I was sleep-deprived and exhausted, the morning after my prom, but when I saw that large Spelman blue envelope in the mailbox that held my acceptance letter into Spelma College, nothing else mattered.

Spelman College was my first choice college since my junior year in high school. It’s funny though; my mom was the one who told me about the College at the age of 11 years old and I protested, “I don’t want to go to an ALL GIRL school!”

I already had a hard enough finding a date in high school. Attending an all-girl school would make it even more difficult and I wasn’t trying to have that.

I held onto this belief until my first visit to the Campus for SpelBound weekend. That’s when I knew. Spelman was The College for me.

The ladies that I came in contact with were just like me: Black, intelligent, fun, and highly ambitious. We were determined to save the world and we had big plans to prove it. Many of us also shared similar backgrounds, which made it easy for us to relate. I grew up in a predominately White suburban neighborhood. My Spelman sisters and I knew what it was like being the only Black girl in our honors classes. Our experiences were very similar. I didn’t realize that there were others like me.

Spel-bound paired me with a current freshman at The College. The ladies were everything that I aspired to be: confident, sassy, focused, and beautiful. They spoke like they were in authority and walked like they were the First Lady of the United States. I wanted some of that.

Interaction between staff and students was cordial and sisterly. Everyone looked out for each other. Professors not only expected you to pass the class but to arrive early (To be early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late and to be late is unacceptable!).

Don’t let the business suits, pumps, and pearls fool you. A Spelman woman loves to have fun. Hip hop beats and R&B were heard from every room on our hall. Ladies dancing and talking about the next party they’d attend in the dorms.

It was one night that I spent at The College. But that’s all I needed. I knew Spelman was the College for me.