Alumni Stories: Ronishia, Class of ‘00

What inspired you to choose Tuskegee University?

A Different World was out at the time. A lady from Tuskegee came to my high school, and she looked like Whitley! I had always admired the lifestyle, you know because she was rich, she was bougie, but she still was a good person. It wasn't my first choice, but when I saw her, she was everything that I wanted to be. She was smart. She was articulate. She was dressed sharp — just very beautiful. And, you know, she was able to communicate with us as high schoolers getting ready to transition over to college. I don't even remember the lady's name, but she was one of the reasons that sparked my interest in going to Tuskegee.

Do you remember the moment when you realized you'd made the right decision?

Yes, it was after I crossed into the band.

It was a struggle! Freshmen year, I was like, "Oh, my God, did I make the right decision?" because it was just tough. And, you know, my family — they didn't have a lot of money. So I was coming, really, from a family that didn't have much, but I gained a whole lot of friends and family once I actually went through the process of band and realized that that was the best decision, because I just fit hand in hand with Tuskegee. It was a great decision for me to this day.

Aside from getting a degree, what other ways did Tuskegee help you grow as a person?

It helped me open up to people. I used to have the fear of opening up to people because you're looking at people who come from all different types of backgrounds. I'm specifically only 45 minutes away from Tuskegee, but it was a completely different world, which I think I developed into something different by the time I graduated. From freshman year, I was this shy little kid or whatever, but knew a lot of people, and as I matriculated through, got to pledge, and all that kind of stuff, it just made me a bit bolder than I had been. I'm very driven in comparison to who I was before.

What did your time there reveal about friendships, and what other values did you gain from going there?

Well, as far as my development of friendships, I still have all my friends to this day, except for the ones that passed on.

It actually became more of family because many of us are in touch. It was a lasting experience for me. It's like when you say, "Tuskegee," or you went to Tuskegee, you are instantly in a family. They don't care. I'm talking about it be people from like the 60s and the 70s. They just really accept you, especially if you went there. I'm still friends with a lot of my friends that went to Tuskegee, and they have kids and everything else at this point!