The News Argus, May 2004
Photo by Keith Caesar
Nicole Ferguson (left) and Layla Farmer, Mass Communications majors, will graduate this spring.
My Point of View
Two seniors. Two perspectives.
Same quality WSSU education.
By Nicole Ferguson
Argus Editor-in-Chief
school. I'd applied to WSSU and
thought about attending just because
Ai . c VC ■ • t. rnv mom had graduated from there,
chapter or my life is coming to / ° ,
. , , .. 1 really had my heart set on
an end. 1 know that in the next ,, r- ■ it. m
, . 111..*. Hampton, Spelman or Chapel Hill,
few days a lot IS about to „ , , . i .
L A 1..U u I 11 1 11 u • But 1 was crushed when one day my
change. Although 1 will still be in , j • i,
, . • w mom affectionately and realistically
school, 1 will no longer be matriculat- , , . ,
.1 1 1 A L L A' posGQ tn0 QUGStion, Do you nciV6
me throuen undereraduate studies, ^
but 1 will be a graduate student, Ms. ampton money.
, . , . , bo here 1 was, in a
Independent. I tut,
^ room full of poten-
realized that when
I filled out finan
cial aid forms on
my own for the
first time, and it
was no longer a
requirement to
include my par
ent's tax informa
tion.
I didn't plan on
graduating from
Winston-Salem
State University in
three years. In fact
I was a bit sur
prised last fall
//
I,
tial Rams and old
learned that
JATCCTJ went to school with
vVjjH IVas my mom-the kind
much more than a even taught my
1 r , mom), and what do
place for me to know, the
receive a college recruitment session
^ turned into a schol-
education, it was a arshlp awards cere-
second home where mony. I was
I had adopted
guardians ... " housing costs.
»r- I r All of a sudden
- Nicole Ferguson ^ ,
Winston-Salem was
sounding and look
ing quite attractive.
The summer after my senior year in
high school, 1 began a journey that
has been nothing short of a rewarding
when my advisor.
Dr. Valerie Saddler, informed me that
it was possible earlier this academic
school year. When I received the
news, I first called my parents to let ,
,hem know. Then I began .elling some
of my professors. When everybody
started making a fuss over the posi
tive aspects of graduating early, 1
began to think maybe it would be
worth my while to seriously consider
walking to Pomp-and-Circumstance
this spring during commencement.
So the long thought process began.
It started with remembrance of the
WSSU recruitment session held my
hometown at the Holiday Inn
Bordeaux in Fayetteville. My mom
and 1 attended during the spring
semester of my senior year in high
Through WSSU's honor college, I
spent the summer living in Wilson
Hall and taking English and math
classes in order to earn six hours of
credit and acclimate myself to college
life early. The honors program was
great, and so were Dr. Shirley
Manigualt and Ms. Sherry
Wallington, our leaders in the pro
gram. I learned that WSSU was much
more than a place for me to receive a
college education, it was a second
SeeFERGUSON^ Page 4
By Layla Farmer
Argus Reporter
People say that everything hap
pens for a reason. I came to
Winston-Salem State
University because it was close to my
home and I needed to be able to live
at home so I could take care of my 2
year old son, who is now four. I did
n't even look any
where else, and
frankly there was // T USCd tO Bc
little more m
involved in my
decision than the
proximity of the
school's location.
1 needed to finish
college some
where, and I
found my experi
ence at Forsyth
Tech to be less
than engaging, so
I transferred to
Winston-Salem
State University.
changed the course of my life forever.
I still remember our conversation.
She asked me what I wanted to major
in and I said I didn't know. She
asked me what I liked to do and I sort
of shrugged. Then she asked me if I
liked to talk. Well, actually, talking is
something I probably do in my sleep.
I don't like silence and for some rea
son I feel the need to
communicate nearly
everything that goes
through my head at
afraid of any given moment,
being called a
nerd. Now I don't thought about Mass
care who knows
she asked me. I had
no idea what Mass
Communications
even was. "Like
radio and television,"
she said. I answered
that yes I liked those
things. So I signed
up and here I am: a
senior, a Mass
Communications
I'm smart or that
I'm serious about
what I'm doing
here. This is not a
game."
- Layla Farmer
My first semes
ter here, I still had not declared my
major. I didn't know what I wanted for the
to do. Nothing seemed right for me
when I thought about spending the funny because I probably never
next forty years doing it. I went to would have picked that major out for
school and worked part time. 1 don't and yet it fits like a glove,
remember much about my feelings in much from that moment on I
regards to State. I don't think I really have enjoyed my college experience. I
cared that much. realized that I enjoy almost every
When it came time for my second Communications: radio,
semester at State, 1 had to pick my television, wnbng, recording, report-
major. I still had no idea what I '"S' interviews, photography ...
wanted to do. My advisor was from istgwson. And I love it all.
First Year College. She wasn't even ^ sound funny? I never
supposed to be my advisor but she ^ t in a million years that I would
helped me because she knew 1 was about school. I never dreamed
totally lost and I didn't know where 1 ^ would find a career path
was supposed to be. Her name —
escapes me but 1 am certain that she See FARMER, PaQe 4