Thee Texas It Girl

By Ellyanne Hall, Skyline guest columnist

She clutched her graduation cap through rhinestoned claws. The square surface read “Real Hot Girl Shit,” in a seventies styled font that was meticulously laid to serve as a bedazzled ode her to alter ego, Megan Thee Stallion, and the catch phrase that inspired movement amongst aging and blooming generations. Movement from millennials and gen z alike in the form of defiant and unbridled physical expression and the wide range assertion of the power of femininity under a new regime.

Megan Thee Stallion kicked down the ceiling of the so-called rap game with stilettos and situated herself within the apex of social relevance. She climbed the ladder of the pipe dream, thwarting existential dualism through the tireless creation of situationally supported personalities. Protected by the hard exterior of the defiant of alter ego, “Tina Snow” or the carefree partying nature of “Hot Girl Meg” Megan Pete creates a face for any occasion, each enviable and with trace characteristics fans wish to adapt and emulate. Under a spotlight, she’s undeniably Megan Thee Stallion, a woman fiercely playing into the persona of a moniker unwittingly bestowed before the dream had been realized. Stallion- The kind of man given name for a prematurely developed young woman for reasons that would make your skin crawl. A name that encompassed superficial physical attributes without an ounce of respect or recognition for the accessible power store. Megan pre–Stallion Pete understood the depth of connotation. She embraced the name she had been given, embodied the strength, power, and tenacity of the beast, and crashed into the elite.

The graduation cap signified a different kind of honor. An honor not bestowed by public ardor or sales focused executives; but hard earned by a woman marked and inspired by great personal loss. An accomplishment that stemmed from a basis of attainability and realism, the culmination of a vision shared by a mother and grandmother gone too soon. “I want to get my degree because I really want my mom to be proud,” “She saw me going to school before she passed… and they were really hard on me about finishing college, so I was like, you know what? I’m not just doing it for myself; I’m doing it for them too. I want them to be so proud.”

Texas true Megan Pete stood in the wings of the stage, awaiting her transition from student to graduate. Her induction to coveted alumni and her first foray on the precipice of posthumously dedicated achievement. Two years and several prestigious awards (including a Grammy for Best New Artist) into her reign as Megan Thee Stallion, Megan Pete was no stranger to the prospect of instantaneous applause or the reverberating echo of her name; however, the final bow of the collegiate experience belonged to just Megan Pete and her innermost circle.

As it stands, Megan Thee Stallion has proved herself to the world through lyrical expression while Megan Pete reevaluated and expanded her purpose within the walls of

higher education. The journey for both is far from over. With an upcoming album and pending Netflix series, Megan Thee Stallion still has a lot left to say; while Pete works in the background to apply her degree towards funding scholarships for the underprivileged and building assisted living homes in a passion centered humanitarian endeavor to inspire and uplift the Houston community that reared her. A true Texas “It” girl, captivating in every sense, each accolade and pursuit earned by a real woman, with a real name that possesses the mental fortitude to chase one dream while living another

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