Who is Dr. CC? - The College years

As college decision time approached and I was deciding my career path, I considered becoming a lawyer, but eventually decided to pursue journalism with the goal of becoming a reporter first and then, a news anchor. It made sense. I started broadcast early on a radio program for children. It middle school, I did the school announcements over the intercom and was a conflict mediator. And in high school, starting the summer of my junior year, I took television production classes through Newport News Public Schools. In fact, the year before I was enrolled, one sunny day as my mom and I were riding together, we randomly (or providentially) saw the t.v. production teacher, Mr. Price, walking near the administration building and my mother waved him down in the parking lot to ask him about the telecom program and how I could participate. She was determined to get where I needed to be!

A copy of a photo of my tv production class that was displayed in The Daily Press, our local newspaper. This was likely between 2001-2002. That’s me on the far left. I enjoyed these days.

Ultimately, I decided to pursue communications as a major in college with an English minor. My goal was to attend a college where my scholarship money would stretch as far as possible since I had to pay for my education. I also wanted to stay fairly close to home because my father had a major heart attack and triple-bypass surgery when I was in the 11th grade. I also wanted to attend a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) for the cultural impact, much like my parents who met at Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina.

I was accepted to several colleges (HBCUs in-state and out-of-state + PWIs/non-HBCUs). Initially, I wanted to attend North Carolina A&T but I didn’t get as much scholarship money since I was out of state and it was also farther from home. So, I chose Virginia Union University (VUU)- a private HBCU in Richmond, Va. I remember thinking that it was really small but the fact that it was in the City of Richmond, the Capitol of Virginia, was excellent because it opened up more opportunities for internships and still gave me the feeling of being in a larger city. Scholarships and grant opportunities were also really important to me and being a resident of Virginia was helpful in receiving as much state supported funding as possible. Finally, Virginia Union had the connection to the Black Baptist Church. Although I was SO ready for freedom, I grew up with church as a strong foundation and parents who eventually became preachers/ministers, so I still desired this element of consistency.

When I visited VUU’s campus for the first time, I felt like I was at home. I received a significant amount of scholarship money from the school and grants annually, in addition to receiving multiple outside scholarships. Plus, it met my desire of being in close proximity to home (about 1 hour away) yet far enough for me to feel like I had freedom.

At Virginia Union, I excelled academically, graduating number four in my class. I paid for school through work study as a Resident Assistant for two years as well as scholarships. I was also very socially active as well. I became Freshman Class Queen, joined Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., wrote an article or two for the VUU Informer college newspaper, served as host of our student-produced show—VUU Camera One—which aired on local stations in Richmond, participated in community service, and was involved with several activities and organizations including Student Government Association (SGA) and National Pan-Hellenic Council.

My sophomore year, I was recruited for my first internship by my adjunct professor—a reporter at The Richmond Times-Dispatch, named Paige Mudd. I still remember the day she told me that I was a really good writer after grading one of the assignments I completed for her class and asked me if I would be interested in an internship (years later after I graduated, she became the Editor-in-Chief at the paper.) So, there I went to The Richmond Times-Dispatch a few days per week as a Metro Section intern, feeling great to get paid for doing something in my career field. I made $8.50/hr. — better than minimum wage back then! I learned a lot about the news business. No matter how good of a writer I was, or at least based on what I had been told, when I submitted my articles, they were heavily edited by senior staffers to the point where I felt that some of my pieces were almost unrecognizable by the time they finished. This was my first tough lesson in “the real world” of journalism and learning what may work for me, and may not always work for others.

One of my Richmond Times-Dispatch articles published October 2, 2005. I wrote about 10 articles for the paper as an intern. 

My junior year of college, I received a coveted paid journalism summer internship at WVEC-Channel 13 in Norfolk, Virginia, one of the television stations in my hometown, through the Virginia Association of Broadcasters. It was such an eye-opening, enjoyable experience, working in the newsroom and shadowing local reporters. It was also where I learned that local t.v. news wasn’t for me. I was shadowing a reporter who had to cover the criminal trial of a young man who killed his girlfriend. They were about the same age as me and I saw one of my college classmates in the courtroom because she was his relative. My emotions were stirred. I found it quite challenging to think that I too would one day have to to cover some of the most raw times in people’s lives.

After the WVEC internship, I felt that I needed to change course. Interestingly, the same year, through a VUU Alum, I received the opportunity of a lifetime to serve as a student delegate/ambassador to the Leon H. Sullivan Summit for HOPE in Abuja, Nigeria. Now, this was right up my alley! The Leon H. Sullivan Summit was a forum and think tank for world leaders - social justice, political, economic advocates, etc. - to gather and discuss various forms of support for African nations. Although the summit ended a few years after I attended, I had found something I was passionate about! Global advocacy. This trip meant a lot to me too because my mom sent me with funds she received following her father’s [my grandfather’s] passing shortly before (talk about an investment into the future.) This was also the year I was selected as one of 10 HBCU students out of 500 to win a selective scholarship and trip to Little Rock, Arkansas to meet the one-and-only Dr. Maya Angelou. We had to write on the prompt, “What words of wisdom would you leave for the next generation?” I still remember getting on my knees one night to pray for the $4,000 scholarship because I needed the money for my senior year and God came through for me. The trip to meet Dr. Angelou was also an honor.

One of the most rewarding experiences of my life was meeting Dr. Maya Angelou. I felt like she imparted something special in me that today - one communicator to the next.

A week or two before returning to Virginia Union following a productive junior year/summer and heading into my senior year, I had a major decision to make about my career path. Now that being a reporter/news anchor was longer resonating with me after my last internship, I had to decide what I was going to do next. I knew I still loved journalism but what could I do next? After some research, I learned about public relations and decided to go to graduate school to learn more about this budding field. I considered a MA/JD program but ultimately decided to stick with the masters degree. Oh the GRE - I studied and slightly prepared (I definitely need more preparation) but ultimately my scores weren’t as strong as they could be. Out of five schools, I was accepted to three - Virginia Commonwealth University, Michigan State University, and Ball State University. I chose Ball State because the college offered me a graduate assistantship. Off I went to Muncie, Indiana - no visit prior, only researched on the Internet. Just ready for a fresh start and to learn all I could about the world of public relations.

My time at Ball State in rural Indiana, about an hour outside of Indianapolis, was insightful and developmental. Although I went there for grad school, I believe that I went there for a much greater purpose. Nearly 12 hours away from home, I developed a relationship with God for myself and found more of myself. In between my graduate assistantship in the Journalism Department working for a now defunct First Amendment advocacy program in schools called J-Ideas and later The Ball State Daily News—the college newspaper—in advertising, I took classes, participated in church activities (a great ministry called Union Missionary Baptist Church adopted us college kids), and developed trusted friendships with fellow Black grad students/colleagues and even my hairstylist - Tina and her mom, Ms. Debbie - who became my family and fostered a “home away from home.” We (the Black graduate students) frequented the Multicultural Center often as a safe haven for students of color and place of shared community. We also participated in several events together. Several of them are still lifelong friends. I also enjoyed the camaraderie and discussions I had with colleagues in the PR program, many of us who were grad assistants. Coming from a HBCU to a college setting to where I was now a minority, I learned a lot more about other cultures and the world in general which were both good and bad.

The summer of 2008, I was selected for a highly competitive corporate communications internship in the Public Affairs Department at Indianapolis Power & Light (IPL) Company. So, I relocated to Indy for the summer staying at an extended stay hotel during the week so that I could safely commute to work. When I returned to Ball State in the Fall for my final year of grad school in pursuit of my Masters in Public Relations, I decided to take some business courses with the hopes that I could also attain a minor. I did really well in Business Management and Accounting but received a “D+” in Economics, the worst grade I ever received, so I stopped that minor. Interestingly, it was the only course that had an online teaching component which was quite new at the time.

During my public affairs internship at Indianapolis Power & Light Company, one of the perks was attending major events. Here, I attended a reception at the Indianapolis Zoo, next to a table sponsored by IPL. My grad school friend/colleague, Victor Powell, who became a big brother to me, attended the event with me and took this picture. I’m still really good friends with him and his beautiful wife Allynn today. They are indeed my family. 

Two years of grad school passed by quickly but so much happened in that time. I defended my thesis in May, and received my Masters degree in July since I slightly missed the deadline for spring degree conferral, but thankfully, I was still able to participate in spring commencement. My mom, dad, and brother came to Indiana from Virginia to see me graduate, and I was so thankful.

Ball State Graduation Day! Keeyana (Hall) Avery and I were the only two Black graduate students and assistants in the PR Masters program then. It meant so much to learn with and from her, as well as consider her a friend.

I considered staying in Indianapolis or possibly returning for professional opportunities, but the January of my graduation year from Ball State, my father had a another heart attack and I felt the Lord leading me back home to Newport News to be closer to my family. I didn’t have a good feeling that my father was going to be around much longer (he lived for nine more years before he passed.) I was 23 when I returned home and that’s where my journey into even more about womanhood, family sacrifice, personal and professional endeavors began.

I’ll talk more about my experiences in other blog posts (Teaser: I thought I was done with school after the masters, but seven years later, I felt God telling me to continue. I started my PhD program in communication at age 30.)

Thanks for reading so much here and learning about me.