Post by myhbcuinterview on Jan 8, 2012 18:04:11 GMT -5
We had the good fortune of interviewing Ms. Land, who being a native of Chicago learned about the Great A&T through Target H.O.P.E. an organization that tours HBCUs with high school students. This woman is a great spirit and gives back in a way that we hope everyone will at least once in their lifetime. Enjoy and don't forget to network! Each 1 Reach 1!
"How did you decide to become a student at North Carolina A&T State University?
I have always had it in my mind that I wanted to go to a historically black college or university. In Chicago(my hometown), most students from the public school system go to the state schools and take the high school drama and negativity with them. I wanted to avoid that and experience something new, so I only applied to out of state schools. I was used to a small to medium school environment (graduating in 8th grade with only 50 students and graduating in high school with less than 150) and benefited from the one-on-one nurturing those schools provided. I wanted that experience to continue into college. I knew theHBCUs I were considering would give me not only the academic tools I needed, but also focus on concrete ways to successfully navigate corporate America while helping me to embrace and become empowered by my ethnicity.
I was introduced to North Carolina A&T the summer before my senior year of high school. I was referred to an organization called Target H.O.P.E. (TH) by a former teacher. Essentially it is a college preparatory program that offered extra academic help with classes you are currently taking in school, as well as assistance with the college and scholarship application processes. They also organize college tours two to three times a year so prospective students can visit the schools they are interested in and connect with administrators and current students.
The institutions Target H.O.P.E. visits are primarily HBCUs but also PWIs that embrace their minority students and have an array of support programs for them. Target H.O.P.E. has informal partnerships with the schools it visits and each year an array of students, Target H.O.P.E. alums, enroll each year. Over the years, schools with big enrollment numbers have included Howard, Fisk, The University of Missouri –Columbia, and nowNorth Carolina A&T! My graduation class of 2008 was the biggest class of students that came at one time with enough people to start a chapter on campus.
During the visits, the on-campus Target H.O.P.E. chapter members hosted the high school students, guide the campus tours and answered any questions we had about student life and what it is like attending.
The summer I toured there were not any TH alumni on campus, so an Aggie Alum who was associated with Target HOPE but not a member, Cory Adams, flew in to show us around. From the moment I stepped on campus I knew Howard had some competition in my heart for where I was going after graduation! For the longest I wanted to go to Howard, for various reasons, but as the visit went on A&T won the battle.
The campus atmosphere was competely inviting, not stuffy like some of the other schools. The students walking passed us on their way to class were smiling, saying hello, some stopped to speak. Several were very excited that we were potential students and immediately went into their personal stories about why A&T was a great school. Visually, the campus (click the pdf link or take a tour with the Aggie Escort driver) was a nice mixture between modern and historical, and to this day I’m still in awe at how far this land grant institution has come. It was not your normal tour and I think that is how my mind was changed. We met the Chancellor and Provost at the time and we went inside academic buildings, which is not normally allowed. I met the Journalism and Mass Communication department chairperson at the time and we toured the TV station. Every thing we did, from eating in Williams Cafeteria to walking across the yard, I could picture myself there as a student. I thought I’d fit right in. The icing on the cake: what Aggie Pride meant to this campus and how it pulled everyone in as a family. Cory taught us the proper way to say it before we even got off the coach and that set the tone for the rest of the day. Every person who spoke in reference to the school talked about Aggie Pride.
You can’t really describe it, but once you experience it you know that’s it! If I have to try, I would say it is always holding yourself at an exceptionally high standard and truly believing you can achieve it no matter the area…Aggie Pride is really a way of life! And it was that home away from home feeling that led me to NCAT and I have never once regretted my decision.
What professors at North Carolina A&T State University are leaving the most impression upon you as a person and student? What did they do that continues to mean so much to you to this day?
I would also have to say Dr. Teresa Styles is probably the most influential professor I have had thus far. She had a very successful career in broadcast journalism before she became a professor and is VERY passionate about this industry and everything she is able to give to her students. I think she is an underestimated professor in the department because her teaching methods are not really conventional, but you walk away with ALOT of much needed advice about how to navigate and be successful in the industry after graduation, and that is more valuable than having a perfect transcript. I trust her opinion and value her criticism, and she is really funny to me when she starts telling stories about her time in the business. She has seen some of everything.
Also, there were a few administrators who influenced me as well. Specifically, Mr. Porter, the director of the New Student Orientation program, his staff, and the staff within the Department of Student Development under Mrs. Iverson-Payne. They were examples of what effective leadership should look like and gave great advice on how to go about obtaining and maintaining different roles. One of the biggest things I learned was to not let anything intimidate you or keep you from doing your job to the best of your ability. Great leaders, from their example, are always professional when the time calls, but relatable where those under them will want to work with them. My teamwork skills have definitely been sharpened from that experience and I was fortunate to have had that correction in my earlier collegiate years because most students won’t get that type of mentoring until later.
What is the story of your “experience” to date at North Carolina A&T State University given its heralded status as a stellar and prestigious institution?
I truly believe becoming an Aggie was exactly what I was supposed to do, its one of the main stops on my path to greatness. I have met incredibly talented and awesome people, who continue to inspire me to great heights by challenging my thoughts and actions. Sometimes I’m walking around campus thinking, man these last 3 years have flown by, but I am not worried about my future because my NCAT education is definitely providing me with the tools I need. My experience has been humbling, full of enough successes to encourage me to keep reaching for new heights and enough failures to encourage focus and diligence. Some may say you can get that from anywhere, but there is nothing like the NCAT experience! This school is big enough for you to be an individual, but small enough where we really are a family. I tell every high school student who asks, A&T as been like a mirror, showing me greatness in myself, and I will always be indebted to it for that. I did not come to college and get caught up in the hype. I came with an agenda, and one of things was to fall in love with a historically black university so that giving back as an alum would not feel like a chore, but something I really wanted to do. I think that is my biggest goal in life, being in a position to give back to the communities who influenced me and help me to get where I am. Mahatma Gandhi said for “you to be the change you want to see in the world” and I live whole hearted by that quote. My now is not for me, but for those who come after."
Read the entire interview here www.myhbcuinterview.com/2011/08/14/nubian-queen-laria-land-her-hbcu-experience/