Day Three: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Reflecting on our day, we would say it was very amazing. To start off our day we woke up at 6:30am to prepare ourselves for a very exciting day. Our original plan was to leave the hotel at 7:30am and reserve our admission passes for the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Unexpectedly, we left the hotel late which made it difficult for us to reserve our admission passes. We made the decision to wait in line, which meant we had to wait approximately 40 mins until we gained access into the Museum. There were twenty-five people standing ahead of us when we heard the unfortunate news that all tickets were gone. This meant that we had to reschedule our plans, Instead of leaving Ms. Regina spoke with other guests, and surprisingly a lady named Ms. Michea had ten extra tickets, which meant we could continue with our plans. The biggest take away we received from this experience was that sometimes things do not go as expected, but perseverance can help get you through tough moments especially when you are determined to reach success.

Some feedback our peers had was that the museum was wonderful, because we learned detailed history about African Americans. A lot of the time we learn basic history about our people which causes us to only learn about the negative impact these events have on our lives.

After touring the National Museum of African American History and Culture, we went down to the United States Department of Education and spoke with the executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans, Mr. David Johns. Speaking with Mr. Johns provided insight on how to prepare for college especially assimilating to adulthood. A few tips we felt were inspiring were to think about the location, size, and lifestyle of campuses when applying to colleges. Major in what you have a passion for not what you think will make you the most money, and to do our Free Application For Student Aid (FAFSA) and apply to scholarships. It was a very encouraging and inspiring experience speaking with Mr. Johns, and the most important thing we learned from this experience was to advocate for yourself, because as people of color who come from Oakland, a community filled with struggle and violence, it is difficult getting through life due to all the doubt and negative judgements we face in our everyday lives.

After meeting up with David John’s we headed to Howard University where we took part in a college tour with the help of our lovely EOYDC alumni Stephanie. During our  Howard University tour we learned new things about the campus which include lifestyle, classes , and community. Something that motivated us and stuck with us was that there is no excuse for not fulfilling our goals, we must be determined to be successful and never give up even when times get tough. We learned this through the personal experiences Stephanie had such as depression and homesickness.

Written By Quinne Roberts