Music

Usher Raymond famous R&B singer and actor was born in Dallas, Texas on October 14, 1978. He grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He learned he could sing after joining the local church choir. Once his talent was discovered they moved to Atlanta, Georgia in belief that the city would help showcase his talent. There he attended the North Spring Charter School of Arts and Sciences. By the age 13 he had competing on numerous talent shows including Star Search where he was spotted by an A&R representative. A contract with the company soon followed where he was introduced on his first song "Call Me A Mack". On August 30th 1994 he released his self titled debut album where P. Diddy produced several of his tracks. His album peaked at number 25 on The Top R&B/Hip hop albums chart. After graduating high school he still pursued his dream being featured on a couple of songs. He became close friends with producer Jermain Dupri whom co-wrote and produced several tracks for his second album My Way released September 16, 1997. His lead of single "You make wanna" hit number 1 its second week out and remained there for 11 weeks and at number 2 on the pop charts for 7 weeks.  My way went 6x platinum in the US.  He received his first grammy as best male R&B vocal performance for "You Make Me Wanna".  By the end of 1997 he did a couple of tours including Puffy's No Way Out tour and Janet's Velvet Rope tour.  He made his first acting debut on Moesha which got him his first movie role in The Faculty.  In August 2001 he released his album 8701 which sold more than 7 million worldwide.  His single "U Remind Me" and U Got it Bad" topped the US charts.  He won another Grammy in 2002 for his single "U Got it Bad".  He ended the year with a trio appearance on TV in The Twilight Zone, 7th Heaven, Moesha and American Dreams.  Usher released his fourth album Confessions on March 2004.  Confessions  sold 1.1 million in a week and 19 million in total making it the most successful album of the year.  On August 3rd, 2007 Usher got married to his fiance Foster and welcomed home his baby boy on November 26, 2007.  He and his family currently live in Fulton County, Georgia. 

Habits of Mind

Habits of the mind are little things that goad the mind to think more clearly and complex. It's an advantage toward behaving intelligently when confronted with complex problems. The mind would engage in intellectual patterns or resources needed to achieve the job. One habit of mind my mind lacks is thinking interdependently. Thinking interdependently is when I think with others in a group, I tend to think alone and work alone I feel I can achieve a lot more and retain more knowledge then sharing it with others. As we all know human beings are social creatures so thinking alone all the time could impede the mind from gaining other knowledge. We tend to learn from one another anyway that is how knowledge is passed and we learn from the diverse ways it is being perceived. This is a common disposition due to the fact not everyone is willing to work and share their ideas with others. Some problems are too complex though for one individual to solve on their own, not one person can retain or know all the knowledge or data needed to solve the conflict that is why its a disposition. To work in a group it requires willingness and openness on feedback and criticism along with the ability to listen well and take heed to what is being discussed.


I experienced this at young age in school. Group projects never really enthused me because there was always someone in the group who wanted the free ride and many different ideas and ways of thinking, I found it hard to work under these conditions. I always thought it was more intricate to achieve a project in a group then alone because then you have others you have to please and make sure they have some input that goes along with everyone else.

I am Shanair

I am diligent and astute
I wonder about the government
I hear sirens
I see chaos
I want peace
I am diligent and astute

I pretend to be superior
I feel lost
I touch my inner soul
I worry about my future
I cry when others die
I am diligent and astute

I understand my background
I say strive to persevere
I dream of being successful
I try to inspire others
I hope to become a lawyer
I am diligent and astute