#FacesOfHBCUs: Kiah Ruffin, @kiahruffin (🐏@wssu1892 2016, 🎓BS in Sport Management) I attended an HBCU because I was searching for a new home to develop my skills as a softball player. @wssu1892 had the best program in the @ciaasports. I wanted to create my own legacy and try a different environment. Before attending WSSU it was years before I was in a school where 90% of the staff and students looked like me therefore I was nervous about the impression I would leave my first day on campus. ⚾️🏆🙌🏾Some of my favorite moments during undergrad was winning the CIAA Softball Championship in 2015, being able to be on the field as a student athletic trainer in the 2015-16 CIAA Football Championship game and traveling to Pennsylvania for Penn State Relays with my team, the biggest Collegiate Track Meet of the year. 📚As a graduate of an HBCU I believe that students should attend HBCUs because It was the one time in my life I didn't have to explain my lifestyle to others. Seeing the different hairstyles, fashion trends and hearing the dialects of people who looked liked me was refreshing. I was “allowed” to be myself without being judged and that helped my evolve as an artist, athlete, and a person. 💃🏽If it weren't for WSSU I wouldn’t have rediscovered my love for Dance. It was the main piece of my life that was missing at my previous school. There, we were seen as numbers, athletes only with no other talents or social interests. 😁I am glad I made the decision to leave and start over where I was welcomed and appreciated. Lastly, during my HBCU experience I created and became a part of a network of likeminded individuals who understands the difficulties we have by existing in this society. I have learned to pay more attention to certain conversations in the media, job interviews and who I surround myself with. We have super powers and are seen as a threat. I love that I can call on my classmates and be treated like family. #hbcu #hbcupride #wssu #kiahruffin #blackgirlmagic #winstonsalemstateuniversity #nc #model #softball #sports #rampride 📸 @flowersome_