As a senior in high school, college is constantly on my mind. My top choices are Howard University and Spelman College which are historically black colleges. As a biracial teen, I can’t help but ask myself: Am I black enough to go to an HBCU?
In seventh grade, my parents switched me from a majority white Catholic school, to a more diverse charter school. For once, I wasn’t the only black kid in the class.
But adjusting to a new school didn’t come easy.
Kids would ask me, “Why do you act so white?” I felt like I had to change my personality just to be accepted.
Then, in ninth grade, I attended a college prep program for students of color. There, my racial identity was never questioned. I was just another student. That’s why I want to apply to an HBCU. One experience only HBCU's can offer is that I’d no longer be the minority.
But, I can’t help but feel those same insecurities from middle school coming back.
After talking to a couple of HBCU graduates, they reminded me that no matter what college I go to, I can’t control how people view me.