By: Christopher Williams, Staff Writer
It’s Friday, we’re almost at the end of DHOE, and probably ready to go out every night for the second weekend in a row. But if the whole point of homecoming is to welcome those who came before us, why don’t we learn from them while they’re here?
Meet Trina Edwards Williams, Carolina class of ‘93. Although it’s been nearly thirty years since she visited The Pit every day, she remembers a little bit about her time here.
Hailing all the way from New York, Williams knew Carolina was her final destination as soon as she was accepted.
“I actually applied early admission and at that time, early admission meant that if you got in you had to go there. So it was my first choice.”
As a young Black woman in the late 80’s, Williams was among the first in her family to attend a PWI. Even more symbolic was the day in 1989 on which she found out she had been accepted.
“It was actually Martin Luther King weekend when I got my acceptance letter, and the Martin Luther King holiday was relatively new at that time. So it was also kind of not just coming full circle for me personally, but coming full circle almost for our family because I was the first one to go to a PWI.”
After getting to campus, Williams quickly found her community in organizations such as the Black Student Movement and their affiliated gospel choir. Williams even credits Carolina’s BSM with not only networking, but educating her on social issues and allowing her to become more conscious.
“One of the main things that came up when I was in school, I think it might have been my junior year, the Rodney King case.… The biggest thing I remember right now is getting the verdict and everybody just being stunned and talking to each other about how it set a precedent that this was acceptable behavior. And now we have to really be careful, and being mindful of our, at that time, boyfriends and any respective husbands or sons and fathers.”
As a member of the Theta Pi chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Williams also attributes some of her most important skills to her sorors. Talking to older sisters provided her with the chance to learn about planners, which she still uses to stay organized and be successful to this day.
Williams also understands how easy it is to be swept away by the temptation to party every night, but remembers vividly what got her back on track. The combination of social opportunities, a new sense of freedom, and completely independent time management makes it easy to lose focus.
“I jokingly said that I majored in sorority or boyfriend and not biology or psychology at the time…. I completely lost focus, but momma helped me find it! She told me that if I didn’t get myself together I could come back to New York and go to York… ‘If you ain’t gon do what you supposed to do, I can have you come right back here,’ and I said ‘Oh, no no no, we will not be doing that!’”
Williams attributes some of this distraction to her major, which transitioned from biology on a pre-med track to the degree she finally received in psychology. She additionally believes that discovering your passion is the first step to thriving academically.
“My initial goal was to be a pediatrician. So, I mean, it’s always been understood that I would be working with children in some capacity. But in those service projects, I had the opportunity to teach and I really loved that and I realized this was my calling. And then I registered for an education class. I believe it was my senior year… And when I took that class, I felt like I was at home and I had never felt that anywhere else.”
Williams went on to become a middle school teacher in both New York City and the Wake County Public School System in North Carolina. After beginning as a drug prevention counselor at a middle school in Queens, she went on to teach both science and English, earning recognition for her excellent work in local newspapers, as well as receiving Fuquay-Varina Middle School’s Teacher of the Year award two years in a row.
The lessons Williams learned at Carolina prepared her not only for grad school and for an award-winning career as a teacher, but also for what she considers her biggest accomplishment: her children.
“I learned about cognition and I learned about how children’s brains work. So it made me understand that when [they] were born, [they] were blank slates and anything that [they] learned, it was our responsibility, whether that be good things or bad things.
Williams also had some advice for current Tar Heels ready to tackle DHOE.
“My advice is to NOT call it the drunkest homecoming on Earth, that would be the first thing… but my advice going in to any young people is the advice I would give to myself if I were back in school; stay focused, don’t forget why you’re there, and have a planner, and use it… and don’t participate in this drunkenness!”
Whether you listen to Williams’ advice or not, her story should still show that everyone has a place at Carolina. It may take some time to find, but keep searching and never feel discouraged while focusing on the main goal, graduation. Now, whether you’re partying or not, have a good DHOE!
