As I still some years till I have the opportunity to attend college I haven’t really paid any mind to where I want to apply and attend, but going on college tours with H.O.P.E. has really changed my prospective on college. Theses colleges including  Agricultural and Technical State University, North Carolina State University, and Duke University: Not only have these colleges given me the ability to understand that is not just studying but it’s also about learning the history and how the history effect the life of myself and many others.

One of the first colleges we visited was Agricultural and Technical State University or  A&T for short. A&T has many majors like art, science, engineering, nursing, and 50 more. The average class size is around 29 students. That is about 1:18 ratio of teacher to students.  In order to become an Auggie, something the students of A&T are called, you have to have many accomplishments for example, 3.4 GPA, 920 on SAT, and 19 ACT. A&T is very rich with history that can astound many others besides me. Agricultural and Technical State University is the college were Ezell Blair Jr., Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond attended. These young men were also the same men who peacefully protested with a sit in at the white only restaurant also known as Woolworth. This protest was soon called the Woolworth sit-in. A&T is also known for the students to protest against segregation. Another protest led to the shooting that’s memories are incorporated into four small yet meaningful walls in what many students call the heart of the campuses. On these plaques there are not only memories of a violent shooting but there are is information about the African-Americans of the pass including Rosa Park and Martin Luther King Jr.  There is also more information about the college and its history. The heart of the campus is also known for being a place where students can go and relieve and reassure them. The heart of the campus is also a place where students celebrate the events in their American life. These events include both elections of President Brock Obama and the shootings of young black men.

Another University we toured was Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke is a university founded by Randolph County who was a Methodist Quaker in 1838. There are many different departments for students to study. One of them is the department of Engineering. The department includes one of the cleanest rooms on the college’s campus. This clean room is necessary in order for the students to be able to create and develop different microchips and other technical products. This school became known for many things including their studies and ideas but also for their architecture. The ideas and culture of the art in its building consist of Egyptian, Roman and Greek ideas. This is a reason this college is now celebrating the 75th anniversary of being a school that’s advanced for its time. These ideas infused to make up most of their buildings on the campus where a mixture of different 19th and 20th century compounds such as columns arches and domes. On the university there are many learning departments, dorms, and other buildings but there is one building that is more appalling to the human eye. The Catholic Church has been proven to have a design before its time period. The church as many feature such as arches that are held in by one main brick, column including Roman Doric and Roman Tuscan, and domes. There is also stained glass that tells different stories within its single pictures.

The last college we visited was North Caroline State University. NC State is a school for mostly design but it does have many other major and minor choices. The department of design involves many student designing art, drawing, models, architecture, and clothing. This department of studies includes many things for example your first year at NC State would include classes that involves learning the basics on learning how to draw and putting depth and precision into your work . Your next two years would include improving what you learned during you first year. Your last year would include how to imply what you have learned in the previous three year to your future job. There are also many advances to studying at NC State, there are many opportunities to leave to country and study abroad. This would help student studying buildings and architecture because it allows the student to see art for a different point of view for different parts of the world and to see and study its cultures.

  Touring colleges at young ages are not only helpful when deciding where to apply and attended but it allows us to study history and what makes to college so important. So instead of just thinking about what college has the best football team, or what college is the most prestigious, take time out and visit your different options and explore your choices of school around your community.