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When I first came to NCCU, I expected people to get along and treat others fairly. Ever since I started my education here in August of 2006, I realized that I did not fit into the norm of what some of my peers considered being black, which made me start to wonder what it means to be black on a HBCU campus.
I have always had my own style or “swagger” which was not like most of my classmates.
I received comments from people such as “you dress different,” “you’re very strange,” and my personal favorite which I now laugh at is “black people don’t like the things you’re into.”
In the beginning I took offense to those comments because I thought people would have an open mind to other things outside their norm.
For the people that know me, they know my interests in the genre of superhero comics and their spin offs in television and movies such as “Justice League,” “Smallville,” and “The Dark Knight.” They accept my interest in video games, science fiction movies and Japanese anime like “Star Wars” and “Dragon Ball Z.”
Before I met those individuals I found it difficult to fit in on campus because there were not a lot of things that appealed to me.
I thought about transferring to another school at the end of my first year but I knew NCCU was the right school for me.
The hardest thing to take in during my freshman year was being told that I was different from others and that I don’t seem black, I appear to be “acting white,” because I just seemed to only focus on doing my class work, did not go partying, clubbing or hang out on campus all the time.
In 2007 I received a message in my Facebook Honesty Box from an anonymous person.
Their comment made me question myself even though they said they had nothing against me for being different.
“You’re really stand-offish, you dress very different, you talk strange, it doesn’t seem as if you try to fit in at all.”
Hearing comments like that made me feel like I was not black enough to be at NCCU.
I realized that just because I do what I need to do in order to get my education does not make me any less black. I’m just being myself.
I have had people ask me if I am mixed because I look like it and I tell them that I’m not. Some believe me and others do not.
I believe that is another reason why people think I am the way I am.
With the help of some of my friends, I have come to realize that you need to always be yourself and never try to be like everyone else.
I feel that not everyone can be the same and have the same interests as others.
All I want is for people to stop being judgmental and start being receptive of others. It does not matter whether you are black or any other ethnicity.
Being black on a HBCU campus does not mean that everyone needs to act the same as their peers or how celebrities portray themselves in the media.
I believe that we all should do what makes us happy as individuals. The only thing that matters is how you see yourself.
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