Album Notes

“Congratulations, you’re a positive statistic.”


For students of color entering a Predominantly White Institution (PWI), the challenges are many. While moving into the realm of higher learning is an exciting and proud moment, you’ll find that the challenges are ones that you WON’T find in your “Welcome Packet.”

Inspired by his own experiences, Lull Mengesha shares information he only WISHED he knew before entering his first year at a local PWI. Reflective and humorous, Mengesha ventures back down that bumpy journey through 5 years of the good (I’m in college, yay!), the bad (No, I don’t play football) and the ugly (the “N” word).

But do not fear. A PWI does not have to be your worst nightmare. Learn from the author’s story to rewrite your own – the happy ending is inevitable…it’s the journey you need to prepare for.

Chapters
Welcome to College
Who Do I Go To? What Do I Do?
The Classroom
Chilling
Are You Trying to Make Me Angry?
That Just Happened
Are You Ready?
BackGround

The Only Black Student is a book that evolved progressively from casual group and one on one discussions into written form during the latter years of Lull’s undergraduate experience. On campus, Lull worked as a student ambassador for the Office of Minority Affairs. Additionally, he provided guidance to college-bound high school students who feared that they would not succeed socially and academically at a Predominantly White Institution. Many had only interacted with people of similar economic and ethnic backgrounds before entering a PWI.

Compiling input from his mentors, mentees, and peers over the course of three years, he completed and published his first edition of The Only Black Student. Lull never considered himself a writer, but was driven by the desire to inscribe the wisdom to others that he wished someone had shared with him when his academic journey began.