Episode Two of “Leaving Home: An HBCU Story“ was all about First Impressions. Kaiya Watson, our entering freshman had visited NCAT before, but that moment when you actually walk in “your” room for the first time with all of your clothes and little trinkets to remind you of your room at home is priceless and unforgettable.

As HBCU Alum, we all remember this moment. The experience is rarely spoken about because it is kind of a given that we all endured the same sadness when we realized that the next year of our life, we would rest our head in a space that was half of the size we grew up with, and most times with a COMPLETE stranger.

Freshman Dorms, I must say have come a long way even when I was at Howard in 1999. My Freshman dorm didn’t have central air, cable TV hookups or individual bathrooms. I remember the norms were placing a box fan in the window during the summer, making friends with a local or upperclassman if you wanted to catch your favorite show and wearing flip-flops in the shower that the entire floor shared to make sure you didn’t end up catching athlete’s foot or something worse.

Although it was a very enduring acclimation, we all made it work and to this day, some of my friends that I can always count on were my dorm mates that went through this same struggle.

I hope you watch this and you see the similarities in our stories and experiences. Please share this with your family and your social circles as “Leaving Home: An HBCU Story” is a compilation of memories that we all have.

– Rustin “Roundup Russy” Moore

-Photo Credit: Johnny J Jones of TYPE Media