Me...A Chaperone?

This weekend I chaperoned a college tour to several HBCU's on the east coast, Howard, Morgan State, Bennett, NC A&T, Clark Atlanta, and Spelman. The Spelman Alumnae Association, Philly Chapter sponsors this tour every year for high school girls in the area. The tour is so much more than just visiting and finding out about colleges, but it is also and social experience. The young ladies who participated in the tour learn about proper dress, behavior and social interactions. Yes, it was a rough beginning, and there was much backlash against dressing professionally, using certain language, not wearing head scarves and slippers in public venues, and just presenting oneself in a professional manner at all times, but by the time our debriefing rolled around, all the ladies were appreciative our the guidelines. They realized that they had stood out during the tours and info sessions, they were recognized for their professional demeanor, although at times it was forced. By being away from the "Spelman" environment and way of doing things I had forgotten somethings; this trip was like a refresher course. While at Penn I have grown began to lower my standards as it relates to presentation of oneself. It is NOT okay a give a class presentation is t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers...it is NOT okay to come to class in sweats or pajamas...and it is definitely NOT okay to attend a meeting or go on an interview in anything other than business professional attire!

We also presented the ladies with something other than professional etiquette. They were exposed to Morehouse, Spelman, and Clark during the Homecoming weekend! The students experienced Market Friday, a hip-hop concert, the football game, a step show, coronation, the parade, and tailgating! These high school students were blown away! We fused with them for not paying attention or keeping up with the group, but that was not a reasonible expectation because many of the young ladies had never been in this environment.

Although we, Spelman Alum, would love for all the ladies to attend Spelman, but just the mere fact that all the ladies are seriously interested in college is a success!