Faith Edens

Brand Ambassador of HBCU Times Groups

If you were anything like me when graduating high school, you were super excited to finally get out in “somewhat” the real world and experience the college life. If I am going to be honest, going to an HBCU was not first choice. Let me explain, it was completely nothing against HBCUs. I actually loved them and loved what they stand for, but at the time of graduating high school I wanted something different. I wanted to experience different people and different cultures. I eventually decided to further my education at Old Dominion University, what a mistake.

I attended ODU for my freshman and sophomore year. Immediately after being there I realized that school was not for me. I did stay longer than what I planned thinking I just had to warm up to it, but no matter how much I got involved I realized I actually wanted to be around more people like me. Transferring to Virginia State University is one of the best decisions I have made for myself thus far. As soon as I stepped on campus, I felt immediate support and love from everyone.

After being at Virginia State University for a couple months now I have new look on my culture. I have always been proud to be an African American female, but after seeing other African Americans and what they are actually capable of, it made me fall in love with our culture on a different level. It was also more so inspiring. Just seeing others like me, furthering their education, building businesses and simply just supporting each other is amazing. I would say HBCUs are remarkable and powerful. It made me want to use my craft which is photography and use my platform and show black excellence. To me that is what HBCUs are all about, black excellence.