"We don't know where our first impressions come from or precisely what they mean, so we don't always appreciate their fragility" - Malcolm Gladwell
Welcome to WSSU or you may hear some people call it WSS Zoo. I hope that the first few weeks either as a new freshman or a returning student were pleasant or at least tolerable. Thinking back on my experience as a traditional student here at WSSU, I remember having a hard time getting back in the "swing" of things once classes resumed. I had not committed my schedule to memory, my financial aid was not properly handled, and it was hot.
For many of you, that was your reality as well – your schedule was not committed to memory (partly because it has changed every day), your financial aid is not in (partly because someone lost paperwork) and it has been HOT!!! Fortunately, after the dust settles and everyone gets back in the "swing" of things, it will be a great experience.
As an alumnus of the university, I am interested to know how you feel about my alma mater. What were some of your "beginning of the semester" experiences here at WSSU either as a returning student or a new freshman? What things were not handled professionally? How would you have fixed the issues? Does this make you dislike WSSU or was it just something that you feel you would have had to deal with at any institution? Why did you choose WSSU? In hindsight, going through what you have, would you still have chosen WSSU? Why or why not?
Mr. C
This blog is due on Friday
September 1 by 11:59 PM and it has to be AT LEAST 250 words.
52 comments:
I am a first-year freshman and some of my beginning of the semester experiences include not having my wellness paper filled out properly, not having my promissory letter completed, not being able to understand the way some of my teacher talk, and not being familiar with the location of my classes. I believe that everything was handled as professional as possible, but the wssu website in general was very hard to understand for my parents and I which caused problems down the line with me being validated. Those problems could've been handled before I arrived to school if we would have been able to clearly find and understand the direction the website gave us. To resolve this issue I would call or email the student's or parent ahead of time to let them know about the things they don't have completed that are withholding them from been validated. WSSU moves very quickly when it comes to dropping students from classes, but when it comes to providing the help they need they don't react nearly as fast. Sometimes it takes hours and maybe even days to even get in contact with WSSU via telephone. This situation did not make me dislike WSSU because I know it is common in many HBCU's. I chose WSSU for the cheerleading team and although I went through a few frustrating situations I still would've chosen this school because every school as problems and the problems I experienced weren't bad to the point where i'd need to switch schools.
I am a first-year student and my “beginning of the semester” experiences started of course attending Ramdition, now this was an unbelievable experience because I kind of knew where certain buildings were so when it was time for class I didn’t have trouble finding my classes. However, I did have some run ins with Financial Aid which didn’t go over so well but in the end, it worked out perfectly. The whole situation wasn’t handled correctly because nobody wanted to give me proper answers to my question which in the end only made me madder because they had all of the information in front of their face but still acted like they didn’t know how to answer my question. I would fix the issue really by getting new employees in the whole department because they really acted like they didn’t want to do their job. That experience doesn’t make me dislike WSSU because that’s literally one thing and I do feel as though I would go through the same thing at any institution but it’s about how to properly approach the situation. I mainly chose Winston because it’s not that fair from my family so if it was ever an emergency they would have no trouble getting up here fast, even going through all I went through I still would have chosen Winston because it’s all about education and that one situation shouldn’t deter me from attending Winston because like I said that’s one situation and the same thing would have happened at any other institution I believe.
As a first-year student at Winston-Salem State University, I was completely full of mixed emotions. My beginning of the semester experiences consisted of a positive experience of Ramdition. Attending a full week of Ramdition consisted of early morning sessions starting in the auditorium to any part of campus that lasted until about 4pm everyday. Overcoming minor exhaustion after each session, I was fortunate enough to meet some of the greatest legacy leaders of Winston-Salem State University and new friends. Having a legacy leader for a full week allowed me to complete business that I had yet to finish, get familiar with the campus, and also allowed me to receive great advice from a well rounded group of upperclassmen. I didn’t experience too many negative situations during the process of moving in or familiarizing myself with different departments on campus. However, there was an issue with my health and immunization records by my physician but everyone on campus provided great hospitality and became very helpful whenever I needed guidance. Although, there is always room for improvement, Winston-Salem State University has a great campus and community that actually makes students feel that they have a home away from home! I love the fact that our campus is full of diversity. Having said that, it reminds me of why I chose Winston-Salem State University. Not only did I choose Winston because it was my first choice and I had been accepted, but I chose this HBCU because of the University's motto “Enter to Learn and Depart to Serve”. I know that I would never have an experience such as this at any other University!
After 4 years in the U.S. Army, I finally switched to the Army National Guard to get my college degree. As a first-year student, I am nervous adapting to the "civilian" lifestyle. I chose Winston-Salem State University due to being military friendly and also being close to my fiancee and my two week old daughter. My experience so far is I made a great choice by attending this university. I have met some great professor who have some of the greatest personalities I have met in such a long time when it came to the education system. Most just show up, teach and leave. Here at WSSU, they actually interact with their students and that's something you don't find anywhere else. I wouldn't say it was handled unprofessionally it was just a misunderstanding. I personally delivered my high school transcript and the admissions personnel called me stating that they were still missing my high school transcript. I kindly explained to the gentleman that I personally hand delivered the transcript two months prior. He then ask me to give him thirty minutes while he goes out and searches for my documents. Fifteen minutes later, he calls me apologizing stating that he had it in his drawer in his office. We both laughed at the misunderstanding and went off with our day. Of course, small misunderstandings like this can happen anywhere. It can happen at a dealership, doctors office, even a McDonald's. This small incident will not change my first impression with WSSU already. I am here to stay and pursuing my education like I promised my mother, fiancee and my daughter I would.
As a first time freshman here at WSSU, I can say the process getting here wasn’t an easy one. It wasn’t the application process, but simply the way staff members was handling business. Being that I’m from Virginia, my mother and I had many questions that not all members had the answers to. It seemed as if nobody knew what to do which resulted in them constantly switching us to different departments, talking to numerous people, or no one answered the phone. I even took the time to email the different departments to ask any questions that I had and it was either they would reply weeks later or I received no reply at all. In honesty, I did question myself whether I was making the right decision attending here because it seemed unorganized at first. However, I followed through with my decision because I had faith I was meant to be here. Upon arrival I loved the campus and Ramdition week was very convenient, not only because we had parties and different activities, but we got to take care of any remaining business we had to handle. At first I didn't know that I wasn’t validated and I automatically thought that would be another difficult process I had to go through. However, the process didn’t take long at all and I was able to register for my classes. Even though the journey getting here wasn’t as smooth as I would have liked it to be, I never changed my mind about coming here. I applied to many other schools in my hometown, which I could have gone to, but I was very adamant about coming here. I chose to be here because I wanted to experience what it was like to live in a different environment and I wanted to attend one of the best HBCUs. I enjoyed my first week of classes and I can't wait to see what else is in store for me here!
My name is Tyler Chisolm and I am a first year freshman here at Winston Salem State University. My experiences at the beginning of this semester have been pretty good so far. Ramdition had some sessions that I really enjoyed, like "Brother to Brother", and my community service project. Ramdition also helped me become aware of the campus. I was able to find my classes easy on the first day, which was one less thing I had to worry about. My legacy leader was really cool and I also met some new people. I honestly haven't had too many bad experiences so far. Books are a pain of course, because they are so expensive, and that will take time getting used to. The long lines to get in the café and the food places in DJR are kind of annoying also, but it's not the worst thing in the world. My only worry is about how hard my classes will be, and what it will take for me to succeed in them. I chose to come here because, when I came for a campus tour I was really impressed. The campus is clean, it isn't too big, and the facilities are nice. The activities we had on campus were pretty fun also. I also wanted to come here because it's not too far away from home, but it's also not too close. It is a great change of scenery from my hometown. I believe I made the right choice by coming here to Winston Salem State. So far it seems to be a great HBCU and I believe I will enjoy it here. I don't see myself going anywhere else. My first week of classes were pretty good and hopefully I will enjoy them throughout the semester. I hope that I can get involved with some extracurricular activities and have fun while I'm here, and enjoy my college experience to the fullest.
My name is Angel White, I am not your typical freshman. Coming from an early college high school I enroll as a freshman but are considered to be a junior which has its ups and downs. My experience here at Winston Salem State University has really been a big change from high school and a community college. All in a good way though, from a much bigger student body, to a bigger variety of class, and just a welcoming atmosphere altogether. The only thing I believed that I didn’t receive the professional help I was expecting, when calling the school over the summer no one would answer the phone and when they would answer the phone they would either have me or my mom on hold forever or have a bad attitude. I would or did fix this issues by asking these questions face to face at the “Rams at Home” function, which I was thankful for along with Ramdition. I was not only able to get several of my questions answered but I met so many new people. Ramdition week allowed me to learn the campus before classes began, and meet many new friends along with an amazing legacy leader to guide me and my group throughout the week. The phone call situations at the time did make me dislike Winston but after coming to campus I fell in love with my HBCU and don’t regret it at all. I didn’t particularly choose WSSU at first, I was leaning towards out of state but after researching and learning more about their science program and cost. Me and my finances chose WSSU. At this point, even if I did obtain the funds to attend a university out of state I would still chose WSSU.
As an incoming freshman I did not really know what to expect coming to a school that is not close to home. As the time became closer to leave people from everywhere were giving me all different types of advice, and after a week I can say that the majority of their advice was wrong. Though this is only the second week of school, I feel as though I have a good sense of how this “college thing” works when it comes to expectations and course load. One thing that I do particularly enjoy about the Winston Salem State staff is that they are very transparent when it comes to schooling and course load. They will not attempt to nurse you, but at the same time will give you the extra help if you ask for it.
When it comes the students I have not had any bad experiences. Everyone here is very nice and respectful. That is one thing that I didn’t expect coming to college, I assumed that everyone did their own thing and walked quietly to class but it was the complete opposite. On this campus I feel that we are a community, and I feel comfortable talking about my opinions and asking questions without being judged. That is one of the reasons why I chose Winston or particularly an HBCU is because of the idea of having a family away from home, and I believe I have achieved that. I think I chose the right choice in choosing Winston because I feel the love from everyone here, and with having this support I know I will succeed.
I am a first-year freshman and I haven't really had too much of a beginning of the semester experience other than getting adjusted to the locations of my classes and ramdition. I handled everything from my financial aid to my wellness papers prior to arriving on campus because I knew the first week in was gonna be hectic. The week leading up to classes also known as ramdition was quite an experience. During our ramdition week I met wonderful people and created some bonds and friendships. My ramdition experience was a little different from everyone else because I wasn’t able to attend all of the sessions because i’m in band so we operated on a different schedule. The Sunday before class started I took a walk around campus with a friend so we could get familiar with the locations of our classes. One thing I can say that wasn’t handled professionally was the issue with my room. On day one when I moved in I let the people in my dorm know that something in my room wasn’t working and from then on out I never got another response. If I was the person in charge I would’ve tried my best to get the issue fixed and I would’ve kept in close contact with the person that had the problem. The issues I had doesn’t make me dislike the institution it just let’s me know that I have to be proactive and stay on top of things, but problems I had you would have to deal with them at any school. I chose WSSU because it has been my dream school since I was little, but also for it’s astounding nursing program.
I am Kisha Campbell, I am a Winston-Salem native and this is my first year at WSSU.
I am so excited to be a Ram, my first week though was a little stressful waiting for Financial Aid. I was selected for the verification process, and in this process they asked for additional information not only from my mom but from my sister who is also in college. We had to do uploads, make "e-signatures" and several phone calls. My sister also had to do the verification process and hers came back with no problems, however I had to resubmit mine two or three times. Classes were beginning to start and mine were not even valid, finally by the end of the week everything fell into place. If I would have done my FAFSA sooner I wouldn't have had to go through this so close to the start of the school year. I have loved art and music all my life, but as I got older the "grown-ups" would say "You can't make career out of that." or "It's not guaranteed you'll make money doing that." So I had to come up with a new game plan, something people would need. My senior year I took Collison Repair at the career center, and to be honest I loved it but I couldn't envision myself doing that for the rest of my life; however after graduation I bounced around from college to college I just could not commit a hundred percent. My eye opener was working a year in customer service. In everything you do there are good days and bad days, but it seemed the bad out weighed the good and it felt as if I had hit that "dead end" everyone talked about. My mom came to me and told me to give WSSU a shot. I didn't believe I could get in, but when I did I vowed I'd do what makes me happy. I'm proud to be here, and I hope to go further. Being here now make me wonder why I didn't start here.
I am Terrius Bartley, I'm from Atlanta Georgia but I currently live in Fayetteville NC and I am a First time freshman here at Winston-Salem state university. Coming to Winston-Salem I had mixed emotions about it because this was not my first choice. I wanted to attend Talladega College in Alabama. As school was approaching I was not prepared to come due to paper work and missing documents but eventually I had got everything taken care of to paying for Ramdition, housing fees, and even getting the shots that I needed to attend. When school had started on the first day I moved in it was a bittersweet moment for me and my family as we said our goodbyes, then after they left I finished unpacking then eventually went to band practice. I am apart of the Red Sea of Sound and I play the Euphonium. Band practice was a lot in the beginning epically because its way different from high school band and the music was a little difficult to play but I managed to understand the music better as I practiced a lot. After band practice everyday it would be late but campus was still live every night, it was exactly what I expected it to be. Because Campus was live everyday and night it made my first week fun and better for me because I could barely participate in Ramdition due to band camp. As I continued with my first week I really had to adapt to this college life, all the walking, remembering where everything is, and still getting use to not being at home. Hanging out with my friends and meeting a lot of new people made everything easier for me. Everyone here is really friendly its way different from where I'm from. Even though I was in school I still had missing documents that needed to be turned in. my immunization papers were not in and not uploaded to medproctor and I was told that if they were not in by the next week it was a possibility that I could be kicked out of the university. Winston-Salem state university was not my first choice at all so because of that I was late paying for everything and I feel that because of me paying so late that's why I'm in, the dorm that I am in now is not the best but I mean at least I have a room and somewhere to lay my head at night. As the days passed I grew to like school and take pride into becoming a ram.
I am a new freshman at WSSU and some of my “beginning of the semester” experiences included Ramdition. Being able to experience and be apart of Ramdition was wonderful, I got the chance to meet so many people and most of all getting to know the campus so I wouldn’t look so lost the first day of class. This really help me become more comfortable with WSSU, it really made me feel like I was home. Something that I thought was not handled professionally was when it was time for us to register for classes. It was so many people trying to register at one time, and there were only like 3 professors there to help us out. It was very frustrating to do because everyone needed help and there were so many of us trying to make sure we were doing the right thing. I would have fixed this issue by having less people at a time so it could be easier and less chaos. This situation does not make me dislike WSSU, I feel like every school goes through this because they have such big freshman classes. It is probably normal for most schools to go through something like this. I chose WSSU because I would come and visit my cousin who use to live here and she also went to WSSU. We would go visit the campus and go to the football games, seeing how people interacted with each other and seeing how WSSU show their school spirit I fell in love with the school. Despite what I have been through I still would have chose WSSU because no school is perfect and they all have their downfalls. At WSSU we treat everyone like family and that’s what I love about it and that is why I chose Winston-Salem State University.
I am Sarah Montgomery I am originally from Syracuse,NY but in 2015 I relocated to Charlotte,NC . WSSU was not my first choice NC A&T was but after visiting the school I decided that I may want to look at some different options and after I visited WSSU I knew that it was where i wanted to go, it had a nice campus and was family oriented, I felt at home. My first year freshman experience has been good so far. I had some troubles and frustrations during move-in because everything was just hectic and it was so hot. I had to bring most of my belongings to my room which is on the fourth floor using the stairs and I was not happy about that but everything else has been going smoothly. I had no problems with financial aid I was able to get validated on time. I was able to make my class schedule to my liking and I have no classes before 10:00 am which is a blessing and I have time during the week to study and do work. Somethings are still new to me as far as transitioning from high school to college but i'll get use to it i'm well at time management because I worked during high school so I don't think that'll be to much of a problem. And one last thing that is that the food is not what I expected it to be , there are only two days that I know that i'll definitely eat and that is Wednesdays and Fridays. that is something that I learned during ramdition, but overall I love my school and I hope i'll be able to stay here for all four years.
WSSU RAMS!!!!!!!!
As an incoming freshman, Winston-Salem State University was not my first choice. Actually, NC A&T was. Due to how indecisive I was I ended up choosing Winston-Salem State University and I think it was the best because after going to the first orientation it made me realize that I had made a good choice due to how friendly the people are at Winston-Salem State University, plus it felt like home. Some of my "beginning of the semester" experiences at Winston-Salem State University begin at Ramdition. Being able to have a week experience of meeting my new freshman class and meeting leaders that would guide you through the transition from high school to college. The experience was an opportunity to meet new people that turn into a friendship and knowing more about the campus so I wouldn’t be lost on my first day. Overall Ramdition was a great experience. Some of the thing that were not handled professionally was the process of registering for your classes because it was low on staff to help out a large number of the first year of incoming students in one day and it became a frustrating process. I would fix the issue by getting more staffs to help out or having each group come at different date and time during the whole. This situation did not make me dislike Winston-Salem State University because probably every school goes through the same struggle. So far, I'm loving my school and I hope to stay here until I graduate.
I am Key'Azhia Hoyle a first time freshman at Winston Salem State University. My first week being at Winston Salem State was kind of difficult.Financial aid and faculty members giving me the run around dealing with my application. They would say I didn't need anything and that I was good on everything. But in reality I would get emails saying my application was not complete. When I would call financial aid they wouldn't answer the phone or would have you on hold for HOURS!Then on the top of that they would have the worst attitudes. In order for me to continue to come here I had to do the pay to stay and pay $350 every month That was with the student account faculty members. When I went to fill out for this the women I was doing it with argued me up and down that they didn't have the program. She then asked the person over her and she said they did and after that she had a attitude the whole time. The financial aid situation is just now being fully taking care of as of today. I feel like personally the financial aid and student accounts were very unprofessionally.This did make me not like Winston a little bit.I choose Winston because I always wanted to go to a HBCU and learn more about my background. Other than that situation I did have some good times at ramdition like the sister to sister and the talent show they were so much fun!!!! After going through all of that I think I would have still would have chose Winston. Because I really do like it here.My academic adviser has been helping every step of the way with all my classes and getting me help with tutors etc.
My name is Prescilla Prado, from Camden New Jersey, a horrible city where poverty and killings are known, attend WSSU as a first-time freshmen. At the beginning of my semester I honestly didn't face any tragedies with my schedule, being validated or being registered. I did have trouble finding my classes, that's about all. I also didn't adjust to the college life yet. I'm not going to say I wasn't prepared but I sure enough wasn't thinking this is how it would be. As far as being a high school student, I'm use to going to a different class every time the bell rung. Here, you get to take naps in between classes or whatever you want to do. I was over thinking the first semester so me being excited I sorta made myself nervous, so I didn't focus on anything going wrong, or maybe I just didn't have anything at all gone wrong. Everything was handled professionally according to me. I can't speak for anybody else but I was registered and ready for classes the week before. Since I was ahead of most people and validated it made me love WSSU more than what I already do. Wherever you go, any institution you will face a problem. You cannot avoid a problem, minor or major. There will always be a problem as a first-time freshmen, or that's just how I think. I can't explain why I chose WSSU, WSSU chose me to be honest. The organization that stood out to me was the Marching Band. When I attended the Band Splash this past March, I felt at home and I instantly made my decision of coming here. Fun fact, I play Mellophone and I am apart of the Red Sea of Sound. Just to note, I been admiring wssu since my freshmen year of high school so I always wanted to a Ram. It's very different from my hometown though. People are actually respectful here. I feel like I am wanted here. The people, staff, advisors, professors, directors, etc.. make you feel like you do mena something. Back at home, teachers barely care if you make it out or not. I had no choice but to leave that city. In hindsight, I still would have chose WSSU. It's where I wanted to be 4 years ago. When I actually had the opportunity to drive out here and see how the campus run, it made me want to be here even more. I love WSSU. I would highly recommend our institution to many people.
GO RAMS!
I am Mya' Gray and I am from Maryland but currently living in Charlotte. When I moved to NC, Winston-Salem State University was my first choice. After staying on campus with my friends for a weekend, talking with my brother who is an alumni, taking a tour, and finding out this university is great for nursing majors; I knew this is where I wanted to be. Some "beginning of the semester" experiences I've had were ramdition, meeting new people, and just getting used to doing everything on my own. I enjoyed some parts of ramdition like sister-to-sister, and our group discussions because it really showed me that WSSU is like one big family. I like walking around and people that don't even know me say,"hey" or ask,"how are you". An issue I did not like before I even stepped foot on campus was how slow the admission process took to get into the school, on top of they kept saying they didn't receive some of my information. When I got here I did have some issues with the room like our blinds being backwards, and my wardrobe door being off the hinges but overall my dorm was nice. To fix some of these issues I would have stayed on top of the admissions department because that could stray students away due to the long process, and to fix the dorm issues I just would have not told us that everything was going to be fixed by the end of ramdition if they weren't sure because it's the third week and it hasn't been looked at. I feel that you are going to have issues at all institutions so this does not make me dislike or not have chosen WSSU. Overall I am liking the campus so far and can't wait to see what I am going to get into and how much I am going to learn.
My name is Caroline Belton, I am a first time freshmen, and I am from Pfafftown, North Carolina. I originally was going to dual enroll at WSSU with Forsyth Tech and their nursing program that they had bundled together. The reason I am only attending WSSU is because the nursing program was so competitive that I did not make it in. Since WSSU is know for its very successful nursing program I decided to go here. During RAMdition I was really excited to be here because I am the first one in my family to go to a four year university. My parents were so proud of me and it made me feel like I was accomplishing something very amazing for me to be able to go to this school. Although I did have one problem with WSSU while arriving here. I had turned in my exemption form to live off campus and my papers were approved, meaning I could continue to live at home. The paper work was not distributed to the rest of the staff members in the Student Housing and Residential office and I was being sent e-mails saying I had to pay all of these fees to live on campus or my classes would be dropped and I would have to reapply to attend WSSU. This was a very stressful situation for me because I worked really hard to get here. Thankfully it was just a mistake and I can continue to take my classes here while living at home. This situation did not affect my opinion of this school since this could have happened anywhere. People that work in offices have so much work to do, it is very understandable that someone could forget one piece of paperwork.
I’m a freshman here at WSSU and my beginning of semester experiences have been great so far, which included the week-long experience of Ramdition, everyone got settled in pretty quick and we had a chance to have fun with the Legacy Leaders before classes started. Having the advantage of being here a week before classes started, it gave all the freshmen opportunities to handle everything they needed, especially dealing with Financial Aid. I did not have any issues dealing with resources around campus, everything went pretty smooth for me. I do think that the most called resources, such as Financial Aid, should have people who can actually help you while being on the phone and not just sit there and let it ring. This situation did not make me dislike WSSU, I believe it would happen at other institutions also. I chose WSSU because of it being my top choice and the motto stood out to me, “Enter to Learn, Depart to Serve.” Coming into WSSU you may be off your game, but by the time you leave, you will be a well-rounded person in everything you do, if you decide to put your mind to it. The motto is one thing but, the school spirit, the extra-curricular activities, everything about this school is amazing, I wouldn’t have chosen another school besides WSSU. Going through financial things transitioning to college, I still would have chosen WSSU. Along with meeting new people, college is supposed to your home away from home, and that's what it feels like here.
As an incoming freshman, Winston Salem State was not my first choice. North Carolina Central University was my first. I ended up choosing Winston after coming to orientation, it just seemed more of a fun and friendly environment. A few of my "beginning of the semester" experiences was Ramdition which is something I never experienced before. The staff and the students was so nice. The staff made sure it felt like home. There was sessions from morning to sunrise. A lot of activities to do around here, sure does keep you busy! I love the idea of Legacy Leaders, they helped us with any problem we had and made sure we knew were we was going for our first day. Some of the things that weren't handled properly was my financial aid. They always said they were missing something when everything was turned in properly and on time. I would fix this issue by having whoever is in charge with financial aid to have every students paperwork in a safe spot and separate from others. Have labels on the paperwork of what it is and the name of the student. This situation did not make me want to change my mind about Winston because any school can have this problem. As long as I got everything straight then my mind about Winston is not changing. So far I'm loving the experience and I wouldn't wanna be anywhere else.
My name is Juvontre Rogers , I'm a first year student here at WSSU. I'm from the Bullcity aka Durham , North Carolina. I'm a first generation college student but the ramdition program really helped me, A lot of the events and talks with our legacy leaders. Made the transition smooth , while still preparing me to wake up at 9 o'clock . The early morning session or "ClubKR" as they called it.Was a smart idea it keep us up and active , it also gave me time to explore the campus . In this small amount of time I have adjusted well. As far as my beginning of semester experience I feel I had a good one.I really enjoy the campus , plus everyone I have met has been really nice.My classes are pretty stressful but I have been able to manage for so far. Most of my classes are by my dorm room so I don't have a far walk either.Now I can't pretend like everything was great. One thing I disliked was how hard it was to move into the housing . They could have made more space & time for everyone to move in .I also believe the financial aid & housing offices could answer the phone a little quicker. I have waited multiple times for over 45 mins just to talk to someone. Most of the time it just be a simple question or a error.Other than those two problems the school experience has been fine. I like the atmosphere here it's really like a family . Even though I didn't have the best experience with the administration operatives. I'm still gald to be a ram.
Greetings,
My name is Naviyea Adams, Exercise Science major, and I'm a freshman here at Winston-Salem State University. I am from Fayetteville, NC, attended a Historically Black High School which was E. E. Smith High School. At my school attending a HBCU was the standard. Having that HBCU feeling at my high school is what pushed me to go to a HBCU. I've visited most of the HBCUs in North Carolina and none of them gave that feel like SU. That culture here is unmatched. At first, all I knew about SU was their football team and The Red Sea of Sound. Comes my Junior year! It was the time to get serious and figure out what I was going to do in about two years. My #1 choice was, of course, Winston and that was because they have an awesome health science program but most importantly, I felt as if the university truly wants the best for their students. My freshmen year hasn't been going my way but that's life. I learned to make the best out of certain situations and to not give up. Getting settle in and making friends wasn't hard at all. I was kind of well-known before I stepped on campus due to social media. The fact that a lot my friends from my high school and Fayetteville attends WSSU now made the transition very comfortable. Financial Aid gave me some issues but that was expected. I enjoy most of my classes except for my micro economics class because the teacher is oriental and which makes it difficult to understand her and stay focus. So far, I love my SU, can't see myself at any other university in NC!
Tyrique Dunn said...
WSSU has been outstanding so far, the people here are great plus everyone knows each other. Coming in from a small but popular town in Georgia named Athens I feel right at home here in Winston. Just like home everyone knows everyone and people are always looking out for you. Pretty much it just feels like I'm meant to be here. My schedule isn't bad at all, it's great actually.To make a long story short, these next four years are going to be lit as my generation says. Other than the fire alarm going off in my dorm a few times my while freshman experience couldn't be any better. Getting into Winston was a headache simply because my transcripts kept getting lost causing my acceptance to be put on hold. Admissions would probably be the least professional that I have experienced. A solution to that would be to simply not lose students important documents and to be more organized. Even though I had to go through that I wouldn't change it for the world. I look at it as it just wasn't my time to be accepted yet and when the right time came I was in. Initially, I was looking at Winston because of their drumline and how I wanted to be apart of The Red Sea Of Sound. After doing more and more research on the school I found out that Winston is centered around family and helping one another succeed thus making Winston my number one school. Overall I feel like Winston had my best interest at heart and that this University is going to do everything it can to help me succeed.
My name is Tysheona Lawson and I am from Fayetteville, North Carolina. I am a first-year college student majoring in Birth to Kindergarten Education at the #1 HBCU in North Carolina, Winston-Salem State University. The reasons i chose to attend WSSU was my major and the band. Throughout my years in high school I heard so many things about Winston having a great education and nursing program, which was perfect for me since I want to be a teacher. Also, i am on a band scholarship for The Red Sea Of Sound which helped pay for my tuition where now I am going to school for free. So, starting from move-in day I was facing a lot of problems, which could have been avoided if I had thoroughly planned out how the day would go. The main problem I faced that day was them telling me that I was not validated, but online it said I was. I had to sit in Anderson Jr. Conference Center for 3 hours waiting for them to call my name. It was so unorganized and chaotic parents started to get really aggressive and upset. All-in-all it was just very unprofessional and it could have all been avoided with planning ahead and being more organized. So, when my name was finally called the lady asked for my information and told me I was validated, so you telling me I sat here for 3 hours just for you to say that I was already validated. Yeah, after that I was beyond annoyed, but I tried to not let that ruin my day completely because at the end of the day this could happen at any college. I finally got to go to my room around 1:00 p.m. to unpack, mind you my move-in time was at 10:00 a.m., realizing I had brought way too much stuff. Even though I had a rough first day I wouldn't question my decision to come to Winston-Salem State University. The transition from high school to college socially was fairly easy being that a lot of my high school friends attend Winston as well and being in the band i already had a family by my side there for me anytime i needed them. The professors are nice, the students are very outgoing and I'm just all for the vibe that Winston has to offer.
My name is Mariah Pride, I am a freshman Clinical Laboratory Science major. My beginning of the semester experiences was interesting, it started on move in day when I had to move in with two other roommates so that made a three-person room, then the band director contacted my mom and asked if I was still participating in band when I really had no intentions of participating anymore. The band started practice right on move in day so, I was not able to spend time with my family before they left, and we practiced all night long, I was also not able to participate in Ramdition either. On the brighter side of things, I was blessed not to have any paper work, financial aid, or validation issues. The thing that I feel was not handled professionally was my major no longer being offered here and I was not notified so, they put me into a different major without my permission. I came to Winston as a Pre-med major but got put into the Clinical Laboratory Science major. This could have simply been fixed if they would have notified me when they discontinued the major. This made me dislike Winston Salem and I regretted coming here because I did not want a degree in Clinical Laboratory Science plus Winston Salem was not my first choice. I wanted to go to Howard University, I got into the highly competitive school with honors but unfortunately, private school cost in addition to the out of state tuition was way more than I could bargain for. Now that I have got use to the school I am proud to be a ram!
My name is Dequan Cash. I am from High Point, NC. My major is Judaical studies. I have a goal of becoming a probation officer.The experience of my first semester started off bad. When I first came to WSSU in the fall I couldn't get in and I had to wait until the Spring semester to reapply. In the Spring semester when I arrived my financial aid was messed up due to the financial aid office not doing their job correctly. I went to see Mr.Lee and he finally helped me the correct way to enroll in my classes. The financial aid office could have changed the enrollment process instead of doing everything at once. Instead of doing it the regular way they should do a step by step process to stop the system from glitching. The enrollment process did not make change my mind about coming to WSSU. I love my HBCU. At every institution you going to have to deal with the financial aid problem but they handle them in a different manner.
My name is Audrey Senter and I am from Mount Airy, North Carolina. I am a first year freshman and my major is pre-nursing. I chose to come to WSSU for the excellent nursing program and being offered the Provost scholarship. My beginning of the year experience so far has been a mix of stress, nervousness, but also excitement. I came to the school earlier than most other freshman because of the Jumpstart program for the honors and scholars students; therefore, I could get a headstart and make friends and learn the campus before ramdition week started. The four days I had in Jumpstart helped me out tremendously in learning my way around the campus and exploring what WSSU has to offer. The stress and difficulties came around during ramdition week, when I found out my immunization records had been uploaded incorrectly and I scheduled a last minute doctors appointment to get it taken care of so I could be validated and keep my classes. I also had some issues with my book voucher when classes came around so I was worried I wouldn't have my books when I needed them. I was nervous trying to get all of these problems solved because in high school my parents took care of everything. I also had trouble (being a commuting student and living 40 miles away) adjusting to the traffic and getting to the campus on time. I do not dislike WSSU for any of the issues I have had because I feel like every university has their flaws when dealing with so many people and some of the issues were on my part. In hindsight I would still definitely choose WSSU because I can tell already that it will be an amazing experience academically and to better myself as a person and changing my perspective on life in general. I love what WSSU stands for.
My name is Edgar Arias-Soto and I am from Lexington North Carolina. I am currently a freshman at Winston Salem State University and my major is pre-nursing. My beginning of the semester experience was not great. Their are things I was not prepared to do like time managing. I learned the importance to being on time because every minute that you lose is information you can not get back, this is something that i was not prepared for in high school. I believe that all my professors kept it professional and I appreciated the fact that all of them gave everyone in their class time to get situated. I also know how important it is to stay focused and on task. The thing that I disliked about Winston Salem State was the parking and the way it is organized. I have to park about a 15 minute walk and payed the same amount others payed to park closer to campus. I also disliked the fact that campus security only checks the parking areas close to campus but not the further ones away so people that don't pay park their also. Although the parking situation is not great I think Winston Salem State is a great campus. The reason I chose Winston Salem State was because I have always wanted to be a nurse and I heard Winston Salem State had one of the best nursing programs. My first choice in universities was Winston Salem State so no matter what the negatives were i would have sticked and stayed with Winston Salem State.
My name is Katelyn Forte and I am from Winston-Salem, NC. I am a freshman at WSSU and I am a pre-Nursing major. WSSU was not my first choice, I wanted to go anywhere away from home, but because I am the first to go to college I my household things didn’t go as planned. I feel like WSSU chose me. I say this because ever since I got to WSSU I feel like its home to me, but things have not been easy. Once I was excepted into the school I had problems with financial aid, the WSSU staff being rude, and coping with not being in high school. That alone made me not like WSSU, because I felt that if the financial aid stuff could not help me without being rude, how would the rest of the staff at school help me when need. But once I got to WSSU I felt a whole a lot better because I realized that not everyone was like the people I had problems with from the financial aid. I realized this at Ramdition. My legacy leader helped me everything I could possibly imagine, and all the fears I had was gone. But since I’ve started classes I do a trouble with keeping up with the work and trying to work at the same time. Being that I’m not staying on campus I have to drive back and forth to school, work, and still try to keep my grades up. As of now my only problem is time management and as I get more into the semester I am learning how to do manage my time better, but now that I am into the semester I a m going to tuff it out and make the best of my first at WSSU.
My name is Keion Dobbins. I was born in Newark, New Jersey but lived in Fayetteville, North Carolina my entire life. I am a fereshman at Winston-Salem State University and a Computer Science major. In all honesty, at the start of my senior year, WSSU was not my first choice. nor my second... nor third or forth. I had planned on attending North Carolina A&T with hopes of getting into their engineering program. I soon realized the consequences of me not taking high school seriously my freshman and sophomore year and did not know how competitive getting into their program would be. Once I found out that i did accepted into the program and contemplated going under another major. then i decided i would go to wssu and major in computer science. my first time stepping in campus i felt welcomed and felt as if i had found a new home and a new family. the first week was a great experience for me until the pit party and people decided to lose their minds. One thing i would say was pretty unprofessional is the fact that they let anyone attend the pit party when it was said to be for only students with a ram card. besides that i love my new ramily and excited to see what these next 4 years has to offer me.
God I can't spell...
Hello, my name is Makayla Sennet, and I am a freshmen from Fayetteville, North Carolina, who attends the illustrious Winston-Salem State University. My choice to attend WSSU was through a very straight forward process. My first choice was actually Howard University, where I did get accepted, but being out-of-state and paying a private school tuition wasn't financially achievable for my family. Winston, which was my second choice, had not only offered an acceptance but a Chancellor scholarship as well. After visiting the campus for New Scholars Day I was in love with the campus and the Ram family, and I knew WSSU was meant for me. Fortunately with my scholarships I haven't had any financial problems, which I am grateful for. The scholars moved in a few days before the rest of our class and we had planned trips to museums, amusement parks, and just bonded as we completed our schedules and the registration process while learning the campus. Once everyone else moved on to campus band practice started and my social life immediately disappeared. We practiced most of the day and we missed majority of the Ramdition process, which I believe was a waste of $165 for bandsmen. The one thing I'd fix is to move band camp either a week earlier or just not letting the freshmen bandsmen participate in Ramdition at all because they are dropping unnecessary money for a process they won't fully participate in. In conclusion, I love my university and since classes have started I've been completely satisfied with the college experience. Being independent, attending classes, doing homework, and participating as a member in the Red Sea of Sound has been a stressful yet ravishing experience.
Hello my name is Sahmon Goodman. I was born and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina my whole entire life. At the beginning of my senior year I really had zero aspirations on attending Winston Salem State University at all. Given the fact that I was becoming a more prestigious black man by the way I articulated myself verbally and how I conducted myself around school and through the many clubs and organizations I was involved in, I was setting my sights for either Morehouse College, a private University designed to better Black Men, or Howard University. However, as I did a little soul searching during my second semester of High school I discovered my talent of public speaking so I decided to pursue being apart of North Carolina's number HBCU for it's Mass Communication Program so that I can choose a career in being a News Anchor or Talk Show Host. As a freshman I'm very appreciative for Renaissance Program which is a well known male mentor minority program on campus. For one, we got to move in two days earlier than the rest of the freshman which allowed us to miss the rain and chaos that went down on Freshman move in day. Also, it really allowed us to get a head start on navigating around campus and also making new friends for the next four years. In Renaissance Men brotherhood is highly valued and each cohort posses a strong connection with each other. At first it seemed as though we would never come together like the five previous cohorts but over these 4 weeks we've grown extremely closer. when it comes to paper work, validation, and classes I had the green light.Honestly I've learned so many lessons, major things about myself, I've met some very influential people that will be instrumental to my success in the future in just four weeks so I'm ecstatic on what's to come. Also to the parties I've experience in high school college parties are way more intense. All in all college is really what you as an individual make it. And I really recommend the HBCU life to anyone and everyone. Lastly, during Ramdition week I went campaigned for Freshman class Vice President which was a really new thing to me because I didn't run for any position for SGA in high school. Although I didn't win me putting myself out there gained me some exposure to the right people that are opening new doors for me. Again I'm just ready to see what else college has to offer.
My name is Mariah Davis and I'm a freshman at WSSU my beginning experiences here were hectic. I didn't have my med proctor forms in and financialr aid hadnt added my loans yet so I owed money but it wasn't my correct amount and I couldn't move in until I paid my bill off so I was under a lot of stress trying to prepare. I really enjoyed ramdition and meeting new people and I loved all the workshops we had because the things I learned I still use up until now and I enjoyed learning about all the resources. Now I did have a problem with Financial aid they took a bunch of money from my refund so I had to pop up on them in Thompson and check them about it and get my coins back because they took a bunch of money on "accident". But I still love WSSU it didn't make me want to leave and I knew I'd have problems related to money so I brought RECEIPTS but other than that I love my HBCU!
Shantelle Parks Said...
I am from Goldsboro north Carolina my city has taught me nothing but how to be behind in life. So when the chance came to leave I took it I saw it as a way to bring my family to a new light. I am striving to be the best I can for my grandma and my sisters . My expectations of WSSU have not been met. I had higher hopes of coming to a middle class college not the hood which is what I'm running away from. The school's priorities are out of whack. Party's are every weekend. DJs are in the cafe in the walkways and soon to be in the bathroom. As a black student who has seen some of the worst I just would hope for better things such as financial aid actually doin the work they say. We are all annoyed and untied but thas no reason to half do anything. I just would hope that the college would handle what is serious or what is needed before the turn up.But for the most part I am thankful to be a ram and will continue my Legacy as one if it's the Lord's Will.
Shamia Johnson said...
Whenever you come from a small town where there is nothing but trees, and also maybe here or there you will see a grocery store or a little shopping mall, you look forward to going off somewhere to bigger and better things. So whenever you go off to college especially a college that is an HBCU , and is supposed to uphold high standards. You don't want to go to a welcome back or to party and then fights and shooting breaks out, you shouldn't have to worry about walking out and getting shot or even worry about getting raped .People should be able to come to college to feel safe and assured of their safety. They should at least be able to go to a party and have fun and turn up a little without having problems. But this is only the beginning, sometimes things have to get worse before they get better.
Mia Small said...
I am a freshman here at WSSU and my first impression of the campus was everything I imagined it would be. The campus is beautiful and the upperclassmen are very welcoming. Coming to the university was the best decision I've ever made because I am surrounded by individuals that look like me. Ramdition week was somewhat frustrating dealing with financial aid because some fees and information were just thrown at us and I was a little skeptical if I would still be here or not. Those issues could have been fixed way before I arrived if emails were sent pertaining to my financial issues. There is time to have fun, but the most important reason why I came here is to get the help I needed to start my career and be shaped into a proud independent black women! I look forward to my journey here at WSSU and departing to serve after I have accomplished my goals here at the university.
Taliyah Carter said...
My name is Taliyah Carter and I am from Charlotte, NC. I am a freshman and my major is Business Management. I chose Winston Salem State University because everyone I talked to that went here loved the school. I also researched all the academic achievements that people gained here at this university. This HBCU was the best choice for me, I feel very welcomed and privileged to go to this school. A lot of my beginning of the semester experiences were not that bad. I had a problem getting my transcript from high school sent over to the school. Another thing I had a problem with was seeing the dorm before we actually moved in. I wanted to know how much space I had to work with before bringing all my junk. Most schools allowed you to see the college dorm before you move in, so I was confused as to why it was such a big deal to see a room. Unfortunately as many times as we asked they made we wait until move in day. Other than that, I have no had any major issues with WSSU, in fact I love my school. Ramidition was a success and it was done very professionally. I’ve created some great memories with my legacy leader. Nothing that I have experienced has made me not want to come back to wssu. I am very excited that I chose WSSU because it's been a great experience and everyone seems very welcoming. I am very thankful to be a ram and I want to become apart of many activities around campus.
Keshawna Caldwell-Hines said...
My name is Keshawna Caldwell-Hines I am a freshman at WSSU aspiring to be a nurse and I’m from the Sunshine State also known as Florida. Coming all the way from another state I didn’t really know what to expect moving to Winston and adjusting to living in a brand new environment with brand new people for the next four years, but so far it has been pretty satisfying. Although I haven’t gotten the chance to experience anything more than the inside of the band room, between my first pit party, meeting new friends, hanging out with my band family, and preforming for Meet The Rams every moment has already became unforgettable. One thing that I can say was not handled professionally was my scholarships being applied to my student bill but it quickly got situated once my mom approached one of the cashier ladies. For future reference any scholarship that I receive for the next school year I will make certain every document is copied and personally delivered so that a issue like that is not repeated. I am aware that the University has to keep track of hundreds of students and all their documentations making it very easy to lose track of things like scholarships so I was very understandable about the situation especially because it was quickly handled. Im sure it happens at any institution, and not just WSSU. Moreover, being that im a Florida baby, I was honestly in between Bethune Cookman University and WSSU but something about the tour I did over the summer of WSSU sparked my interest and brought me here. Not only that but two years prior, my band director a WSSU Red Sea Of Sound Alumni brought us up to march in the homecoming parade and also preform at the halftime game and after hearing and seeing the band and how closely related it is to how my high school band was conducted I instantly fell in love. I cant really say that I love WSSU because I havent gotten the full experience quite yet but I can say that my heart feels at home and I feel that making this move was the best choice I’ve made for my life in a long time and I don’t regret it.
Hello,
My name is Kashawna Watkins,freshman pre-nursing major and I am from Raeford,NC. Before considering coming to Winston Salem State University I've always wanted to go to a big school such as Duke or Chapel Hill.East Carolina University was one of my choices as well but I really enjoyed the fact that if I attended WSSU I would be apart of an HBCU.Some things that I experienced when first coming on campus was band camp.I was a mixture of nervous and scared. I wasn't scared because I was 2 hours away from home, but because I didn't know anyone and I didn't know what to expect.So far band had commanded most of my time,as well as after class activities,but my love and passion for what I do will never allow me to give up.During the first week there was a lot of chaos about validation and being purged out of the system. I was really confused because some were saying I was validated and others were trying to make me pay. This caused a lot of questions to erupt making the people become more unprofessional. I personally would have fixed these issues by conversing with everyone in the office to make sure we were all on the same page. I understand that I am not the only student that had problems with their status so that is why more staff wasn't on my case. WSSU is not the only school that this happens to so that is why I didn't get too mad until they tried to purge my schedule. I chose WSSU because all my life I knew I wanted to work in the medical field and WSSU was known to be at the top of the charts.Someone tried to persuade me to attend North Carolina Central University by lining up scholarships for me at that particular school. Even though money plays a major factor in students going to college or not, I decided no to take the offer because WSSU was the right school for me. WSSU has really heloed me in my finacial situation and that makes me elated. Middle class students have it worse then everyone. You are too "rich" to receive financial aid , and still too "poor" to pay for college.WSSU is a great school and I am proud to tell people I attend this HBCU. People know that when I was in high school I received a lot of academic awards so when I tell them about my HBCU they tell me I can do it and that Winston Salem is an amazing school for nursing. That is why I chose this school, because of the rigorous competition for the nusing program, and this time I will not let myself get psyched out because of the numbers, but I will become a number.
Tahjma Atkinson said (9/1)...
As a first-year freshman, my beginning of the semester experiences have been numerous and educating. My move-in day marked the beginning of a huge transition in my life, especially being three hours away from home and my friends. I quickly learned that I was to either make friends to be lost with or be lost on my own; I do not make friends easily. Ramdition week helped me to make friends and navigate the campus, so being lost and not knowing anyone was quickly resovled. During my first week on campus, I also realized just how lazy I actually am. Everywhere you walk you inevitably run into steps—a lot of steps. But, with continuous exploration with my new friends, we found shortcuts to avoid the atrocious steps.
Although my excitement levels were through the roof in response to finally living away from home, I ran into a few issues. Figuring out how to pay for my books and a laptop provided me with the worst headache. I received a laptop from my aunt who no longer had use for it, but everywhere I went to see if I can get a book voucher, I was redirected to someone else who happened to be just as unhelpful as my last referral. These issues do not make me dislike WSSU because this couldhave happened at any university. They may have worked more efficiently, but I cannot hold this against the entire school.
I chose WSSU because of my own research. Their ranking in North Carolina as an HBCU, their percentage of how many students have jobs after graduation, their university objectives, and their perfect distance from home heavily influenced my decision to come here. Even after the slight troubles and the endless amount of steps, I still choose WSSU as my new home. I will “Enter to Learn and Depart to Serve.”
As a first year student at Winston Salem State University, I would not have thought this day would ever come. Being a high school student at 71st High School I visited the campus here a lot, simply because I was on the cheerleading team and my team and coaches looked up to WSSU as their older brothers and sisters. The reason I decided to attend Winston Salem State was because I got very familiar with the school, and it wasn’t in boring Fayetteville. I wanted to get away from home, but not too far from my family. I moved in early because I'm a red team cheerleader and we started pre-season camp on the 10th of August. Ramdition was during the week of our pre-season camp, so I couldn’t participate in any of the activities taken place. The only thing I got to do was register for my classes, and participate in the ram walk. I couldn’t even finish my schedule because I had to go back to practice. One of the advisors said that she would take care of it. Come to find out on that Sunday before classes started on Monday, I didn’t have any classes in the system because I guess the lady forgot to fill out my schedule like she said she would take care of for me. The first day of classes I had to register for classes and be in classes that I didn’t want to be in because someone forgot to do their job. I felt very unprepared. On the first week of school I was completely lost because I didn’t know where any of my classes were located. Now that I'm getting use to everything and meeting new people, I'm beginning to enjoy being a WSSU ram.
Zakyrah Damonni Haynie
I didn’t know about WSSU until I finished a great cross country race here in North Carolina where I became a recruiter for this school’s cross country and track and field team. I visited WSSU and fell in love with the school mainly because I liked the environment, the staff and the track and field coaches. I am a freshman here at WSSU and moving in for the first time was fun, tiring, nerve wracking and exciting but most importantly I felt safe seeing my family drive away. I had already validated my classes, gotten my ram card, and knew that my financial aid was taken care of. Coming to school with a full ride made everything feel so relaxing. I went to practice and made sure I registered for my classes on time. I was ready for classes on Monday and that weekend my roommate and I went to a pit party that we barely enjoyed because people were standing around mostly. That night the shooting happened and I felt as though I wasn’t safe anymore. But I knew that because WSSU had never experienced that, that I was still safe. The only thing about the WSSU environment that I do not like now is the freshman behavior in my hall on my floor. It gets way too loud and I hate the fact that guys constantly stay on this floor. WSSU is the school for me and I am proud to call myself a Ram.
My first experience few days here on campus I would say weren’t as special as you’d think. Mainly because I’m from Winston-Salem so anytime a school field trip to a college it was WSSU. So, from a young age I learned about the school without even being enrolled. I will admit attending and leaving is much different from visiting. A lot has changed from those visits since elementary school. During the ramdition week my legacy leader kept telling us that college is full of late nights and early mornings. During that week, we had to be up a 9 every morning or at least try to be up. Because of the elementary school, I went to I got a really good scholarship towards this school only so I couldn’t turn that down. During the ramdition week faculty and upperclassmen tried teaching some of the WSSU traditions and chants. After a while they started getting stuck in my head, I would think about in my sleep. But the DJ kept playing the same annoying songs every morning and the one song that I despised the most, which I let the class know on the first day of class, Bodak Yellow by that annoying person Cardi B. When he did play music that I enjoyed such as Waka Flocka or Lil Uzi it was somewhat barrable. He didn’t play it as much as I would like but couldn’t really complain about it, sometimes you just have to except something for what it is.
i am a first year student and the beginning of the semester was a big change for me. I had to get used to being away from home and on a much bigger campus. I had to step out of my comfort zone and meet new people and get to know the school as a whole. The first event that i attended was ramdition. Attending radiation was a great experience because it was an event that helped you get to know the freshman class before school started. in learned a lot about the university by attending the event. However i did run into a few problems when first starting the semester. A few problems that i had was financial aid were not giving the proper answers that i needed to know about my status of being validated. if i could change how financial aid works i would. The first thing i would change would be the amount of time it takes for you to get validated and faster systems so that everyone get what they need done in timely manner. Another problems that i had was the amount of time it takes for maintenance to come around to rooms to repair things. That experience does not make me dislike WSSU because you will encounter problems at any institution that you attend. I chose WSSU because i felt like this was the best place for me reason why is because I'm not far away from home, i always wanted to attend a HBCU that was near me and the healthcare program is also great here.
Hello,
My name is Marquise Baxter and I am a first year freshmen. Some beginning of first semester expirences that I have had are not getting uip in time for class sadly. Other experiences that I have had is that I need to start writing down announcements because it’s easy to forget and most of these announcements are important expirences that you will have your freshman year. Some things that that I wish the university would handle more professionally is the way they answer calls before you get here. For example, when I called to check my verification different people would give me different answers. So that’s one thing they could improve on. The way that they could improve is by having better training and also by having people take notes on what is said on the. This way whenever someone else answer the phone they can just pull up the files to make the call easier. This doesn’t make me hate Winston Salem state it just made me unsure of how long this process would take and if I would have to wait to come in the spring. In hindsight, I would not change the school that I chose because other schools would more than likely have the same problems and I chose this school because of the programs they offer. I would also still go here because of the ramdition experience that every freshman should go through. This is why I am proud of the school that I have chosen.
My name is Veh Martinez and I am a freshman. Becoming a Ram was not a mistake. Although the process getting here was lengthy, it was worth it. I chose to come to WSSU because when I was choosing my school Wingate University was actually my first choice. The main reason was because I wanted to attend a college with a Pharmaceutical program to help me jump right into my career. I work at a local Food Lion in my hometown where there is predominantly white people. I was already getting called “the brown girl” or the “curly headed one” but one day in particular, I had to call my manager to help me handle a situation with a customer. By the end of that I was sure I needed to be somewhere where I was the majority and not a minority.
If I could have changed something about the Financial Aid department, I would make sure that each faculty member is on the same page and thoroughly knows the actual process. I felt like not everyone followed the same steps or the same process which made it difficult to understand what I was actually supposed to do.
Another thing I would change is freshman week. I did not feel like we actually needed an entire week to be here and the could have skipped out on including some of the sessions that really weren’t necessary. Overall, Ramdition was fun and made me want to be here more than I already did. I’m very excited for my flight here at WSSU.
As a first-year freshman some of the experiences I had weren’t bad like I thought they would be. So when I first got here I thought it would be hard making new friends because I live so far away and I had no friends from back home coming to the same school as me, so I thought it would be a little difficult meeting new friends. For the most part Ramdition helped me a lot to open up with people that was in my group and working with people I didn’t know. The toughest part I had during Ramdition was getting validated because I had to get my shot records up to date in order to get validated. I’m a part of the football and that kind of helped me gain more friends also by connecting with them and other people. The football team as well as the University really shows a family tradition because it feels like everyone here is all about helping anyone in need of their help and that’s a place anyone in this world would love to be. Then when we had the motivational speaker talked about being your brother’s keeper by keeping them lifted if they need it, and how the society tries to block all the African Americans out because they feel like we won’t be anything in life. So he was just reminding us that we are here for a reason and that’s to get a degree and get a high paying job to take care of our family.
My “beginning of the semester” experiences here at Winston-Salem State University were very rough just for the simple fact that my financial aid was all over the place, my validation was not in tact so I went through a lot of troubles my first two weeks here, but aside from that RAMDITION was a very fun and knowledgeable experience and I feel as though it was a very good way to start of the 2017-2018 school year. Some of the situations that were not handled professionally here at WSSU for me was definitely the financial aid and validation process, it was very long and unorganized, it literally took blood, sweat, and tears to become validated here and to get my financial balance down to zero so that I could keep my classes. How I would have fixed these issues is have these things handled before the college student even moves in on campus, I felt like as a university they should have already had these things together prior to the school beginning, being that they did not situations were all over the place, luckily though now for me I am good on everything and validated for my class schedule. This experience here has not made me dislike WSSU at all, as a matter of fact I already know that prior to my experience here that it would be the same at any other university just for the simple fact that they have the same issues there as well, not all students came to college totally prepared in the financial aid area so I do not dislike WSSU just because of an obstacle that I came across. I chose WSSU because I came to visit the campus prior to actually moving in and when I came it already felt like I went here and it felt like I belonged, it felt like home to me my first time coming. In hindsight, going through what I have already yes I still would have chosen WSSU as my college to attend because of the academic rate here is great, the environment is welcoming, and all around this school is just the perfect fit for me.
My name is Arielle McMillian, as a new freshman at WSSU my experience had started off rocky but everything has smoothed out and I am enjoying it here. The process of choosing this school wasn’t hard. While searching for schools, I only had two options I liked. It was between WSSU and UNCG. I went to visit both but when I came to visit this campus I instantly loved it because it made me feel at home. I got in with no problem but, staying in was where things got messed up. Move in day was a mess, because of the lack of communication. We would get one place and get sent somewhere else. Also, my validation process was stressful and confusing. Nevertheless, I could move in and I’ve been having fun since. One of my favorite experiences so far was Ramdition. My legacy leader and my group was cool. Met a lot of people throughout the week, including the friends I have here now. Looking back on everything that happened I was disappointed in some of the things I had to deal with. Some of problems here are disorganization, communication, the disconnect between getting information we needed to know to us. I feel like if the communication was better it would solve a lot of the struggles of validation, financial aid, etc. Looking back at my WSSU experience from the start to now, I would still choose this school to be at. Even though some things were stressful, once everything was settled I am really enjoying my experience here. It has been great!
I am a first year freshman and the move to WSSU wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. Socially it was easy to meet new people and gain new friends, but during ramdition the worst part of that week was getting validated. It took me a week and a half longer to get validated because of an error by the school. Even though the validation process talk a long time I wasn't frustrated with the school as a whole but only the process. I chose to come to WSSU because it would allow me to gain a fresh start and allow me to fully branch away as I head into a new chapter in my life. I do not regret my decision neither coming to WSSU because I can feel that I can fully flourish into what I am gonna be. 1 thing I do need to work on though while I'm in college everyday is time management because I am not use to having a lot of time to do work. With that being said it is easy to push work aside and wait to the last minute but I need to learn to do it early.
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