Black History Month
Special section
College students
Today’s youth, tomorrow’s leaders
Local grads now attending historically black universities
While
every college and university offers unique opportunities, historically
or predominantly black institutions embrace African-American heritage
and culture like no other place. We caught up with three freshmen now
enrolled in eastern universities. Each student has big dreams, exciting
plans for the future and is developing leadership qualities that can
benefit our world.
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Mickalyn Metcalf
Tuskegee University,Tuskegee, Alabama
Music is instrumental to her success
Mickalyn
(“Mick”) Metcalf fell in love with music as a third-grader, when she
started learning the clarinet. Not satisfied with just one instrument,
Mick eventually added others to her repertoire.
“It’s easy for
me to learn to play any instrument,” she notes. In all, she can play 15 —
including the clarinet, bass clarinet, oboe, trumpet, trombone,
mellophone, saxophone, French horn, piano, bass drum, xylophone and
marimba.
She joined Modesto’s MoBand at age 14 and continues to
perform with her clarinet each summer in Graceada Park. Mick was also
involved in Modesto High’s marching band, concert band and choir.
Now
a member of the Tuskegee Crimson Pipers marching band at Tuskegee
University in Alabama, Mick recently found herself at the Georgia
Superdome in Atlanta, where she competed in the Honda Battle of the
Bands. Just 10 groups participate in the annual event that showcases the
finest bands of all U.S. historically black colleges. [find out who
won]
Mick also plays trumpet for the Tuskegee’s jazz band and
French horn in the concert band. She figures music fills at least 30
hours of time per week.
The right college
Mick chose
Tuskegee University after several trips to Louisiana over the years. She
originally had her eye on Grambling State University, where she could
have obtained a scholarship, but the school’s program didn’t fit her
chosen major, veterinary medicine. She plans to specialize in canines.
“I
knew they (Tuskegee) had one of the best veterinary schools in the
United States, and they also have a partnership with U.C. Davis (The
University of California, Davis), so I could transfer there if I
wanted,” Mick says.
Mick, an only child, comes from an extended family with many college graduates.
She
points out that at Tuskegee, the student to teacher ratio is very small
—about 14 to one. Mick says that her largest class this past semester
35 students, whereas her friend at Berkeley has classes with classes of
up to 700.
“It’s a whole different environment,” she explains.
“The teachers are more prone to listen to you and talk to you. They give
us their numbers — some give their addresses.”
Speaking of
environments, Mick, who lives on campus, calls the pace of life in the
city of Tuskegee very slow. “You have to go to Auburn, five to 10
minutes away, to get anything.” In this community of 13,000 (3,000 of
whom are students), she says that the only thing in town is a post
office, pharmacy and a handful of food restaurants and grocery stores.
“It’s not a thriving area economically,” she says. “The hot spot is
Wal-Mart in Auburn.”
Inspiration
Mick’s hero is Bill
Cosby “because he’s done so much for our generation,” she says. “He came
on TV and made that comment about our race and people were mad about
it. People shouldn’t get mad about it. I don’t know if he meant it to
just our race. You can actually pertain that to everybody in the U.S.”
She
says Black History Month is “a way of celebrating what my ancestors or
forefathers had to do to get us where we are today. My history
professor, Dr. Toland, says ‘history doesn’t repeat itself, people
repeat history.’”
She wants to do her part to improve our world,
but says one person can’t do it alone. “It takes everybody,” Mick says.
“One person can make a difference by letting other people know what
they can do to make the world a better place.” Mick continues, “People
should just not really care about differences, they should worry more
about a person’s personality than what the person looks like.”
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Jazmine Gallion
Alabama State University, Montgomery, Alabama
Helping people, finding cures
Jazmine
Gallion decided to attend a historically black college for several
reasons. “I knew for sure that I didn’t want to stay in California, and I
felt that I would relate to the school better because, of course, it’s
all black; and I just wanted something different,” she explains.
She
found out about Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama,
through her cousins who attend there, and via trips taken with groups
from Christian Love Baptist Church. The church regularly takes high
school juniors and seniors to visit historical black colleges in the
south. Jazmine had seen Alabama State twice.
She expected the
experience to be different at this school than it would have been at a
traditional institution. “It’s more diverse in the south; it’s more
predominantly black people.” She says, “In California one can get a good
education, but, in the south, they really, really stress that they’re
willing to help you get through, not pass or fail you and let you go
about your way. They really stress education,” Jazmine says.
Area history
Jazmine
was surprised to learn the degree to which black culture plays a role
at Alabama State. “They have convocations (large assemblies) where they
either salute the Miss Alabama State or it’s a day of celebration of the
founders of Alabama State. At some football games they give recognition
to the presidents of the school,” she says.
The school, with an
enrollment of 5,666, has a museum and a special collection in the
library with artifacts from black history. “Anything you want to know
about black history, they have it there,” Jazmine says.
The
cities of Montgomery and Selma are not far from each other, Jazmine
explains, so there is a lot of history in the area. “There were a lot of
bus boycotts and sit-ins; there was a lot of interaction,” she says.
Jazmine
sees a big difference between Modesto and Alabama. Not only is it “laid
back” there but the countryside is lovely. For example, she says, “we
have trees (in Modesto), but in Alabama, there are many more trees and a
lot of open space. It’s mostly green.”
Educational plans
Jazmine
plans to study medicine and become a physician after six to eight years
of education and residency. Her first step is to acquire a bachelor’s
degree in biology. Her medical specialty is yet to be determined.
She
really enjoys the independence college life brings. “You know, I never
really enjoyed school until now, because this is much different,”
Jazmine says. She likes being on her own and “meeting people from all
over the place — even Africa.”
At school, she recently joined
the Levi Watkins Library Club, a service organization. “We did a toy
drive for kids who weren’t able to get toys,” Jazmine reports. “We’re
planning to go to convalescent homes and hold fund-raisers and dinners.
We do a lot of things around the campus, too, like helping build floats
and encouraging people to vote.”
Her challenges have included
“being swamped and being away from home.” She says she makes sure her
schoolwork is done and manages to keep up her grades, go to class and
maintain a social life. Jazmine advises others not to get in contact
with the wrong people while at school. “You have to be careful about
your friends. You cannot call everyone a friend,” she says.
Jazmine
is an only child, but claims one of her cousins as a sister. Some of
her role models include family members who have graduated from college
in Alabama, North Carolina and California, including her grandma, uncles
and cousins.
Past and present
“Black History Month is
special to me because it’s a reflection on what African-Americans have
been through for hundreds and hundreds of years ago to now,” Jazmine
relates. “It’s just opened my eyes and I’m grateful I’m living in this
age at this time because I don’t know if I’d be able to make it living
in the times where there was black discrimination.” She explains, “It
helps me look back and learn more things about history. Our month helps
us recognize, ‘OK, we not only struggled for hundreds of years, but
we’ve accomplished many things.” She says she plans to take a class in
black history.
She looks up to her grandma, her mother and Ronald
Rosado, a member of her church who she regards like a dad. “We spend a
lot of time together, along with my cousins. He’s always there for us;
he’s very supportive” for several of the kids at church.
To
improve the condition of the world, Jazmine says that at first she will
become a physician so she can help as many people as she can. “What I
want to do is help other people and maybe try to fine a cure for
diseases and illnesses that there’s no cure for,” she says.
In
addition to her goals of maintaining good grades and graduating from
college, “A smaller goal is to find out what (type of) physician I want
to be, where I want to be in the medical field and finally become a
physician,” she says. “I hope to do what I want to do and enjoy it, and
buy a nice house and retire.”
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Clemmie Walker Jr.
Grambling State University, Grambling, Louisiana
Expecting success
As
a member of the California Club at Grambling State University in
Grambling, Louisana, Clemmie Walker Jr. encourages local high school
students to go to college. “We go to the school and help them with their
homework and sports and stuff,” says the former Beyer High School
basketball star. “I referee basketball games; I show them how to play
basketball and tell them the rules,” Clemmie says. The California Club
is comprised of several students from California who attend Grambling.
Humble
about his athletic achievements, Clemmie received an MVP award from his
high school and was on the first team for all-district. He says he’s
taking a year off and will probably go out for the college team next
year. He now plays for an intramural team. “We’re doing cool. I don’t
know our record right now. We don’t keep records, we just play,” Clemmie
says.
In Grambling, he feels like he fits in. “I like it down
there. Most of the people are my color. In Modesto, there aren’t that
many African-Americans,” he says. “I feel comfortable talking to my
teachers – they’re African-American. The stores, even the churches, all
the little restaurants, they’re all African-American.”
Clemmie
points out that in Grambling, where a total of three stoplights hang
from wires near the college, life is calm. “There’s no stress.
Everybody’s not in rushing mode,” Clemmie says. “In my city, there’s a
little miniature post office, a hair salon, diner, gas station and about
four churches,” he explains. He says it rains frequently, creating a
forest-like landscape.
The nearby cities of Ruston, Monroe and
Shreveport are 10 to 60 miles away. If he wants to see a movie, go to
the mall or eat out, he has to catch a ride to Monroe, about half an
hour away. Later, he plans to get a job, so he can pay for college
himself.
Without a car at school, and not wanting to depend on
friends, Clemmie doesn’t get out much, although fewer distractions can
be a good thing. “It helps you study more,” he says. If his grades are
high enough down the road, his parents will supply him with a car at
school next year.
A year-long freshman seminar in black history
is required at 8,000-student Grambling University. Clemmie says that the
class also includes material about the college, its founding president
and Louisiana history.
Positive heritage
Clemmie says
that Black History Month is a time where “everybody gets to know what
the blacks have done in society. When you’re a little kid, you see all
the white people; you don’t know what the black people have done to earn
respect, and how hard it was to get our own rights so we could be
equal,” Clemmie says. “When I turned 18 I wanted to vote,” he recalls,
although he was still 17 during the last election.
He looks up to
his mother for helping him get where he is today. “My mom is my hero
because she’s always working hard to make sure I stay successful in
life. She never lets me down. When I’m down, she always brings me back
up,” Clemmie says. “She supports everything I do.”
Clemmie
decided to attend Grambling because he wanted to know more about his
culture and experience the south. He is now pursuing a bachelors degree
in English as a foundation for a career in corporate law.
His
parents were very happy when Clemmie graduated from high school. “I’m
the first one to go to college in my family,” he relates. “My parents,
my cousins, none of my aunts or uncles went to college. I’m determined
to be successful. I want to be the most successful in my whole family. I
want to be a role model for my younger brother (age 15). He’s already
talking about college,” Clemmie says.
Bright future
In
addition to graduating from college and law school, he is considering
opening a business before starting a family. “I’d be a lawyer but I’ll
also have my own business, too. I’ve got a lot of hard work ahead. I
want to be set when I’m like in my 40s, too,” he says.
Regarding
his contributions to society, Clemmie says that he wants to be “one of
the best African-American lawyers so that other African-American kids
who want to be lawyers will look up to me and see what I’ve done to be
successful.”
He continues, “Mostly I want to be a leader. I
always was a leader; I never followed anybody,” Clemmie says, explaining
that while he’s never held a formal leadership title, “I lead the way
to myself and my friends and my brother. I stay out of trouble. I always
try to stay in sports and other activities.” No doubt, these words are
music to his parents’ ears.
For more information, please visit:
Grambling State University, www.gram.edu
Tuskegee University, www.tuskegee.edu
Alabama State University, www.alasu.edu
California historically black institutions:
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science, www.cdrewu.edu
Compton Community College, www.compton.cc.ca.us
© HHWS for The Modesto Bee
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