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I Fear Being Labeled a Sellout If I Do Not Follow In My Parents’ Footsteps and Attend an HBCU

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My mother and father are both proud Hampton University graduates. I come from a lineage of family members who have mostly all attended Historically Black Colleges and Universities. So, it was no surprise to me that when I was growing up, I was encouraged to attend an HBCU.

I do, however, have a favorite aunt who attended a PWI (predominantly white institution) and claims to have had an amazing college experience. She took me out to lunch last weekend and tried to sway me to attend a PWI, listing some of the benefits she has gained from having graduated from one.

I Fear Being Labeled a Sellout If I Do Not Follow In My Parents' Footsteps and Attend an HBCU
Stock image of college student. (Photo: Pexels)

She mainly said that the prestige that comes along with names such as Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Georgia Tech, and the like is incomparable. There is a club you become a member of upon graduation, she says, and membership truly has its privileges.

Related: My College Roommate and I Used To Crash Funerals and Repasts to Ensure That We Ate.

As things currently stand, I can write my own ticket, and I am heading towards being the valedictorian of my senior class. I have well over a 4.0 GPA, but I’m on the fence about what type of college to attend while being pressured by my entire family outside of Auntie Gayle to go the HBCU route.

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I am taking what my aunt Gayle has been telling me into strong consideration, but I am afraid of how the rest of the family will view me if I make such a shocking decision. My fear is that I will be considered a sellout if I choose a PWI over an HBCU. My parents won’t disown me, but they will be highly disappointed and will never forgive me for not following in their black footsteps.

Should I strike out on my own college journey and start a new tradition or follow the tradition that has been established by my family and choose an HBCU?

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