Crazy, Loud and Loyal
This ECU student has it all.
“Tenika should have her own show — The Tenika Show — because you never know what she will say or do,” Kim said. “She’s a trip.”
This sentiment was repeated as I spoke with each of her friends. They used words like ‘crazy,’ ‘caring,’ ‘friendly,’ ‘unique,’ ‘loyal,’ and ‘determined,’ each expressing a different facet of the persona that is Tenika Dunston.
Tenika Dunston was born on December 27, 1987 and lived in Raleigh, North Carolina until she came to the exciting new world of East Carolina University. When asked about what she was like in her younger years long time friend Danielle recalled that she as quiet and reserved, but blossomed when she came to ECU.
“She heard that people said she was quiet and when she went away to college she made the effort to get to know people and became really outgoing” Danielle said.
This thought was shared by her friend Kim. She speaks about late night talks that she and Tenika had about Tenikas younger years. Tenika told her that when she came into contact with the new people she met here in college she wanted to make the effort to be heard.
One of the key factors that helped this transformation, according to her friends, was when Tenika joined the Theta Alpha Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. It is in this ECU sorority that Tenika is also a member of the step team, a well-known and highly respected group of dancers.
“Tenika has no rhythm at all” Kim said, “but after we saw her step her first time, we were all so proud!”
One of the most frequent keywords used when describing Tenika was ‘determined’. According to Kim, this dedication and determination are evident in the activity of stepping. “She is always at practice,” she said, drawing long on the word always, “She will be chillin’ with us and then be like ‘I’ve gotta go to practice’.”
These same words of dedication and determination were shared by longtime friend Danielle. When asked about what Tenikas strengths were Danielle said that she believed Tenika was extremely intelligent, this was also shared by Kim and Stacy, saying that when she found something that she wanted, that she wanted to learn, or to do, she never stopped, she set her mind to it and went at it with all her heart and mind.
This intelligence came into play as she spoke of her major and future plans. As a Communication Major with a concentration in Public Relations and a minor in Psychology, Tenika spoke of her desire to travel, and to use her schooling in the area of Psychology to learn how people work, to see, as she says “To see why people act the way thy do.”
When asked what she wanted to do after her graduation, she said she wanted to go to Graduate School or work at an internship for a PR firm. Eventually she wants to go out and work in the entertainment field. Seeking out work at such establishments as MTV, or and entertainment show where she desires to bridge the gap between the audience and the news. To learn what audiences want to hear and how to better interact with them, as she said, “I don’t want to be front and center, but to find a way to connect the two.” This was also expressed by her friends, who said she wanted to write books, to travel and participate in graduate school to further her education and better herself, and that when she was younger she wanted to be a travel correspondent, but now wanted to work more in a major city where she could get to know the people.
Of all that was spoken about Tenika, the most emphasis that her friends placed on an aspect of her personality was her loyalty. As Kim and Stacy both agreed, she is fiercely loyal to the people she loves the most. When asked about how she interacted with people she was spoken of as, ‘smiley’, ‘friendly’, bubbly’ but more importantly she was loyal and determined. As she spoke about how Tenika felt about her sorority Kim pointed out how she was fiercely loyal to her sisters, saying she would never let anyone talk badly about her sisters or her friends, they also spoke about how she was loyal to the ideal that were presented in her sorority.
When all was said and done, Kim’s statement seemed to sum up Tenika Dunston the best, “You never know what she’s going to say, but you knew she was there and that you wanted to be around her”.
Filed under: Classmate Profiles