“My name is Deveonte. It sounds exactly how it’s spelled, but it gets butchered up every time. My second-grade teacher, Ms. Christian, noticed everybody kept butchering up my name, so she gave me the nickname ‘Dev.’ And it just stuck with me.

Ms. Christian was actually my first Black teacher, so it was a monumental step for me. I actually didn’t know how to handle it. Growing up, I was always the only Black child in class or in sports. On top of that, I had very long curly hair. So I would either get my name butchered up, or I would be called a girl. So having a Black teacher was a shock. Like, wow, another Black person besides me. I was grateful because she would help me interact with my race because I didn’t know how to, outside of home. She ended up being my fifth-grade teacher, too. She was pretty much my favorite teacher.

She was hard on me. And, soft with me at times. I didn’t always understand why, but now I do. Without Ms. Christian, I know I definitely would not be who I am today – a humanitarian from the heart. So I will forever be grateful for her.

Sadly, Ms. Christian passed away. She was definitely one of the people I would love to thank because she really changed my life.”

– Dev, junior speech communications major with a concentration in theatre from Chattanooga, Tenn.

“I was recruited here to be part of the bowling team. I had friends from Mexico who were also part of the bowling team, and I heard from them and girls from other schools that the JSU team was very united and nice to each other. That’s what I wanted. I wanted to be in a good environment with a good team. And I heard JSU had a good civil engineering program. So, I decided to attend.

At first, it was hard for my mom because I was the first of the family to leave. I can remember my mom crying every day because I was about to leave, and my sister told me my mom was sad that I wasn’t there. But my family knows that leaving has helped me to grow and become a better person, more responsible and all that stuff. So, they’re proud of me, and they’re happy I’m here. But of course, they miss me.

I was nervous to come, mostly because of my English. I can communicate, but I don’t speak like a native American. So when I got here, I was nervous that I wouldn’t understand people or they wouldn’t understand me. And the culture is also different. But once I got here, everyone was so nice, and I felt comfortable. I like it. Something I wasn’t used to was people saying hi to you, even if they don’t know you. Just people being nice without a reason.

– Mariana, sophomore civil engineering major from Sonora, Mexico