Freshman Seminar: In a nutshell

Coming into Howard University, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. However, my Freshman Seminar class cleared that up for me. They gave me a taste of what my four years here will be like in only a semester. Weekly lectures have taught me things that no textbook will incorporate in their chapters and no teachers will dictate in their lectures. It has taught me how to be smart in a different way, how to use our rich past as a carriage to my future. My favorite parts of Freshman Seminar class was learning new words and traditions of Africans. One word that we have become most familiar with is "mbongi", meaning a room with no walls, or a common space to express and voice opinions for everyone to hear. I also enjoyed learning about traditions like pouring water to our ancestors, the call and response, and jumping the broom. Another one of my favorite parts of the class would have to be visiting the African Burial Ground in NY. Although an emotional scene, it was nice to get a semi-realistic feel of how Africans were treated years ago. I enjoyed listening to successful African American men and women speak about empowerment and try to encourage us to become the best we can be.Taking Freshman Seminar has helped me to take pride in my heritage. It has even pushed me to want to visit Africa and embrace the culture more. I am glad to have taken this class, but I am sad that it must come to an end so soon.