Famous Women on their College Experiences Via New York Magazine

Over 30% of the American population is seeking some form of post secondary education, even celebrities. Since this blog is about the College Experiences of people here at West Chester University I wanted to broaden the scope so that we could see that the college experience spans and differ according to gender, race, age and social status. 

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Michelle Obama, Princeton 1985"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. Regardless of the circumstances under which I interact with whites at Princeton, it often seems as if, to them, I will always be black first and a student second."
Michelle Obama, college thesis titled Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community, 1985

Lena Dunham, Oberlin 2008"There I am in my long sleeping-bag coat, shuffling to class twenty minutes late on a Tuesday morning. There I am in what used to be the video store, piling my arms high with VHSs. There I am in the diner, ordering not one but two egg sandwiches. There I am in the gym, riding an Exercycle from the early '80s and reading a book called Bosnian Rape. And there I am, drunk on a spring night, yanking my tampon out and hurling it into a bush outside the church. There I am falling in love by the bike rack. There I am slowly realizing my bike has gone missing from the same rack, stolen while I was sleeping. There I am calling my father from the steps of the art museum. There I am half listening to a professor when she tells me I need to start attending class more regularly. And I'm there, too, dragging a torn sofa into the black-box theater with my 'set designer.' If I had known how much I would miss these sensations I might have experienced them differently, recognized their shabby glamour, respected the ticking clock that defined this experience. I would have put aside my resentment, dropped my defenses. I might have a basic understanding of European history or economics. More abstractly, I might feel I had truly been somewhere, open and porous and hungry to learn. Because being a student was an enviable identity and one I can only reclaim by attending community college late in life for a bookmaking class or something." —Not That Kind of Girl

Tina Fey, University of Virginia 1992"Let me start off by saying that at the University of Virginia in 1990, I was Mexican. I looked Mexican, that is, next to my fifteen thousand blond and blue-eyed classmates, most of whom owned horses, or at least resembled them. I had grown up as the 'whitest' girl in a very Greek neighborhood, but in the eyes of my new classmates, I was Frida Kahlo in leggings." —Bossypants

My college experience has been a tortuous one, full of laughter, grief, and happiness. Similar to First Lady Michelle Obama, I was and am confronted with my "blackness" daily. Through attending WCU I was able to discover my race identity in America, explore my sexuality and create an environment for all people to come together through my leadership roles.

To pay tribute to Lena Durman experience, I will adopt her approach “ There I am”

There I am standing assuring my mother I would be okay my first day of ADP (Academic Devolvement Program), at that time I wasn’t aware my presence on campus was apart of their mission statement to being “diverse”. There I am standing introducing my self to everyone on the grass in front of McCarthy without a care in the world, creating a multicultural peer group that would become my closest friends in WCU. There I am actively plotting to meet this sexy guy through befriending his roommate. There I am in class loud, happy and American to a classroom separated through the social construct of color. There I am standing outside of a party wanting to enjoy the college experience but was denied because “ there wasn’t any room,” yet another group of 6 random white college students were ushered quickly in. There I am confused and peeved as to why my friends and I couldn’t get into any “open” parties on Walnut. There I am sweaty, twerking with my bestfriend at a party thrown by a fraternity of the Divine Nine, feeling good and having a good time, but the party was shut down for some reason.  As I walked out into the brisk air, sweat turning into dry white spots, I could hear the symphony of the hundreds of other louder parties; there and then I was introduced to White Privilege.   There I am standing at a house party, saved, surrounded by modern day hippies who were dead heads, festival goers who saw me for Me. There I am philosophizing about creation and listening to a blued eyed dred king tells me he thinks god farted the world into existence. There I am standing and given a necklace from a Hawaiian man who just felt compelled to give me something. There I am pushing along side a sea of musky guys in a mosh pit to a random band I feel in love with for the night.  Here I am understanding college is what you make of it, how you define it, and how you live it. I was set free…