My first year in college

After looking back, my first year of college was probably the best thing ever, so many eventful memories that I will never forget.

Ever since I was in middle school, I couldn't wait to get to college. I didn't expect my self at the university I am at now but I'm so happy I let God guide me in the right direction. All the decisions I have made leading up to me moving into my dorm have been the best decisions I've ever made.

Before I dive into my college experience, let me give you some background information on how I chose the university I am at now. When I made my first college list in high school, I knew exactly what I wanted. As far as my major and what I wanted to do after. But the closer I got to senior year and actually graduating everything changed. In my senior year I had 4 schools on my list; Belmont University, North Carolina Central University, Lipscomb University, and Fisk University. I had done a lot of research on the first three schools but the last school I literally knew nothing about. Belmont was the first school I visited and I absolutely loved it. The campus was really pretty and it was in a good area. The next school I visited was Lipscomb, I was so excited to visit Lipscomb. I had heard so much about the school and I knew someone who went there so I got to hear about her experience. When I first heard about Lipscomb, I was at a college fair and I spoke with the admissions counselor, he was so welcoming and he really worked with me. He waived the application fee for me and he was really patient with me sending in my documents. I really thought Lipscomb was the school for me.

Then I visited Fisk and my college tour at Fisk really wasn't what I expected. I was honestly kinda disappointed. But after a couple of weeks, I got an email from Fisk about applying to their school so of course, I did. I did more research on Fisk and HBCU's and I started to fall in love. I loved the idea of going to school with people who looked just like me. Especially because my whole life I went to school with people who didn't look like me and there were times I felt out of place. So the thought of getting in and going really made my heart happy. The last school; North Carolina Central University. NCCU is also an HBCU and I really liked the thought of being in North Carolina. I did a lot of research on the area and school and the people and I really could see myself there. Out of the 4 schools that I mentioned, I only applied to two. Lipscomb and Fisk, are both are located in Nashville, which is not far from where I live in TN. I got into both schools and went back and forth with my decision because I really didn't know which school I would like more. I was in group chats for both schools and I really got to know people from both schools. I also considered other things from the school like Finacial Aid, roommates, the size of the campus, and stuff like that. But the most I talked to these people in the group chats, I felt more connected to the people who were all considering Fisk. Which leads me to say... I choose to go to Fisk University and study Psychology.

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Now that that's over, let me tell you how this was the best school year ever.

Going into college, I had a solid friend group that I could trust and I knew I would have the best time with them. Connor, Heze, Rek, Chris, Justin, Jamaria, Kaylianna, Tykira, Jansen, Jasmine, and my love Yahri, made my college experience so fun.

At the beginning of the year, we did so much exploring and discovered new things together. The first semester of college, I really didn't know what I was doing, I still don't. But I had my friends to fall back on and they really were there for me whenever I needed them. Our late-night walks across that Jubilee bridge is something I will never forget, I hate walking but I did a whole lotta walking with them and it was honestly fun. You would think we didn't go to class because we were always out doing stuff but I promise we did. All my friends are so smart in their own way and I really appreciate that because I like to learn from others and I learn something new from my friends every day. The HBCU experience is really something different and of course, it's different at every school but at my HBCU I feel like I belonged there and I never questioned if I actually wanted to be here or not. Of course, there were problems with admin, financial aid, rules, and even roommates but it never really drove me to a point where i hated everything, I just stayed focused on being positive.

Even with us having a friend that didn't go to Fisk we were still able to maintain a great friendship. We got to see different schools and see how their campus life was and I think that's so important because life and college are all about networking and meeting new people. It wouldn't make sense to move to another city or state to go to school and just stay on campus and not explore your new location. I really didn't imagine how my college life would be like but I'm so glad I was open-minded and followed my heart. Even though we had a ton of fun, we also had some rough patches. But because of our connection, we were able to make each other happy again and get through our rough times. All my memories that I have with my friends are honestly all good. Now with us being a group with different personalities, of course, we were gonna bump heads but we always bounced back. And I truly believe we need a tv show because a lot of stuff did happen on normal regular days and I just felt like we needed a camera to follow us everywhere. There are so many memories I have from my first year it's just kinda hard to recall them, to be honest, but maybe ill do a blog post where I highlight my favorite times during college and do a storytime

Everyone in my life who has been apart of my college experience; high school friends, teachers, college friends, family, upperclassmen, and even alumni have been so supportive and I cannot thank them enough for that. This journey means so much to me and I want to be able to make everyone proud.