Testimonial: Why I Attended an HBCU
The words below are from Sarah Wooten, a 2004 Milton Academy graduate. Sarah chose to matriculate to Spelman College. Today, she serves as the Director of Admission and Financial Aid at Shady Hill School. Learn why she chose to attend an HBCU and her experience with the college counseling process. - Elise Lockamy-Kassim
By Sarah Wooten
My initial college counselor wasn’t supportive and actually didn’t seem to know anything about Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). She regularly misspelled Spelman with two “Ls” and I had to bring up the school to her. [A recent Milton graduate] has just gone off to Spelman the year before so it seemed strange but everyone (kids and college counseling) seemed to be pushing The Ivys and places like Georgetown, Barnard etc. To be fair there were so many schools I was interested in but I definitely had to do my own everything when it came to applying to Spelman. I ended up talking more to [another college counselor] and she was great.
When it came time to make a decision, I wanted to go to UVA, Barnard or Spelman. Those were the final three. And I was wait listed at Harvard. I got an interview with Harvard and got in a lot of trouble because I flat out told the interviewer I didn’t want to go there and that they should admit someone else. I never turned in the extra assignment they asked me to either because I didn’t want to get off the waitlist. Everyone was pissed. Everyone! Most especially my uncle, and [also the head college counselor] was not pleased. Apparently, the interview was a formality and if you just did what they asked you got off the Harvard waitlist. So I’d really messed things up in their eyes.
I decided to go to Spelman for two reasons: 1) it was more affordable for my mom than the other schools I wanted to attend. There was no way she could have afforded UVA and so it was really between Barnard and Spelman. 2) I needed a break. As you know, I spent my entire time at Milton in teacher mode. Advocating for change, explaining racism to students and adults, taking care of people on the dorm, etc. I was tired of being one of the black girls and I just wanted to become invisible. I wanted to be left alone. I wanted to be able to just be me and not have that be a statement about black girls, but just be a statement of who I was. I wanted to spend some time simply living my life for me. There was a Milton parent who had the audacity to ask me why I would want to go to an all black school! I said or asked something along the lines of “for the same reason you want your daughter to go to an all white school/why do you want your daughter to go to an all white school?” That was a terrible moment.
I think the worst part of it all was the student body and conversation about affirmative action. By going to Spelman, I took myself out of those conversations. Nobody cared or was competitive with me about my choice because nobody considered Spelman a worthwhile school after having attended Milton.
All I know is that going to Spelman saved me. I felt ugly, unseen, misunderstood, tokenized, used, and on parade at Milton. At Spelman, I could just be a student. I could date and have fun and talk about race when I wanted to. Other people could help me with my hair. I was able to become invisible by my terms and therefore find myself. I would never trade my time at Spelman for anything in the whole world. I will never stop being grateful that Spelman exists and that at least for that four year period of my life I could really be me and really be thoroughly happy.
