Monday, June 29, 2009

Personal Statement

There are thousands of colleges that are in this country. There is only one me, and I have to decide where I want to go. I have had to find the college that have all of the features that will make me feel comfortable while away from home. One college that has caught my eye is Tennessee State University.
This school is located in Nashville, TN and is a HBCU (Historically Black College or University). This is one of the main reasons I want to go to this school. I've always been the minority, and I believe that if I was the majority, I would have more self confidence in myself. I have no family in Tennessee which makes me want to go there even more. I would love to feel like it's my responsibility to make a new life without any help from anyone.
Receiving a degree from this school would impact my life forever. I would not only feel proud of myself, but I would feel proud of being an African American even more than I am. A degree, in my opinion not only represents the classes that you take in college, but it represents how the four years of your college experience have shaped you. Being on that campus will make me have an eye opening experience that I won't have if I stayed on a campus where I would be the minority.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

My Week @ Scott Residence Hall

When I checked in to my new home for a week last Sunday, I was so excited! I knew that I had a week all to myself, without my parents, which meant freedom. My mom let me drive my car, so I knew that I would be driving everywhere without telling them anything. My actual room was nothing like I expected it to be. It looked like my own apartment. Yet, I forgot that I was sharing the room with three other girls. My roommates were: Hoang-Yen, Jasmine, and Laura. It was so hard to do my homework every night because we just stayed up talking all night. On Sunday, after we checked in, we went to the Carol Joy Holling Camp so that we could have some "bonding time". I didn't expect to be bonding with everyone 50 ft in the air! I leaned on Hoang-Yen most of the time, which made us even closer in the week. Throughout the week, I had fun doing the different activities with everyone and I made a lot of new friends and got closer with a lot of people. I only wished that we stayed on campus the whole five weeks!

Friday, June 12, 2009

My First Week as a College Student

I never thought that this week would ever come, but now that it has, I want it to stay here! The class that I'm enrolled in, Autobiographical Reading and Writing, has made me appreciate myself more than I've ever had. Helen Fountain, my professor, has encouraged me and motivated me to open up about myself in ways I thought I would never do. The book we're reading, our own autobiographies, and our class discussions have made me speak about past memories that I thought were instinct.
The one thing that I've never been able to do, is show myself compassion. Ms. Helen has come in and knocked my way of thinking out of the ballpark. She constantly tells us that we have to show ourselves compassion in order to be good writers. The hardest thing I had to do this week was let myself tell the tales that were suppose to stay memories. Not something I was writing my paper about.
I guess in this week alone I've learned that I am capable to be free. I shouldn't be afraid to write or say what I feel. No matter what other people might say, I have to show myself compassion and be free to fall. Ms. Helen met me only 4 days ago, and yet she sees the writer I can become. I'm excited for what the next 4 weeks will bring out of the diamond in the making.