Where you from and why A&T?

[DOOMS]

I ran this thread on the old meac board a while ago. I figured might as well run it on here too.

I'm from a little corner of the city of Stone Mountain, Georgia called Redan. I picked Ayantee because I had some relatives in NC (I had no idea how big the state is, they're three hours away).

I was originally going to go to Howard, until I heard about some housing issues they were having. I wasn't interested in moving into a dorm nestled near a DC housing project. Then I was all set to go to Georgia Tech but Redan's about 20 minutes from Tech and Pop wanted me gone.

FAMU and Tuskeegee were out. That would be like going to the 13th grade. I considered Hampton but Ayantee was closer to home and to family. When I visited the campus I knew that's where I was going. And this was when the dorms were ugly.

[Bigboy]

I was recruited to play football here at A&T back in 1966 but I decided to join the Air Force instead. I decided to enroll at A&T (no football) when I was discharged from the service plus all my family members who attended college back then attended A&T except my older brother who attended NCC ( now NCCU ) and played football on the team with Bill Hayes. Best move I have ever made was coming to "Aggieland".

[aggielove]

From Philly - Germantown is the neighborhood (emphasis on Hood).
Chose A&T after going to a college fair - they hooked me up with some info on the business school (I graduated Accounting w/3.45 GPA), plus they gave me some money. Visited Hampton (too bougie), Howard (too ghetto) and a few others, but A&T was where it was at.
Worked out pretty good - found my wife there too!! ;D

[AggieMike]

I'm from the westside of Charlotte, for me A&T was always the school I knew I could get into...

Even in my "young and dumb" days, my teachers would say, "how do you think you ever going to get into college with that attitude?" and I would say "I can always go to A&T". So when I was younger I bought into the stigma that going to A&T was like going to college but being at home, which A&T is for me. There are around 100 people from my HS currently enrolled so I knew I would be home away from home.


My dream school was Wake Forest, that was my goal. I didn't have the grades to get in so I planned to come here or go somewhere else and transfer to Wake because they had everything I envisioned college being. My senior year it came down to App State or A&T. I LOVEd APP STATE! It was away from everything, out of my comfort zone but something about it I just thought I could see myself there. It was what I thought college should be. I remember going on the visit and telling them A&T was still my number 1 and they asked me WHAT DOES A&T HAVE THAT WE DON'T? and then tried to lecture me on the stigma of blacks coming from HBCU's into a totally different workplace and having trouble with not being around their "own" anymore and actually thats what turned me off to them and made me look harder at A&t a from there I got an even bigger respect for the history of this university and the opportunity they were giving me. I was a 2.0, 980 SAT student, who tested high but didn't do homework in HS.

So, I packed my bags, ignored the people from Charlotte saying A&T is going to West Charlotte University yada yada yada and came up and now I love it, at App there is no way I could have had my own radio show on an FM station when I was 18, sit down and interview celebs and figures in the African-American community for the newspaper or be an editor at the newspaper by now and there is no way I could do all that in an environment where I know people from home and got to meet people from everywhere.

But my options were limited, App, A&T or Catawba. Catawba was the only school to offer me money but who really wants to go to school in Salisbury?

[Aggie Monster]

Hold it buddy. My wife graduated from Catawba. She loved it. Naw, I can feel you though. I'm not a Salisbury type of guy myself. They football team would whoop our a$$ though(Even during our good years).

Anyway, From Durham and just about EVERYBODY from Durham goes to Winston, A&T, Central, or Fayetteville if your not on some type of scholarship. I had 12 others from my high school go there.

[TOPPDOGG]

I'm actually a Howard graduate. My parents met on A&T's campus and settled in Greensboro. My older brother along with 90% of my family went to A&T. I was raised (indoctrinated) to be an Aggie. I broke the mold partly because I wanted to go to a University with a law school.

I do have 3 credits or so from an Analytical Chemistry class I took while at Dudley. At various stages as a young'un I was also in the GAMSEC, BCDI and EMPAC programs on campus.

In short, I didn't choose A&T, A&T chose me.

[aggieboy336]

Born and raised in Newport News, Va. My dream school was Hampton, thought about going to Morgan St. after I visited some family in Baltimore and saw a steady stream of stallions strutting past me. I didn't know anything about A&T and had only heard of Greensboro until my Jr year in HS. I was using some career exploration computer program that matched you up with colleges. I put in all my interests into the fields and it turned up about 30 schools and A&T was one of them. At the time for some reason I was getting a lot of mail from NC schools and High Point and UNCG were also options. But then I got a BIG THICK viewbook and some more stuff from A&T. I looked at it thoroughly and constantly, I took it to school with me and everything. I also looked at the school website and found a link to student webpages..I swear I read everyone.

So when it came time to apply to schools I had apps to Virginia Commonwealth, Virginia Tech, Morgan St. and A&T in my hand. I knew one person already at A&T so I decided to pull the trigger on that application first. I got accepted before I even thought about sending the other ones in. What sealed the deal was a phone call I got from a honey voiced cutie welcoming me to Aggieland. Came for orientation and I was in awe. I had never felt so at home so far away from home. And the "menu" looked delicious across the board. I got my fill pretty quickly though ;D

[vatoncaggie]

I grew up in Lynchburg Va. After visiting Hampton Univ. in 10th grade I knew I had to attend a HBCU. Once I graduated I decided to wait a year before going to college. One year later I applied to Tuskeggee. Long story short my parents couldnt afford to send me to school. UNCF HELP! I signed up to go into the Army. Two years later and one war(Desert Storm) it was time to reclaim my life. I didnt want to go so far away anymore so I put in ONE application. NCA&TSU accepted me into the family. The rest is history. From the until now AGGIE PRIDE.

[Maxell]

From Raleigh, N.C. As a kid went to Shaw football games. They practiced at my elementary school field. My parents weren't fortunate to go to college but they wanted me to. My dad had a friend at church who would get tickets to A&T-NCCU football game every year. We started to go when I was eight years old. Those gold football helmets and drum majors had me hooked. In high school, I was all ready to go to NC State but I had conversations with Black students that attended. They said that you were wined and dined for a month or two and then you were forgotten about. It was about that time that my boyhood memories of that Thanksgiving football game resurfaced. Several kids from my high school attended A&T and I felt right at home.

[AggieWJM]

My Mom went to A&T (1955 Grad), I grew up on the Campus. I went to day camp at A&T. We (the camp) use to play in the open area where the stadium is now. My brother and I use to march in with the band into the football games at Memorial Stadium.
Aggie Born, Aggie Bred.

[AggiePride]

I am truly Aggie Born and bred! If you get what I mean. A&T is the family school. I was the kid that you or somebody you knew babysat. At an early age I was decked out in the blue and gold. I have baby pictures to proof. I spent quite alot of time in Holland and Scott Halls, before I knew what they were.

Yet, all this and I tried to deny my nature. All I knew was I wanted to go to a black school, but not one in NC. I wanted to go to Hampton or Famu. My mom would not let me go to Howard, too hood. I had no interest in the house, I had no desire to go to an all dude schools. But A&T offered me some money and I went. I have never looked back.

My dad was in the service so we moved around alot, but I graduated from TWAndrews in the Point.