The second installment of “Leaving Home – An HBCU Story,” which traces the journey of a rising freshman as she leaves Los Angeles to attend college at North Carolina A&T University. There is such a juggle of emotions that we all experience during times of transition and growth. We did our best to capture it all in hopes of starting the college conversation with the kids in our families and neighborhoods.
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See Part 1 here>>>
Also be on the lookout for the interviews that go with the series.
The memories of my first day moving in to my college dorm raced through my mind vividly the day that I shot this. I remember my mother, father and brother driving me down to DC in a truck packed with everything I thought was important to me in large trashbags, suitcases and a trunk passed down to me from my brother’s college days. Dorm life wasn’t foreign to me because my brother was only 3 hours away at college when I was on summer and winter break and I remember going down to stay with him at least 3 times. I also attended the Pre-Orientation session before my freshman year where we went to classes and stayed in dorms to get us acclimated to college living before it actually started counting. However, there is something very REAL about knowing that this dorm room is where you will be spending your next year away from home. Suddenly, I questioned if I was really ready for this. I had to realize there would be no plush rug under my feet when I brushed my teeth in the morning, there would be no endless selection of home cooked left-overs in the fridge and most importantly, I would be alone.
Granted, Kaiya’s dorm room was 10 times better than mine, I still related to her questioning if she made the right decision. My dorm room had no central air, I had no cable and it was suggested to me several times that I go to the store immediately and purchase some Boric Acid to make sure I kept the roaches out. We had one bathroom for every floor, mini-fridges were allowed, but no microwaves.
I will tell you this though. The friends that I made in that dorm that freshman year are some of the friends that I value most in life. We went through the same acclimation struggles together that year, we played pranks together and we watched each others backs. It didn’t matter where we were from, we set our differences aside and grew together as brothers.
Stay tuned to “Leaving Home: An HBCU Story” to see if Kaiya breaks out of her funk.
Shout-out to my boy Johnny Jones of TYPE Media who came out to Greensboro to help me capture the rest of this series. Although he was on a different floor, he was also an incoming freshman that year with me.
- Rustin “Roundup Russy” Moore