If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times: an HBCU experience is one like no other. I swore up and down that my parents were exaggerating, but now that I'm here I have no choice but to agree. As a student at an HBCU attendee (or an HBCU grad), there are a few telltale signs that one has had the uniquely life-changing – and sometimes harrowing – experience of going to a Historically Black College/University.

1. Your Freshman Dorm was Tragic.

You walked into your room on move-in day pretty much just like that. Your mattress was probably about 20 years older than you and there was a creeping sensation that you were destined to have an encounter with a cockroach at some point. Perhaps they would fly. Perhaps you had to "black man-rig" your window so it wouldn't jam closed. (If you went to an HBCU, you know what a "black man-rig" really is.) Your freshman dorm was an aesthetic nightmare, but it also gave you the best first-year memories you could possibly ask for.

2. You Cannot Stop Talking About It

Plenty of people love reminiscing about the good 'ole college days every once in a while. You, however, somehow find some aspect of your undergrad experience creeping up into all of your party talk and everyday conversation. Nobody wants to mention "college" at the party, knowing you'll spin off into a reminiscent tangent about how all of the frustration you struggled through at your HBCU made for the best experiences of your life and blah, blah, blah...

3. Supreme Rhythm

This is not to say that you cannot have rhythm if you didn't go to an HBCU. But you cannot have gone to an HBCU and not have rhythm. Even if you think you don't, you do. Why? Your parties were actually parties. Not "let's all stand around and bob mildly in our friend groups until somebody creates a circle and dances in it for 36 seconds" parties, but "I don't know you but I know this song and so do you, so we're all about to shut it down together" parties. You just cool like that.

4. Administrative Problems No Longer Phase You

If you went to an HBCU or you go to one currently, there is one thing you know absolutely never, ever, EVER happened. You administration never had their sh*t together. You know it and they know it. I challenge you to name an event that had to do with registration, financial aid, advising or anything having to do with Wifi that went off without a hitch. Let's be honest: is it really registration if it didn't take you three days, five aneurysms, and a good ugly cry session?

5. Strong Finesse Skills

Because of these many obstacles and hitches that tended to come with an HBCU education, you've become a master at coping. You know how to handle the stress while you keep it moving and hustle. You can do what you have to do to get whatever needs to be done, done.

6. It's Pledging, Not Rushing

7. Your African American Studies Teacher Was Your Favorite

Maybe it was the class, or the fact that this was one of the first lectures you actually looked forward to going to. Whatever the reason, your professor for Intro to African American Studies (or something about the Black Diaspora) was one of your favorite, most liked and respected teachers you ever had.

8. The Yard Was Much More Than Just The Yard

The Yard was never just the large expanse of grass you crossed to get to and from class. It was a meeting place, a picnic spot, party grounds, a performance venue and sometimes a fashion runway. Most warm days (if they weren't too close to midterms or finals), you could find the yard looking like a scene straight from your favorite college movie.

9. Solidarity

There is something special about creating a bond with your community at an HBCU. That familial connection you feel to your campus tends to extend to the professional world post-graduation. You want to work with and be around your people. A group of educated, successful, like-minded black professionals is a powerful thing. You strive to work towards the uplifting of your community by helping everyone to the top, rather than looking outside or elsewhere for success.

10. Undeniable Swagger

11. Self-Awareness, Awakening, and Pride

If you went to an HBCU, then I don't have to explain to you the power that comes from being surrounded by your own history and culture. Contrary to popular belief, an HBCU education does not cripple you for the outside world. It arms you with the knowledge of your history and yourself in relation to the real world, as well as instills in you the confidence to go out as a minority with the strength of that self-knowledge behind you. I did not want to go to an HBCU, yet I feel it shaping me into the best version of me I could possibly be and I would not choose anywhere else. We are proud of our HBCUs, proud of our people and proud of who we are. No one can tell us there is anything better.