“Real World, Real Talk” was held Thursday night in the School of Journalism and Graphic Communications Lecture Hall. The event offered students a lively atmosphere with a very serious undertone.
The anticipated event, which is hosted annually by the FAMU Society of Professional Journalists, featured an adult male and female panel that answers students’ most pressing questions about sex, careers and relationships.
The men and women were separated into two different rooms for one two-hour session, and then both groups were brought together for a joint session for the last 30 minutes.
Leslie Moore, 20, a third-year public relations student from Montgomery, Ala., believes that events like “Real World, Real Talk” help students to grow emotionally.
“Sometimes the best thing you can do to get better as a person is to simply listen to people who have been through the same things that we are going through right now,” Moore said.
This was Moore’s second year attending the session, and many of her peers were also second or third time attendees.
“I came here with a friend last year, and I thought it was cool,” said Laprecka Johnson, 21, a Tallahassee resident. “We definitely did not have anything like this where I’m from.”
Yanela Gordon, a professor in the school of journalism and the SPJ advisor, believes that sentiments like Johnson’s make the event a necessity.
“Often times students don’t have people to talk to,” Gordon said.
According to the SPJ President, Jaylen Christie, 22, a magazine production student from Tallahassee, “Real World, Real Talk” is the main event that the organization focuses on.
“We have been seriously planning this for about 3 weeks, and we got all new people than last year; a whole new panel,” Christie said.
The women’s panel consisted of professor Laura Downey of SJGC, Camye Edwards of Big Bend Cares Prevention and Education, Allison Lockhart of the FAMU Office of Counseling Services, and Minister Genleah Swain of the Family Worship and Praise Center.
The men’s panelists consisted of Sam Carter of the Florida Department of Health, Professor Brandan Craft of SJGC, Psychologist Dana Dennard, Attorney Charles Hobbs, Professor Kenneth Jones of SJGC and Minister Sharvis Whitted of the Family Worship and Praise Center.
The main event was followed by a reception in the SJGC Gallery.
According to Christie, it was a major success for the third year in a row.
“I was rather impressed with this year’s event,” Christie said. “The knowledge that we gained from each panelist was incredible, and I believe a lot of students will be leaving happy and fulfilled.”