The Beginning

Howard has always been my first choice. Through research and information given to me about the school, I easily discovered there was no other HBCU or even SCHOOL like Howard. Its legacy and drive in all of its students was and still is very attractive to me. I’m nothing but excited to leave my mark here and after attending The Real HU for only a week, I have nothing but high expectations and promise for this institution and what I’ll be able to accomplish while attending during these next four years. From the routine early mornings and breakfasts in The Annex, to unexpected afternoon natural disasters, along with the bustle and daily grind of Howard University students, I’m realizing that this school is full of practice, spontaneity, and ambition, all of which I am ecstatic to be a part of. So far, Howard has met my expectations and I’m sure it will continue to meet my expectations.

I expect Freshman Seminar to open my eyes to the history and legacy of Howard as well as the importance of the various skills we are learning from the lectures each week. I believe the lecture about Africans from the homeland and their migration. I have always found or history interesting and I think Howard University’s freshman seminar class will be a great environment for me to learn about it. Freshman Seminar’s goals will allow me to state my personal goals more clearly. I plan to be an exceptional student both academically and socially, and I think Freshman Seminar will help me with this focus.

First Week of the Rest of My Life

My first week of Howard was definitely an experience. Being completely unfamiliar with “college life”, I came in with open eyes, and I saw much more than expected. I would like to think of myself as an avid party goer, but after literally an entire week of partying, i realize that it almost broke me. Now that I have time to look back and reflect on my week of adventures, I can honestly say it was an experience I’ll never forget. After this first week of class, I am sure this year will be very busy. I can already tell my classes are going to take up most of my idle time, but I am investing in my future, so I guess it’s not that bad. One of my classes is Freshman Seminar and I have no idea what it is about. I really have no expectations, I’ve come to find that when you have expectations your increasing your chance of disappointment, so I’m going in blind. I looked at the rubric and there are surprisingly some interesting lectures. One of the most interesting lectures to me would have to be the one about the tearing of Africans from the homeland. I’ve always wanted to know more about the whole process of this forced migration, so hopefully now I’ll be able to become more educated on the subject. I believe that Freshman Seminar will give me a good taste of what some elective classes at Howard will be like. Even though the classes won’t necessarily be required for graduation, I still should take them in order to expand myself for life. As I stated earlier in the post, I rarely have expectations for anything, so when the question of have my expectations been met, I can not give a valid answer. I can however say that I can already feel myself falling in love with the school, MY school, so I suppose that means something.

My Howard University Experience Thus Far

There is no way I could expect to know what my first week at Howard University would be like. So far, it has been one of the most independent and freeing experiences. Being an only child, I expected myself to be a little more homesick. However, I feel my dorm is already a second home because it is a comfortable environment. The college experience allows for a lot of freedom. With the increase of freedom, there is also an increase in responsibility. I am responsible for waking myself up and getting to my classes on time. The first week of classes showed me that college is no joke. I think college will require the same amount of time management that was required at my high school, but will be a lot easier because I don’t have to attend school from 8-3 every day of the week. My high school teachers were always telling us that college professors will not take excuses. How you succeed in college is entirely up to you. Since the first week of freshman orientation, I can already tell that I have to make things happen myself because no one else will do it for me. I expect to enhance and strengthen my research skills and critical thinking skills in Freshman Seminar. One particular lecture I am interested in is “Research and Methodology.” I am majoring in Chemistry and a big part of succeeding in this field is a high level of research skills. This lecture and all the lectures for that matter will force us to apply several different skills from the core competencies. Taking Freshman Seminar will only help me in my other core classes because the same skills are applied.

Blog Post Number One.

     Coming to Howard was not something I was necessarily excited about doing. It was a first choice for my mom and sister, more so than for me. With that being said, I wasn't really expecting much from Howard University when I got here. I was just...going with the flow. Despite all of the fuss I made about not wanting to attend, my first two weeks (Freshman Week and the actual first week of school) have been pretty cool. I don't really know what I anticipate the rest of the year being like. I tend to live in the moment, but hopefully it's pretty epic. Hopefully, these natural disasters don't become the usual, because I can't take it! To the real point of this blog post, though: Freshman Seminar.
     Freshman Seminar!! Okay. So first thing for me to say, is my instructor's name is super cool. Dr. Gbadegesin? That's awesome, so that's the first plus for this class. I've been to class one time, with this being the first week of school and all. We went over a lot in our first fifty minute class session. We talked about the research question, the blog (of course), our groups, the grading scale, and lectures. From the looks of it, Freshman Seminar will be a very busy course. It may only be one credit, but it definitely does not seem like it's going to be any less mentally challenging than my other courses.
     There are seven lectures that we are doing in class. Here is the list of the lectures:

• Learning, Wisdom, and the African World Experience Ipet Isut (Karnak): White Chapel of Senusret
• "Omoluabi": Self Actualization and Communal Responsibility
• Abandonment and Dismemberment: "Something Torn and New"
• Practices of Freedom and Justice: The Black Diaspora
• "The Eloquence of Scribes": Initiation, Expectations, and Mastery. Continuing the legacy of Howard University
• Practices of Freedom and Justice: A Charge to Keep
• Research and Methodology: Inscription as a Liberating Practice

I don't really know which one of these I'll enjoy the most, but I plan on keeping an open mind about all of them. Abandonment and Dismemberment: "Something Torn and New" sounds rather interesting, if I had to choose one, though. Well, I think that's it for this post. See you next week! [=