My First Impressions of Howard University and Freshman Seminar

I didn’t know what to expect upon my arrival to Howard University. Like most incoming freshman, I hoped to make friends and get the schedule that I wanted without complications. However, I knew the transition from high school, and then summer vacation, to a college environment would be difficult, so I was grateful for freshman week. Freshman Orientation was helpful and informative and the scheduled activities were effective social icebreakers. The professors of the College of Arts and Sciences (COAS), and even upperclassmen, went out of their way to make our transition as easy as possible. The talent show, BBQ, and late night Target, were well executed and a great introduction to Howard life.

Furthermore, starting class bright an early on Monday was not as terrible or difficult as I thought it would be. I easily found all my classes and showed up on time. Despite some lateness’s and instructional setbacks, my teachers all seemed nice and well-informed on their individual subject matters. I think I will grow both as a student and person at Howard because so many of my teachers intertwine the culture and history of black people with the core academics. I think I will have to change a lot about myself to be successful here. For example, I am naturally a shy person and do not open up to people quickly, but at Howard it is all about who knows you; therefore, I will have to force myself out of my quiet demeanor in order to make friends quicker.

Based on the introduction to Freshman Seminar Professor Williams presented us on Tuesday I have high hopes for the Freshman Seminar course. I am really excited about the third lecture “Something Torn and New,” a lecture on the perseverance of the African people through slavery and then their cultural rebirth in America. I’ve always been really interested about the culture of African people because of my exposure to them through my church. This lecture, according to the syllabus, intends to examine the trauma of enslavement, which I always find interesting. However, I am most interested in how they actually preserved their culture because I haven’t read much on that topic.

I said in the beginning of this entry that I didn’t know what to expect before stepping foot on campus. But if it was one thing that being at Howard has done is awakened my expectations. By talking with some of the upperclassmen and finding out some of the doors education has opened to them, I determined that Howard University has high expectations of me and I have decided to set high expectations for Howard University.