The Anthony Reeves Experience

  If you are paying out of your own pocket for your education, make sure you commit yourself to investing your time and energy into getting a return on your investment. As a former college adjunct professor, I had experiences with different students who were under the impression the money they paid the university entitled them to a degree of deferential treatment.   In other words, they treated the university like it was a ‘pay to play’.  They were paying for their education so they were entitled to a particular grade. Now, I am the son of School Teacher and grandson of TWO school teachers so I take education VERY seriously.  I try my best to do everything possible to accommodate and work with every student I can to ensure their success.   I know I can’t help every student but I truly believe in the power of being a resource to those who are truly committed to learn. The danger of thinking that ‘paying for your education’ is the same as ‘paying for a grade’ is t...

  Let’s be clear.   I HATE BUSINESS CLASSES!  There.  I said it. I am a science major (Biology).  I HATE business classes.  When I was in college, I made every effort to avoid business classes.  With the one exception of one Labor History / Labor economics class I needed as an elective in order to graduate, I went through 4 years of college UNSCATHED by Business classes. And why did I hate business classes?  No clue.  I just thought my mind wasn’t equipped to deal with the ‘business’ curriculum.  I was a science major.  I liked microscopes, Petri dishes, and autoclaves.  I enjoyed science labs, calculations, and specimens.   To me, science made sense.  To me, Business did not.   And this attitude didn’t stop there. Two years after undergrad when I went to graduate school, I still managed to duck business classes.  I had to take a Health information management course (which actually was interesting)...

  How many of you graduated with college with a degree you never use and you have NO student loan debt?? If you fall into that category, consider yourself lucky.    Hopefully, if you are not using the degree, you, at least, had a good time during your college years partying, traveling, and making new friends. But how many people who have attained degrees and are not using them? And I’m not talking about working in a field relating to your major.  I’m talking about using the classes and education you acquired in pursuing your degree in your current job.   How many of you are using the skills, the knowledge or the experience from your college experience to advance personally or professionally?? One of the perils of the ‘lure’ of a college degree is that most people probably don’t realize that your college education as well as your degree is just a tool.   What makes things even worse is that most people don’t know HOW to use that tool in order to advance...

  From 1993 to 1995, I was in a unique place. I was working for the State of Florida.  I had relocated to my college hometown of Tampa, Florida.  I was enrolled in a Master’s program.  I re-engaged with my fraternity brothers and friends after being away for a year. Another thing happened that I didn’t expect. I became a dancer, a stepper, and a choreographer. Anyone who knows me know that I love to dance.  That’s not a surprise.   Anyone who really knows me know that I love stepping (I have been stepping since 1988 so no shock there). However, in 1993 and 1994, I found myself in the unique position of being a choreographer.   And it happened in a weird kind of way. At the time, one of my best friends, Frank, had started a production label called “T.R.I.” (Tuxedo Recording International).   He and I had been friends (and brothers) since college so I had followed his music career as a musician fairly closely.  When he started his label, he too...

  I remember my civil rights Icons.    And I’m not talking about Congressman John Lewis or Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King or Rosa Parks or Malcolm X.   And I’m not talking about the living legends like Reverend Jessie Jackson or Reverend Al Sharpton. I’m talking about the people who lived through Jim Crow and shared their knowledge with me.  I’m talking my mother, my uncles, my wife’s aunts and the countless others who shared with me their experiences of living through this horrendous time.  And they are still living and still an active part of my growth. But, today, I’m not talking about them.   I’m talking about the OTHER them.  I’m talking about the people who protested against Children integrating Little Rock Central.  I’m talking about the people who protested peaceful marches for equality.  I’m talking about the people who supported and believed in Governor Wallace’s “Segregation today, Segregation tomorrow, Segregation fore...

  Have you ever seen a step show??  If you haven’t, head over to YouTube and type in ‘Stepping’ in the search engine and you will find all kinds of shows. I perform in my first step in a talent show (Apollo Nite) at my alma mater, University of Tampa, in Spring 1988.  It was awesome.  It wasn’t complicated (I made up the routine).   My next step show was as a non Greek team that performed during halftime at my alma mater’s Basketball game during my Sophomore in the Spring 1989.   A month later, I would pledge Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. which would begin my life long stepping adventures. I have been in countless shows.  At this point, there are two many to count.  Some were memorable and some were “Oooo lawd!  What were YOU thinking?”.  However, they were all impactful to me. But the one stepping performance that resonates with me occurred during my wedding reception.  My wife specifically requested my brothers and I step and t...

 Don’t take this the wrong way.  I understand and know that ‘ALL LIVES MATTER’.  I get that.   But I need you to understand something. There are parts of the country where the attitude is MY life doesn’t matter to them.   There are people out there who believe that MY life doesn’t matter.    There are people out there who don’t know me, don’t care to know me and don’t want to know me because, in their world, MY life doesn’t matter. And since MY Life doesn’t matter, causing me harm isn’t a problem because, in their minds, All Lives Matter EXCEPT the life of someone who looks like me. And as much as share I your thoughts and beliefs and accept the obvious truth (which never really needs to be said) that “ALL LIVES MATTER”, I have to be aware and alert for those people who NOT ONLY believe my life does NOT MATTER but are willing to take action to demonstrate that it does NOT matter. So, my question to you is this: If you believe that ALL LIVES MATTER, are...

  I’m sure everyone has had a similar experience and it’s almost funny to have the conversations: Have you had your first Vaccine?? Why brand did you get? Where did you get your vaccine? And, of course, the all time favorite: Did you have any side effects? Almost a month ago, my wife and I got our first shot at our primary care doctor.   No heavy lifting.  We were in and out in about 30 to 45 minutes. The funny part was what happened afterwards.    So, as you may or may not know, the provider will recommend you hang around for about 15 minutes just in case something happens.  For us, we sat in our car.  No problems there.    Then, later on that day, I started to get a mild headache.  I didn’t stress about it but it did feel like someone was rolling a roll of quarters across my forehead (and YES, I do not what that feels like. lol).   And then the arm I received my shot started to feel like I had bumped into the wall. By da...

  How many of us can remember a time of success when we were in a place of NO FEAR? I can and still stays with me today. Ever since law school (since 1999), I have trained with one teacher:  Master Anne Radke.   I have shared countless stories about her but this one particular story truly embodies a moment of ‘NO FEAR’. In March 2001, we traveled to a tournament in Gainesville, Fla. (Gainesville Challenge).  In that tournament, I was scheduled to fight in the Men’s Black Belt Heavy Weight division.  Up to that point, I had competed in quite a few tournaments with varying degrees of success.   Unfortunately, one of my problems was that I would always be anxious and nervous.  I had a million thoughts running through my head.  And as a result, I would always be fearful of the outcome.   Master Radke had a strict rule requiring her fighters to warm up with our dojo brothers and sisters before we got in the ring.   However, on this day, ...

  When I started my first career as a Safety and Health professional, I remember a co-worker who had spent 20 years in the Safety area sharing with me an interesting point.   He said “In the Safety and Health field, as a professional, you are either a Fire person or a Police person.  The one you are depends on the culture set by the employer.” I didn’t understand him at first but after multiple conversations with him and guidance and instructions from other experienced Safety and Health persons, I understood what he meant. If you are your company’s safety and health professional, your ability to effectively do your job is highlight dependent on the culture set by your employer. If your employer does not put safety and health as a priority, then as a safety and health profession, you are spending most of your time ‘putting out fires’.  As such, you are spending more time correcting behaviors, identifying violations, and serving as the ‘villian’ in terms of the impact ...

  How many of us doubt our abilities to face and overcome obstacles?? Several years ago, I used to participate in a sporting obstacle course called Warrior Dash.  Warrior Dash is a 3 to 5 mile event with a series of obstacles which include water obstacles, fire obstacles, mud, dirt, and walls.   You could go at your own pace but the best part of the course was that every year they moved to a different location and the obstacles were always different. For me, I LOVED it.  I never cared about the obstacles.  You had the option to avoid the obstacles you had to face but I never did.  I welcomed everyone.   At the end of the course, I would be dirty, smelly, nasty and funky.  Yet, I had completed the course and negotiated every obstacle.    I’m not surprised Warrior Dash worked for me.  I had run obstacle courses when I was in the Military (Basic Training, Advanced Individual Training, 4 years of ROTC, Advanced Camp, and Officers B...

  “Make sure you give blood so we can get some lab work done.” And there it is.  That’s how it starts. You go to the doctor every year for a routine visit or a follow up and, at some point, they want lab work done. And the reality is that most of us don’t really know what any of the results mean.  Glucose.  HDL.  LDL.  A1C.   All of these things are a different language to us.   We have no idea if they are good or bad.    Until we sit down with our doctors. On some days, the doctor tells you everything is normal or that they want to keep an eye on a couple of things.  They try to tell us what the results mean.  They explain things we need to change.  Stop eating fast food.  Exercise more.   Add a medication here or there.  Come see them in 6 months to see how you’re doing.  That’s the conversation you don’t mind.  On other days, the conversation goes a different direction.  The doctor see...

  Have you ever discovered your own strength through someone else’s faith in you?  What person in your life has so much faith in you that you draw strength from it?? One of my strength reinforcers is Master Radke When I met Master Anne Radke in law school, I was just looking for a Karate teacher.  I didn’t want to jump around from school to school.  I didn’t want to be a world MMA, Point or Full Contact Fighter.  I wanted a teacher.  I wanted a safe space to build on my foundation.   I didn’t want any responsibilities.  I didn’t want any duties.  I just wanted to go to class, learn, work out and go home. It’s amazing how we think we WANT one thing and find out you NEED another. When I walked into Master Radke’s dojo, I had decided in my mind what I needed.  I felt I needed someone to train me in a different way.  I felt I needed someone to improve my cardio and strength.  I felt I needed a place to hide in the corner, train, an...