It was a given at UCSB that if there was a role that called for a person of color, it was going to be handed to me. There were certain times when maybe I didn't try as hard. Going to Yale was a way more diverse experience.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
When I got into Stanford in high school, I had some friends from school who told me that I just got in because I was black and whatnot.
Because I was from the Midwest and untrained, I was completely open and ready to try anything. Many of my classmates were cynical and jaded; some already had conservatory training, and they were there simply to get that Yale stamp of approval, which they saw as a career stepping-stone.
My experiences at Princeton have made me far more aware of my 'blackness' than ever before. I have found that at Princeton, no matter how liberal and open-minded some of my white professors and classmates try to be toward me, I sometimes feel like a visitor on campus; as if I really don't belong.
College was where I got to actually experience the difference between black and white.
I applied to Yale, and I got in.
In not having an appointment at Harvard, I'm in the company of a great many people whose work I admire tremendously, in particular women of color.
I began to understand the challenges that first-generation college students and students of color have in college.
As I got further into my career, as a character of color, if I was going to have the types of opportunities I felt I deserved, and continue to have them, I was going to have to start creating those opportunities for myself.
I really liked Yale, although it was extremely intimidating. When I visited the campus, I was hiding behind trees, I felt so unworthy.
I got accepted at Yale but never went.