August came soon after high school graduation. I had chose Beloit College because I knew academically that it is a strong institution and I they basically awarded me a full ride to attend. Also because I wanted to try something different than what I grew up in which was attending predominantly African-American public schools. When I arrived to Beloit I was definitely in for a surprise. I had never been at an institution and saw so many awkward white people. Students dressed funny and did not wear shoes. I honestly believed I had lost my mind for coming here. I soon learned the types of backgrounds that these students came from and began to accept the fact that they were doing their own thing. But I asked myself often if this was the type of change I had in mind.
I had never been to a place like Beloit in my life. I was from a big city and Beloit was definitely a ghost town. I had no way to get around the town and didn't know if there was public transportation nor how much it cost. This made me terribly uncomfortable. I felt lost and feared I would have a hard time transferring.
What changed my mind and convinced me to stay were a few things. First was TRiO week in which I met Ray and Gentry, two of my best friends. Ray showed me that there was at least one other black freshmen here with me. Gentry showed me that it even that I was a minority, college was not that hard. Third was my principles of economics class with Joshua Hall. He used a great strategy of teaching to get me to come to class. He simply knew a lot about rap music and had the ability to converse about the music. This provided me interest in economics once I realized that there was underlined economics in music especially rap.
Freshmen year wasn't that bad at all. It flew by and my grades were great. I felt like it was a piece of cake. I had great support from individuals who were at Beloit and knew I had support from my friends back at home.
But soon the support from home which was the most important support began to subtract bit by bit.
who are these awkward white people that you speak of? Not on Beloit College campus, hahaha. I cannot completely relate to your experience because we do come from different backgrounds, but I do understand the feeling of first coming to a new school. The racial and minority factor was not of concern to me, but fitting in was a huge concern. It is hard to come from home, a place that for me has always been my domain and where all my friends are from, and then to adapt to a new place, making new friends. Freshman year sucked for me, but finding the family and friends needed to make me happy was easy once I joined TKE, and I hope the same is true for you. Fraters in the Bond!
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