a golden thing!