A Guide for My Northern Girls: Tackling School in the South

I knew I wanted to go to an HBCU during my entire high school career. Although this may sound silly, it slipped my mind that all HBCUs are in the South. Living in New York for all of my life (Brooklyn to be exact), coming to Virginia was a culture shock I was not prepared for nor did I even think it existed. I was ready to meet Black republicans, Black people with money, and Black people from out of the country. I didn’t take into consideration that we’re all from different regions and we don’t operate the same. 

 To my northern girls attending school in the south, here is a guide to making your experience as best as possible: 

1. Make friends from the North

Naturally, you’re going to make friends from the North because we gravitate towards each other. I made friends from New York and friends from New Jersey and they made me feel at home. It was nice to be around people that understood my slang without me explaining it. It was nice to talk to someone without them mentioning that I had an accent. Your northern friends will make you feel comfortable. 

    2. Don’t limit yourself to only friends from the North

To this day, it is a shock to me that one of my first (and best)friends at Hampton is someone from Alabama. Be mindful to make sure your circle consists of more than people from the North. Make friends from the South, the Midwest, and the West Coast. College is a learning experience in more ways than one and your friends can be your best teachers. Teach other slang, food, and music. The friendship will grow just simply on the fact that you’re from different places. 

    3. Yes, you have a slight attitude, fix it. 

It took me a minute to accept it, but I guess Northern girls do have a slight attitude. It may not be an attitude to be exact, more like a defense mechanism. I was used to no one speaking to each other on the street. At Hampton, there is a constant “Hey girl!” being thrown around. It was something that took a while to get used to. Just let your guard down. You’re in the South now, everyone is friendly. 

    4. They’re a little slow-paced down here, it’s not just you

There is the stigma that people from the North are too fast for their own good. When you come from cities like New York, Philly, and Jersey City, there is no time to be slow. To those from the South, this is normal but to us, we know it is slow. My best advice is to just get used to it. That’s something that’s beyond your control. 

At the end of the day, the South is where you decided to go to school. It’s nothing for you to do but get used to it. Everything may close early, there may be no corner stores but this is where you spend most of your time. This is your home away from home. This is a learning experience. Who knows, after these 4 years you may want to settle in the South and become a newly found Southern belle.