As sophomore year comes to a close, I begin to look back at all the memories that I was lucky enough to have in the Atlanta University Center. I’m eager to move on to the next step and yet I don’t want to let go of where I’m at. I was unsure of how this year would go and how I would rekindle the relationships that I had cultivated during my freshman year as most of them weren’t as deep as I wanted them to be. I pondered on how I would further my progress as an English major and increase my body of work as I felt as if I wasn’t doing enough. All of this worry turned into fear for a month long 20 year old overthinking his current life situation. In came a small opportunity that would be one of the centerpieces of a remarkable sophomore year: Her Campus CAU.
Being accepted into the CAU chapter of Her Campus would do more for me than I could’ve ever anticipated in that crowded room in Woodruff Library on Clark Atlanta University’s campus during my interview. Being the only straight male in the organization for a five month period gave me a chance to feel uncomfortable in a way that I had never felt before, a feeling that my HCCAU peers have to deal with at a much greater capacity on a much more frequent basis. It gave me an opportunity to ingratiate myself with an amazing group of black women that really made a mark on me and my time as a sophomore. Being able to write about anything I wanted while slowly improving on my skills with every article I submitted might not seem like a substantial factor to some; but to me, gaining notoriety off of what I was capable meant a lot to me.
But the best part of Her Campus CAU by far was making a group of friends that I would love more than anything to joke with and be around and at the same time look up as well as admire their professional and leadership qualities as I related it back to my previous situations. I can honestly say that I love HCCAU to the point where I consider everyone in it family. Whether they might be distant cousins that you’re able to converse with and crack jokes once in a while, those aunties that are never nothing short of extra and always do too much yet that’s why everyone loves them, or that one sister that you were there for when nobody else was and are inseparable and couldn’t be closer if you were bonded at the hip. Her Campus became something that I was frequently asked about and I became prouder and prouder to be apart of with each article submitted, panel discussion, or group bonding event we put together. So to my new beautiful sisters, I have but one thing left to say: thank you, I love y’all.