How Attending An HBCU Changed My Outlook On Life

From the marching bands, Greek life, parties/kickbacks, talent/ fashion shows, and football games, HBCUs ain’t nothing to play with.

 Not to mention the cultural significance, attending an HBCU is an experience that cannot be duplicated.

I’ll never forget my first homecoming, it was the culmination of my HBCU experience, and it changed my outlook on life. HBCU Homecoming is an annual, week-long celebration of Black culture, education, and fellowship. It’s a tradition for friends, family, and alumni to bask in their glory days, relive epic moments, and reconnect with familiar faces. It’s like a big ol’ family reunion.

While the rest of the world is so busy tearing us down and belittling our existence, Homecoming is an opportunity to celebrate our many triumphs. It’s a chance to look back on our rich history of overcoming the insurmountable obstacles that were stacked up against us and execute new strategies to create a better future.  

We get to let our hair down and be free.

Free to be us, with us, unrestricted, unapologetic, and unbothered.

And to think… attending a HBCU was not on my radar.

I had only applied to schools within my home state of Massachusetts, given our reputation of having the best higher education institutions in the country.

 While attending one of the many college tours I had gone to, I spoke with a lady from Clark Atlanta University who reflected candidly on her time in college as an alumna. My eyes lit up while listening to her stories, and she told me to keep in touch, handing me her business card and an application. I knew my parents would not be game about me attending a school out-of-state, but I applied anyway.

A few months went by, and I got my acceptance letter. I told my parents about it, but I had already committed to another school so they kind of brushed it off. After orientation at the local college and having a horrible experience, I damn near begged my parents to have a change of heart and let me go elsewhere.

I finally divulged to them that I had been accepted to CAU and explained to them that this was the right choice. They still were not sold, so I had to get creative. They had valid concerns about out-of-state fees and tuition costs, being far away from home, and room and board.

 I spoke with my cousin who went to Spelman and she helped to ease my parents’ minds by explaining that our schools were near each other and promised that she would look out for me. My cousin’s mom then reached out to the registrar’s office at Clark about readmittance, and I was able to successfully provide documentation of my acceptance and a personal statement about why I wanted to attend the university. My uncle and his family also lived about 40 mins away, so that was the icing on the cake, ensuring that I would have a support system out there.  

Within a week, I had to uproot my entire life in suitcases and boxes to Hotlanta.

To say it was a shit show is an understatement; from delayed flights, to issues with my financial aid, and no dorm room assignment, it was a real headache.

All that convincing to my parents to have things blow up in my face?! It was a hard pill to swallow.

When I finally got my housing accommodations, that was a breath of fresh air.

In the first weeks, I mostly stayed to myself and went to my uncle’s house every weekend. Then, one day while bored in Speech class, I decided to talk to the girl next to me, and we became fast friends. We literally had all but one class together, and we lived in the same building. Crazy right?

She introduced me to her roommate, and we quickly formed a tight-knit group, making our mark as them fly ass Freshman chicks.

I knew I had the juice.  But there’s something about being in these Atlanta streets that had me feeling like I was Black Girl Magic, I felt seen, like I was poppin’ like bacon grease.

We formed a lifelong friendship, built on trust, support, love, and undeniable resilience.

Though, I only went there for one year, the lessons that I learned helped shape me into the person that I am today, twelve years later. “Find a Way, or Make One!”, is Clark Atlanta University’s school motto, that I have since adopted.  It taught me that if we approach life from this perspective, that no matter what; you’re never stuck, and you could overcome anything.