I never imagined that I would attend an HBCU, historically black college or university, not that I ever had any ill-feelings towards them. From a young age, I had always had my eyes, heart, and mindset on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I grew up as a huge fan, mostly influenced by family, both mother and father. My life’s plan was centered around them, but everything changed my junior year of high school.

During my junior year of high school my life changed, everything I thought was truth was only a lie. At the age of 17, I started doing independent studying a research, I began to educate myself. I had undo the brainwashing that had been imposed on me since childhood.

Have you ever wondered why the curriculum is always the same? Why are we always taught about how great the western nations are and how Muslims are bad? Why are we taught that black history started with slavery, lasted through Jim Crow, and ended with Obama? Why is it always the same things over and over again?

During my junior year, I took AP US History and during that time, a school district in Colorado had issues with the curriculum of the exact course that I was enrolled in. They felt that the class was “unpatriotic”. The issue with the district in Colorado is that we were being taught about the brutality caused by the US imposed on the natives, poor, blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and other nations. I remember when we were reading a journal from a Catholic priest that had arrived in America with Christopher Columbus, and had written about how the Spanish would cut off the heads of the natives and indigenous people because they felt like doing it. It 17 years, a college course, and a parent signature learn the truth about the history of the US. Although this was the beginning of my awakening, it made me eager to learn more.

I had started applying to college in my senior year, in two days I had applied to over 20 colleges. I was not as aware of the world at that time as much as I am now, so during Free College Application Week I applied to numerous schools. Three months after applying to college, I had taken my SAT, at a time I had gotten more aware. I realized that college is not for the student, it is for the people that make money off of the colleges, it's a business. I figured that if I'm going to be supporting any business, it would be a black business, therefore I only sent my SAT scores to HBCUs. I had gotten accepted to all of them. I chose North Carolina Central University, because its political science program is ranked number 12 in the state and its law school is nationally ranked. I love my illustrious university, the nation's first liberal arts HBCU, the home of the sloping hills and verdant greens, the 2016 HBCU of the year, my North Carolina Central University.