To God be the Glory, for all He has done, forever and always. I’d like to take some time to discuss one of the most amazing experiences in my life; attending Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. To date, it is the number one HBCU in the United States.

In full transparency, I wasn’t too sure if I would apply to Spelman. Back in my senior year of high school, there were so many colleges I had in mind. Plus, I didn’t know if Atlanta would be the right fit for me. I only toured two college campuses; Spelman and Clemson University. The trip to Clemson was hosted by my school, but my family scheduled the tour to Spelman, which at the time was empty due to winter break (a major plus). After both visits, I knew I wanted to attend an HBCU, but the requirements to get into Spelman were competitive.

There were many people who would say, “Kam, you’ve been smart all your life, etc.” Though I remained grateful for the encouragement, I still didn’t think being top 10% of my class, having almost a perfect score on the SAT, or participating in over five clubs would make me a suitable applicant for the institution. However, I put my faith into it and applied November 2016. It became my top choice.

I received an email in January 2017, informing me that my application was deferred. In other words, I wasn’t rejected, but I was pushed to regular admission instead of early admission. Honestly, after reading these words, my chest fell to my stomach. I questioned myself and God. I even put off applying to my other top choices, Hampton University & Howard University, because I was so distraught. Yet, I can do all things through Jesus Christ, right?

I pushed through and decided to apply to other colleges during the wait. To my surprise, Hampton University accepted me only a week after applying. The acceptance gave me a bit of joy to take my mind off Spelman. In addition to Hampton, within the next few months, I was accepted into 13 more universities. I decided in March, which was very close to the deadline, that I would apply to Howard University by faith. Yes, I was also nervous about this application. This was my second choice. I took a deep breath, applied, and waited. I remember praying to God one night that I would not grow weary because there is always a purpose in everything He does.

I decided to focus on current schoolwork and my extracurricular activities. I didn’t want to add any unnecessary stress to my heavy load, being that I was president of three clubs while trying to maintain my GPA. Back then, we had portals to check our admissions status, but I was too nervous to look at anything. Fast forward to March 17, 2017, I was in my bed relaxing when I heard an email notification. I looked to see an email from the admissions office at Howard. I got accepted into my second choice. I cried like a baby. In all my worrying, up to this point, I had been accepted into every school I applied for. I remember sitting in gratitude and praying for hours.

I took that weekend to just bask in the fact that God was on my side. The following Monday, I went to our school’s college counselor to get my free candy and picture (I got lots of candy for each acceptance letter hehe). We spoke for a minute, and to my surprise, she says, “Are you still waiting on Spelman?” I took a deep sigh and said, “yes ma’am.” She proceeds to tell me that I should genuinely consider going to Howard. I can’t say if she was being supportive or if she felt I wouldn’t get admitted since I’d been waiting since November 2016. I didn’t think too much of it and went about my day.

During English class, I finished my work early and decided to read my Bible. Anyone I went to school with can tell you that my boldness for Christ has always been evident and I will make time for His Word no matter where I am. I remember reading the Song of Solomon and thinking about God’s unconditional love. I began crying, so my teacher (s/o to Mr. Smith) let me excuse myself. After worshipping alone in the bathroom for some time, I left school early to pick up my sister. We laughed, sang, and danced all the way home. Then, I heard a voice telling me to get the mail. I drove up to the mailbox and my sister opened it. The only letter in there was the infamous baby blue envelope from Spelman College. My sister’s mouth dropped and she immediately called my mom. I screamed and wailed so badly that my mom was about to come home from work LOL.

I didn’t even open it yet because I already knew what it was. Once I did, I read that I had been accepted into Spelman College. Not only did I get accepted, I was one of 400 women to be accepted out of 8,000 applications. Also, the date on the letter said March 17, which means I was accepted into my top two choices on the same day. Seeing the messages from current students at the time saying, “Welcome to the AUC (Atlanta University Center) sis” was life-changing and another proof of Yahweh’s existence. It was up from there. Part two coming soon.