As you walk around Penn State, you notice that the majority of students are white. Being a white student myself, I never thought much about how it feels to be part of a minority group on campus. After talking to an African American student here at Penn State, I got a better understanding of how it truly feels to be a part of that minority group.

As I was sitting outside of the Mix, I noticed a girl sitting alone. She was wearing a stylish athletic outfit, with her hair tucked back in a high bun, and she was African American. It seemed as if it was the perfect opportunity to approach the girl and get to know her. Although I felt awkward and uncomfortable approaching her, I wanted to learn more about her. I introduced myself and asked if I could ask her some questions. The girl seemed quiet at first but agreed to talk to me.

We started the conversation by talking about the basics of each other. I found out her name was Donielle, and she is a rising senior here and Penn State. Donielle was shy, but as the conversation continued she began to get more comfortable. As I was getting to know Donielle, I asked how she likes it here at Penn State. Donielle said that overall loves it here. She said, “Penn State had offered her a lot of great research opportunities in her major.” She also likes how popular Penn State is and how it has such a vast network. I then found out that Donielle is majoring in criminology. I was excited to find this out because I am considering switching into criminology as my major as well. Donielle said she is focusing on legal studies, which is the study of law and society. I asked how Donielle likes criminology; she said that it is overall challenging, but she thinks its interesting and enjoys studying it. She said there are a lot of opportunities in criminology and if I am willing to work hard, I should give it a try. Finding out she was majoring in criminology created a connection between us and gave us something to relate to each other about. Still getting to know Donielle, I asked what some of her hobbies were. She is on the club cheerleading team here at Penn State. She said she loves being a part of a team and has met some of her best friends on the team. We talked about club sports and I told her I was potentially interested in joining club swimming. She told me the club is a lot of fun and also can get pretty competitive, but that I should give it a try. She also plays the saxophone, which I thought was pretty cool because I don’t know many people who play instruments, especially the saxophone.

After we got a better understanding of each other, I began to ask Donielle about her culture. I asked her if she has any traditions she does for her religion/culture. She did not have much to say in regards to this question. She basically said she is not religious and doesn’t have any religious traditions in her family. Although she did not say much, I found that this was similar to myself. My family is not religious; we only celebrate the holidays and go to church once a year. However, she told me that a tradition her family partakes in is they have an annual family reunion. Although it is not for religious purposes, she said: “it’s nice to meet up with everyone once a year.” My family doesn’t have reunions, but I think that it’s a great way for families to keep in touch and stay connected. I then asked if most of her friends are the same race as she is. She said she has a pretty diverse friend group. She has “a bunch of friends who are black and a bunch who are white.” I found that this is similar to myself. Although I may have more white friends than African Americans, I overall have a diverse group of friends at home and that I’m making on campus.

I began to ask about Donielle’s race relative to campus. I asked if she thinks she is sometimes treated differently on campus due to her race. Donielle said she overall doesn’t feel like she is treated differently. She also did not have any experiences to share where she was treated differently due to her race. I was glad Donielle hasn’t had any bad encounters with being treated differently. Hopefully, the rest of the African Americans students have not either. In addition, I asked if she has heard about any false rumors or stereotypes correlating her race that is talked about on campus. Donielle said, “there are definitely false accusations and stereotypes about black people.” However, she said they don’t bother her because they are not common on campus. She was unable to think of a stereotype that affected her and stood out to her. I overall think it’s great how Donielle doesn’t let the negative stereotypes affect her and it was surprising to hear that she thinks stereotypes are not commonly talked about on campus. The last question I asked Donielle was if she has experienced any negative prejudices on campus throughout her years. Donielle said she hasn’t had any experiences on the actual campus. However, she did off the campus. Donielle said this one time in particular always sticks out to her. Donielle said she was once applying for a restaurant job downtown and during her interview, she felt as if the person was not accepting towards her race. It made her feel uncomfortable, so she decided to not following through with that job, and applying else were. I told her how “messed up” that must have been, but Donielle seemed as if she was uncomfortable talking about this, so I did not ask any additional questions.

In conclusion, I learned a lot about Donielle and about what her life as an African-American on campus. Although the conversation was awkward at first, Donielle ended up becoming more comfortable with me and shared her thoughts. I was glad to learn Donielle feels accepted on this campus and does not feel defined due to her race. Although Donielle did not have bad encounters with being African American on campus, I am sure other students may have. Hopefully, in the near future, all African-Americans can feel the way Donielle does on campus.