The Delta Sigma Theta Sorority’s GEMS (Growing and Empowering Myself Successfully) undertook a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) tour during the autumn half term break, leaving Bermuda on October 22.On Sunday we went to see Atlanta’s aquarium for the day. Once that activity was completed we drove to Tennessee. This took three hours.The first school that we toured was Fisk University. Fisk University was a nice small school. It has the highest number of graduating African Americans in science. If you’re a Fisk lady, you wear pearls which are a unique tradition that they have. I found out that with your application, you are required to give in an essay and three letters of recommendation. The Fisk slogan is “Cultivating Scholars and Leaders One by One.” Since we had travelled so far for the tour the college representative gave us applications right on the spot for the school. He also waived the application fee for us so that we could be on our way to becoming a Fisk Lady.We travelled a short distance to our next school which was Tennessee State University. The student teacher ratio was 15-20:1. They have a battle of the dorms and you’re not required to live on campus as a freshman. They have a good support staff and the tuition per year is $25,000.Once we completed the tour of the campus we began another drive to North Carolina; a long, eight-hour drive to Greensboro, North Carolina. North Carolina A&T was the third school on our tour. Their mission statement is: “We Teach Students How to Think, Not What to Think.” They have the largest number of graduating African-American engineers. The students who attend the university have a lot of school pride. They call it “AGGIE PRIDE”. They offer bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees. Offering over 117 major subjects, they teach over 11,000 students. Since big colleges are not what I am looking for, I was not interested in the school, but they do have a lot to offer.The next day we visited Johnson C Smith University. Created in 1816, it was built by free men who were former slaves. They offer scholarships to international students. They have four different colleges within the university. They require every student to have 40 hours of community service in order to graduate. Even though this college is big, I liked it because they offered a lot of financial aid for international students that most colleges don’t. Each student is assigned a success coach to help them throughout the school year.After North Carolina, we drove to South Carolina. In South Carolina we visited Allen University and Benedict University. Allen University was nice and small. They had suite-style dorms for the students, but each couple had to share one bathroom per suite. They offer a laundry room which is free of charge. The classroom ratio is 20-25:1. Their yearly tuition is $17,500. Even though it was a small college which I was looking for, it did not interest me. Across the street was Benedict University. As soon as I stepped out of the van I loved it because the school colours were purple and yellow. The classroom ratio is 19:1. The yearly tuition is $25,994. All the major courses are in one building. The president of the college has a house on campus. They also have an open enrollment. They didn’t really offer a lot for international students but I enjoyed my tour.When we returned back to Atlanta, we toured to two schools, Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University. Spelman’s tuition was so expensive. It was between $40,000-$43,000. They had strict rules on visitation. If you were late leaving, they kept your ID and you couldn’t go anywhere because you needed your ID to go places. You got to choose which dorm you wanted to live in. If you apply to the college in November, you have to attend the school if you are accepted. Since Spelman, Moorehouse and Clark Atlanta are all next to each other, you get to take classes at all three schools. And that goes for each school. I really liked Spelman but the tuition turned me off.Clark Atlanta was one of the best schools on the college tour. They offer bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees. Clark Atlanta University was created when two schools joined together (Atlanta University and Clark College.) They have four different types of security on the campus. They also have free tutorials for students. A lot of popular movies were filmed on the campus.The overall trip was funny, tiresome and educational. It gave us a feel for what how campus life is like and the different feelings of a large campus compared to a small campus.