My Visit to Virginia Tech
By Lynne Barras
On October 14th and 15th, I had the pleasure of
being one of three English majors representing TSU at Virginia Tech’s third
annual HBCU/MSI Research Summit. I was joined by India Hunter, English major and
De’ Ja Gooch, English/ History double major. The summit caters to students of
HBCUs and Minority Serving Institutes (MSI) in an effort to attract more
diverse and qualified students to their graduate programs. In addition to
introducing us to the students and teachers of their various programs, Virginia
Tech provided us with housing and meals free of charge. Overall, I found the
program informative, particularly the session devoted to helping us learn about
the school’s application process. I also felt that the staff and faculty were
excited to have us there and even more eager to see us apply.
However, I am sad to say that we were some of the only
students representing any liberal arts majors. As a result, we felt as though
we saw less of what the university had to offer us as English majors, and the
affair felt less organized on our end. On the upside, I did get the opportunity
to connect with Dr. Gena Chandler-Smith, who serves as director of the Masters
of English department and offered to put me in touch with the head of the MFA
program. Regardless of the little bumps, the experience was wonderful. I
encourage students and teachers to be on the lookout for more chances to do the
same at other schools.
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