My time at Cheyney University, and the education I received while a student there was the most valuable experience of my life.
As the baby out of six children, most of who went to Delaware State, I wanted to venture out on my own when I selected my school.
I fell in love with Cheyney the first time I walked on its beautiful campus.
After meeting leaders and speaking to faculty, I knew Cheyney was the perfect school for me.
Right away, I felt like I belonged and that I was part of a big family. The upperclassmen who greeted me, the people I spoke to as I toured the campus, they all made me feel so special.
Even more, they made my mother feel comfortable enough to allow her baby to leave Wilmington, Delaware and go out-of-state to school.
No, Cheyney wasn’t an Ivy League university, but it was an HBCU that I felt would make me more marketable and equip me with what I needed to get out of school and make a difference in the world.
Cheyney gave me the opportunity to grow as an individual and prepared me to succeed in the working world.
Dr. Ernestine Burke, a business administration professor, was my advisor and an amazing mentor. She groomed me, took time to work with me and advise me as I navigated college and contemplated my future.
Dr. Edward Williams, the chair of the business department, was another person who invested time in my development and motivated me to always put my best foot forward.
Cheyney is made up of so many fine faculty and staff who go above and beyond to help responsible students succeed in and out of the classroom.
Today, as a senior career development advisor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, it is my turn to give back to mechanical and nuclear engineering students and help them get ready for the world of work in seeking co-op or internships.
For more than 30 years, I have used what Cheyney taught me and continue to build on that firm foundation that made all the difference in the world to me then, and, still does to this very day.
When I think back to my days at Cheyney it is with deep gratitude and extreme fondness as the friends that I met became my lifetime friends. I have built so many relationships along the way that endear me, not only to Cheyney, but to its legacy, its products and the pride that Cheyney Wolves feel about having attended and graduated from America’s first HBCU.
My love for Cheyney is reflected in my active participation in the Metro Atlanta Cheyney University Alumni Chapter.
We do a lot of reaching out to students, promoting Cheyney and all that the school has to offer.
As a result, a number of Atlanta-area students have gone up north to Cheyney for college.
I believe in my Alma Mater and will continue to fight for its existence.
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