This is a combo from undergrad + grad school:
1) survive/learn to thrive: Freshmen and sophomore year, I made sure I sat in the first two rows every time.
All of my study groups included white students but NOT only white students. This seemed to give us more leeway: if it wasn’t more time granted to be in study hall space or being able to reserve rooms that the other group didn’t have access to because of major, organization/sorority/fraternity affiliation, diversity, etc. it was having access to some materials such as old quizzes, notes, books, etc that upperclassmen passed down.
Pay attention to who is grading most of your work in your class. I.e the TA or the Professor. If the TA is grading all your stuff besides the exams, make sure you attend the TA’s office hours regularly. This way you know the way they think, what they’re looking for, and/or usually more likely to offer you partial credit instead of completely wrong. Attend the professor’s exam prep days where they go over concepts/things/chapters to remember and/or do their practice exams.
If the professor is the one grading everything or that’s the office hour slot that works for your schedule, GO. Every time, even if you don’t have any questions.
If your classes are mainly papers/essays, make sure you run your ideas, topics, sources by them and get feedback OR ask them to read at least one draft so you’re headed in the right direction.
Lastly, I always looked at reviews on professors and tried to find at least one class taught by a professor of color that I could join. Whether it was an elective or a core class.
Social wise, I made sure to find groups or spaces that focused on my culture because (surprise! ...not really) it was hard to come across many black or Nigerian people in one setting. I joined Black/African American groups and African groups and Nigerian groups, which then led to attending those events. I was able to meet some of my closest friends that way. I went to the spaces like the Malcom X Lounge just because...and every time it was amazing. Of course, people who weren’t black were also welcome to enter. It was just something about knowing we had a space filled with history and music and could hold meetings there, eat, or just chill.
2) Finding community: Undergrad, putting myself out there and joining those groups. I found them by searching the school’s database of organization. Also, they tend to pub a lot and pass out fliers. Same for my church/religious group. I personally chose to have a predominantly black church and a mixed church that I attended. Same with my religious/spiritual organizations for bible studies or worship nights or community service etc on campus. They both contributed to my growth in different ways and in turn, I was able to question things, have heavy discussions with love, and encourage/lift others up.
Grad: we all sort of found each other in a way during the summer. Knowing that we were in a particular program for a certain amount of time...regardless of having different areas/populations that we focused on...pushed us even closer I believe or at least to support/look out for each other.
In grad school, I guess I did the opposite in my pattern of choosing professors. I still read reviews/took suggestions but I made sure majority of my professors were a person of color and then from there if the remaining classes had no professors of color as options I read heavily into their background and what they do/stand for. And I didn’t care much about who the professor was (race or beliefs wise) for my electives. I still looked at reviews for the class.
3) Challenge culture: Undergrad-yes, I want to say it was senior year.
A black student has a psychiatric episode and stabbed a couple of people, one of which was a white student who died. It turned into a huge backlash on black people by different groups posting signs like “around blacks, never relax.” They wore black face, they started openly showing their weapons and shouting slurs. We (as leaders of Black orgs) collectively came together to address it.
Grad-yes, in the summer. Community culture walk project looking for disparities or what was missing. Long story but that’s all I got in me. I mostly wrote it out to the professor, I don’t do much calling out unless it’s for racism/discrimination, sex trafficking, assault, and abuse.
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