~
2016
Detroit, Michigan.
Wayneland State University
I have never been more excited in my entire life. After spending 18 years in Tecumseh, I am finally going to be living on campus at Wayneland State University. It was the only university that I wanted to go to. I applied to five other colleges, but I never felt the same way as I did when I first visited WSU. I spent all last night pacing back and forth, jumping around my bedroom in anticipation of what's to come. I couldn't get my eyes to shut, even when I counted back from 100, so I didn't get much sleep. My parents didn't like hearing that when I told them this morning as we ate breakfast. They already scolded me multiple times before we left the house, but I didn't let it phase me. I just couldn't help it. I'm too excited to start my new journey alone without my parents watching my every move.
I have been waiting for this moment to finally begin my adult life.
"Evangeline," my father, Johnathan West, looks at me in the rear-view mirror. "When we get to the university remember what we talked about before."
"Always stay by you and mother, stand up straight, and use my manners," I answer like I have already memorized it. I mean I should know it by now since I've had to say it for most of my childhood. I can do this reciting in my sleep.
"Use the manners that you were raised to have," he adds, turning his eyes back on the road.
I nod in agreement and turn back to reading my bible that's sitting in my lap. "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." -Romans 15:13.
I always read my bible. In the morning, during school, between classes, after school, and before bed. No matter where we went, I always carried my bible. The red hardback cover and the golden side pages gave me comfort in knowing that I am not alone. I can do whatever I want to do if I set my mind to it. But remember God comes first. Always.
After spending another hour in the car listening to the Christian music radio station, we finally arrive at the WSU campus. I'm internally squealing as we drive through the streets that show signs of WSU and head towards the student center on campus. It hasn't changed much since the last time I visited in May. There are more banners hung around the different buildings welcoming the new students on campus and detailing information on where to go.
The campus is located right in the heart of Detroit and still has a reasonable walking distance from downtown. I love taking walks in my free time so I cannot wait to eventually explore the city once I get settled in.
The more seconds I'm here the freer I feel. I'm almost there. This is what I have been waiting for all summer. After spending the last five months studying until my brain hurt and working at my parent's church while every other teenager was out partying and wasting their time on artificial things, I am finally able to start my studies to become a doctor.
When we pull into a parking space at the student center, I start to grow nervous as I see all of the students walking around the campus grounds. I hope I'm able to make some new friends. I've never been that good at making friends. I'm always too shy and awkward for anyone to feel like they can be friends with me. I've grown used to spending all my time by myself, but it'd be nice to finally have a friend that I could relate to and feel comfortable around.
"Okay. We'll go get you checked in Evangeline and then you have orientation at 12," my father says as we all three unbuckle our seatbelts and step out of the car.
I straighten out the floral maxi skirt that I am wearing and tuck my hair behind my unpierced ears. I push up the sleeves on my jean jacket and do a quick look down my body to make sure everything is covered and presentable. I sling my bright orange bag across my chest and walk right beside my parents to the sign-in area located in front of a large building.
There are a lot of students passing by carrying their different belongings and bags with their families. When I look at how my parents are dressed compared to everyone else, I feel very out of place. While other parents are wearing casual jeans and shorts with t-shirts and tennis shoes, my father is wearing an afternoon suit and my mother is wearing a navy skirt that goes a little below her knees with stockings and high heels. My mother's hair is pinned back in a slick bun with not a hair out of place and her makeup looks perfect and pristine. Yeah, definitely out of place.
"Name?" an older woman wearing a green WSU t-shirt asks when we approach the sign-in desk for last names T through Z.
"Evangeline West," my father answers before I can even get a chance to open my mouth. The woman with the name tag of Wendy looks through a large stack of papers and pulls out a folder with my name on the front.
"Here you go," She hands the folder to my father and then looks at me. "Orientation is at noon in the theatre. Your dorm room assignment is in the folder with your assigned hall, room number, and roommate. Lunch starts at one so you can begin moving in after orientation, there are other students to help you move in if you need it. Make sure you are moved in by four so you can attend the other freshman activities and meetings for this evening."
I nod my head trying to grasp all of the information she just spouted off and she moves us along so other students can get signed in. I grab a mini campus map off of the stack sitting at the end of the table.
My father hands me the folder as we start walking across campus and I check the pink watch on my wrist. 11:45. Okay, I have 15 minutes before orientation. Being early is a lot better than being late.
After looking over the campus map and being directed by the upperclassmen student workers, we approach the building that holds the theatre. I see a big crowd of other students walking through the doors, slowly filing inside.
"Evangeline Rose, your mother and I will be waiting outside here when you are done," he says as the three of us step inside the cool air conditioning.
"Okay," I reply, my eyes focused on the crowd in front of me. There is a long line leading into the theatre.
My parents walk to the side where some of the other parents are waiting. I step up to the long line that's doesn't seem like it has moved much yet. I'm standing behind a tall girl with jet black hair and blue highlight streaks who's talking about some rock band concert with another girl who has light pink hair. I try not to eavesdrop on their conversation so I look around at the other students who are chattering, clutching my folder closer to my chest. I'm not good at making small talk so I hum the song Hallelujah as the line starts to move into the dimly lit theatre.
The theatre is packed when I finally get through the double doors and I search around to find an open seat. I spot an empty seat next to a boy wearing a WSU t-shirt and cargo shorts, so I weave in and out of the other students trying to find seats. I give the boy a small smile as I approached the empty seat, silently asking for permission to sit next to him. He nods to the empty seat and I smile wider. I quickly sit down, crossing my legs and straightening out my skirt. I place my folder onto my lap and wait for the presentation to start.
It takes another five minutes to get everyone seated and then an older man walks on stage towards the podium sat in the center. He taps on the mic and clears his throat. "Welcome freshman to your first day at Wayneland State University!" There is a lot of applause and cheers from my class and I slowly clap my hands too. "I am Ron Wilson, President of WSU, and I believe the class of 2020 is going to do great things."
President Wilson's introductory speech is very welcoming as he gets everyone excited for the school year. Some other faculty are introduced and some upperclassmen speak about their own experiences at WSU. At the end of the presentation, I am even more ready to start my new life. I stand up with everyone else as we're dismissed and walk with the crowd that slowly trickles out of the theatre. I spot my parents sitting on a bench near the other waiting parents and I straighten out my skirt as I approach them.
"How was the presentation?" They both stand up, straightening out their clothes as well.
"It was good. Very welcoming and informative," I answer.
"We're going to move you into your dorm room and then we'll have to take off. We have sermon tonight."
I nod to my father's words as we walk out of the student center and towards our car. I quickly open my folder to look at the sheet that has my dorm hall and room number listed before grabbing some of my bags from the trunk. Luis D. Atchison Hall room #212 I repeat over in my head so I wouldn't forget it.
"Atchison Hall room 212, correct, Evangeline Rose?" My father says as my mother and I follow behind him towards the building.
"Yes, sir."
It is not even a minute later when we are at the front entrance of Atchison Hall and it is a very nice and well-kept-looking building. There are five floors and other parents are coming and going as we walk through the entrance and to the front desk to get my room keys. I look around the lobby at the academic posters taped on the walls and there are lounge chairs and small couches strategically placed in front of the multiple TVs that relay campus information. Even though this is only the first day here in the dorm, it feels kind of homey already.
We go to the front desk and the young man standing behind the desk hands me my keys once I tell him my name and room number. He directs us to the elevator and everything is fine until a group of loud boys walks out of the elevator we were waiting on. My father and mother look startled as the boys are laughing about some great party they heard about last night. The cold look my father gives those boys as they walk past us could scare even the purest of souls.
I've gotten that look multiple times before, like when I had asked to go to a rap concert in Detroit with some of the girls from school who asked me if I wanted to join them since they had an extra ticket. My father didn't like me asking him to go to a concert with rap music. Not only did he sternly say No, but I also was grounded for a week and I couldn't talk or associate with those girls again because they were "bad influences."
"They don't live here do they, John?" My mother turns to him with a disturbed look on her face.
"They better not." His stern voice resonates and he turns back to go to the front desk. My face turns red and my cheeks are now warm with embarrassment as I watch my father put my suitcases down and stride back to the desk. "Excuse me," he says to the man still standing behind the desk. "Is this not an all-girls dorm hall?"
The young man looks a little confused at this question. "Sir, all dorms at WSU are now co-ed. We haven't had an all-girls dorm since last school year when the university decided to make all dorms co-ed," he explained.
"We were not told that this was a dorm with boys in it." My father is not happy with what the man just said and he crosses his arms like he always does when he's ready to argue.
"I'm very sorry if you were misinformed, Sir, but every living complex here is now co-ed and this hall has freshman boys and girls and upperclassmen. The first two floors are freshman the other three are for upperclassmen."
My father looks like he's about ready to have a heart attack or stroke and my mother's mouth is gaping at the horrifying new information. I didn't realize it was a co-ed dorm either, but I guess I should've known since most schools don't separate boys and girls much anymore. I don't mind being in a co-ed dorm, but my parents sure do.
"My daughter doesn't need to be living in a quarter with other boys."
I chew on my bottom lip as nerves churn in my stomach. I don't like confrontation and the embarrassment of my father trying to argue just makes me more anxious.
"With all due respect, if you have a problem with the housing you need to talk to Residence Life to get assistance."
My father doesn't like what he's told but instead of arguing anymore and causing a scene, he replies with a simple nod and "thank you;" before walking back over to mother and me.
"Evangeline Rose," he says once he stands in front of me. I nod my head in acknowledgment and he leans in closer to me. "I know you really want to go to this school and I'm not going to be able to change the policies with the dorms, so I'm going to tell you to stay away from the boys here and don't pay any attention to them. They're full of sin and temptation and they only want one thing from you. Your mother and I raised you better than that so you need to focus on your studies because you don't need to be around any boys."
I nod my head at him. "Okay, yes, sir." He's right. Boys only want to have sex, especially now in college where there are no rules. I need to put my studies first. Who cares if boys live next to me? They can mess up their college education by partying and having sex and I'll be sitting at the library studying and reading my bible like I always do. I'm not going to waste my time on things that will just get me into trouble.
We pick up my luggage from where we sat them on the floor and finally get into the elevator to go to the second floor. When the elevator opens back up, most of the doors on the floor are already wide open and occupied by students and parents. Everyone is shuffling around and moving furniture and luggage into the rooms. The three of us weave in and out of people in the hallway to try to find my room. 212. I stop when I see the number on the wall by the door. I get excited when I see the door open and there's already stuff moved in on one side.
"Hello?" I timidly say as I slowly walk into the small room.
A girl comes out of the corner near the closet and she smiles wide at me. "Hi! I'm Samira Wilson!" I smile back at the African American girl and she gives me an unexpected hug. "It's so nice to meet you!"
"I'm Evangeline West," I say as we pull back and I look to my parents, who have that shocked and disturbed look again as they realize my roommate is not Caucasian. "These are my parents." I point to them and internally hope that they will be respectful and not cause another scene like downstairs.
Samira smiles at them with her bright white teeth and waves to them. "Hi, I'm Samira. It's so nice to meet you both."
My parents look like they struggle to gather words for a second and they finally speak. "I'm Pastor Jonathan West and this is my wife, Sylvia. It's nice to meet you..." he trailed off and Samira fills in for him."Samira." My father nods and slowly speaks. "Right, Samira."
I take a quick look at her side of the room and see a couple of posters of shirtless African American men who I have never heard of before and there is a medium-sized canvas that is hanging over her bed. The colors are very abstract and beautiful. "Oh, do you like it? I did it myself." Samira's voice rings out in the small room.
I nod, staring at the painting for a few more seconds before looking back at her and smiling. "It's beautiful."
"Thank you!" She returns the smile. "I'm a studio art major with a minor in philosophy."
My parent's eyes widen at when she says studio art and even more when she says philosophy. They don't think art is a real career and philosophy goes a lot against everything we believe in.
"I'm a biochemistry and molecular biology major," I reveal.
"Oh, so you're one of the smart ones." She laughs.
I laugh slightly and shrug my shoulders. "I guess so."
"Where should we put your things, Evangeline Rose?" My father interrupts and I point to the twin bed.
"You can set them there, please."
After my suitcases are on the bed, my parents and I go back downstairs to the car to get the rest of my stuff. I only have one other bag and a box of my room decorations, so it doesn't take us long to get back up into the room. The whole time we bring my things in, my parents are more quiet than usual. I think it's because they don't know what to do with me having an African American roommate. In our town, we do not have many people of different races. We have not had many African Americans in our community and there wasn't a lot of diversity in our high school either because the town is so small. So, this is really the first time I've been exposed to people who are not my same race.
But that's another reason why I'm so excited to be going to this university. I want to experience and meet new people and cultures that are different from me. There's so much out there in the world and I want to start experiencing it.
I really like Samira already though. She seems very sweet and I can tell that she's going to be a great roommate for me.
Once I have all of my stuff moved in, it's time for my parents to leave. They say a short goodbye to Samira and we walk out to the elevator. When we get inside, my father turns to me. "Evangeline Rose, remember what we've always said. God and Jesus come first and your schoolwork is most important. You are here to become a doctor, not playing around with other people. And as for your roommate, don't let her force you to do anything troublesome, and don't let her change you. I know how these types of people can try to influence us to sin, but don't allow temptation and the devil to come into your life."
I frown at the way he spoke about Samira. She doesn't deserve to be talked about like that, especially when they don't know her and she's been nothing but nice to them. I hold my tongue back from saying something I'll regret later.
"Yes, sir," is all I reply. I look down to the floor and clasp my hands in front of my abdomen. He already said this sermon to me before we left the house earlier today, it's redundant and insulting to say it again.
When we get to the car, my father hugs me first and then my mother. The hugs are very brief and then they say short goodbyes. I wave to them as they slowly drive away, thankful that nothing else embarrassing happened.
Standing outside on my own, it now hits me that I'm finally away from my parents. Some relief comes off my shoulders, it feels nice to be by myself. I hope I will do well on my own now. College is going to be a lot different than home with my parents.
I walk back up to my dorm room and at this point, it seems like there are not as many parents who are still here. It's mostly freshmen who are now busy unpacking all of their things in their rooms. It's still really loud on the floor, especially the rooms with the boys. I hope it's not going to be like this all year. I like to have some peace and quiet, especially while I'm studying.
When I walk back into my room, Samira looks at me from her bed and smiles wide.
"Are you ready for this?! Freshman year here we come!" She squeals and I smile nervously at her.
Freshman year here we go.