Do you remember making your college search, surfing the Internet day and night for anything cool you could find about your top choice school? It’s like you were looking for anything to make you feel apart of the university even before being accepted. Well for me, Youtube was the answer to all of my questions about Hampton and its social life.
I found Hampton students, as well as students from other universities, had uploaded videos of the many events on campus, but my most favorite were the vlogging channels. This led me to make my own decision to attend Hampton and to document my journey as well with my own college vlog series.
Mackenzie McCloud a sophomore biology major from Cary, North Carolina spoke about her reasons for starting a college vlog.
“I have been watching YouTube for years, and I started to notice that there were few YouTubers who actually could relate to my life. I am a female African American Biology major who attends an HBCU. And though that is a very common thing, there was no one talking about it on YouTube.”
Mackenzie’s channel, “ Mackenzie McCloud” includes fashion hauls, advice videos, as well as the newest editions college vlogs. This makes her channel not only interesting to college students interested in exploring their future school but also to students looking for advice on what to expect during the process.
McCloud also explained her purpose on YouTube. “My goal is to stay consistent with my post and to make sure I can catch the important parts of the Biology Pre-Med track on camera. I also want to give tips on staying natural, being well dressed while being on a budget, and my perspective on various topics and issues that affect young women.”
Vlogging on campus has been at an all time rise especially on HU’s campus. And Mackenzie isn’t the only person whose interest in showcasing the life of an average HBCU student prompted her to start a channel.
While googling vlogging channels as apart of my college search I couldn’t find many male vloggers that showcased their everyday lives with an interesting storyline.
Isaiah Campbell a Criminal Justice sophomore from Newark, New Jersey also has a vlogging channel, “ Slim Smoove” on Hampton’s Campus.
“I was always interested in watching other people’s vlog channels and I felt as though some people would enjoy watching a vlog at Hampton University from a males point of a view since majority of the vloggers at this HBCU are females.
With the girl to guy ratio already being outrageous for Hampton students, having male vloggers on Youtube can help to bring more males to the university. For students like Anthony McBarnette, vlogging is much more than just a hobby, but more of a vision.
“I feel like it’s a lot of hate especially between black males so I wanted to show a positive side of what we do here. It’s a crab in a barrel mentality amongst black people. If I’m trying to do something good, or pull others up with me there is a lot of hate in my community. I wanted to show the opposite side of it.”
Although vlogging isn’t a complete picture of the Hampton experience, it’s the closest that students have to broadcasting of their lives and campus events. Students on campus vlog to entertain, inform, and most importantly to show the importance of black excellence that many people overlook. The HBCU experience is like none other, so log on a check it out, you won’t be disappointed!