As the president of a college of first-generation learners, I want the same thing for my students and their families that I want for my own: for the next generation to surpass us. I want things to be easier for my children. I want them to achieve their full human potential and to live a generally happy life. I want them to do better for the environment and for humanity than prior generations have. I want for them to draw from our wisdom and failures, and build on our successes. I want for every parent’s wish for their children and for their children’s wishes for themselves to manifest.
This summer, we dropped off our son at college. I did not cry—not even tears of joy. We gave ourselves several days to drive from New England, meandering our way down several states to see family and honor his teachers, robotics instructor, and friends who are like family, who helped him to get to that point in his journey.
Getting him to say yes to Howard University was no easy feat. There are a lot of things I could have done differently as a mom. There were so many moments in that college acceptance window that I doubted whether I had made the right decisions over these 18 years. In the end, it all worked out.
Our first kid going to college is a journey even for me. I never had the full American living on campus experience. I went to a university that was then a commuter school. In many ways, I am having that experience vicariously through him. Watching him try new things, figure things out on his own, make new friends, start to think about his future career, become independent, learn about himself and others, and begin to reflect on the responsibility that his privileges require of him is a beautiful experience.
The HBCU experience is also a unique one that we are living through him. I am that mama cheerleader! I root for my kid, his friends, every mama’s kid, and the institution. Hubby was better as the parent-in-charge when they were babies and toddlers. As they transitioned into adolescence, the teenage years, and now adulthood, I feel most comfortable as a parent. I was not their “little friend” before. I was a parent, but now we are entering that friend phase.
Cheers to the Bison family! HU!!
