Damn I'm cold, I thought as I got my ass into my dorm. I don't know why I ever moved to Virginia. The place is so damn cold, it's not even funny. I guess I came for the education. The University of Russell offered me a full academic scholarship which I accepted. It's not like my other options were too appealing. Still, there are times when I thought my siblings, Jake and Maria got the better deal by going to Morehouse College and Georgia State University, respectively.
My name is John Marcelin and I'm a young black man of Haitian descent living in the state of Virginia, though the part about where I reside should have been clear by now. I come from a rather fortunate background. My father, James Marcelin is the Chief Executive Officer of Marcelin & Dale Enterprises, a civil engineering firm located in our hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. My mother Samantha Howard Marcelin is the Provost of Greater Atlanta Community College. They raised me and my siblings in a strict but loving home. Even though we were millionaires, they knew the world wouldn't be kind to us and taught us the value of hard work. That's why we attended our city's public schools and had to work our butts off to win scholarships to the colleges and universities of our choices. My parents didn't spoil us. We lived in a nice house in a wealthy neighborhood, but lived frugally.
Jake Marcelin, my older brother currently plays varsity football for the Maroon Tigers team of Morehouse College. My older sister Maria attends nearby Georgia State University on an academic scholarship, though she's also a member of the university women's rugby club. I chose Russell University mainly because it was far away from home. Russell University was founded in 1978 by a philanthropist conglomerate and has been a small but expensive private institution. In 2000, they were accepted into the N. C. A. A Division One and sponsor Men's archery, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, gymnastics, bowling, cross country, soccer, volleyball, swimming, rugby, lacrosse, football, wrestling, golf and tennis along with Women's archery, softball, basketball, ice hockey, gymnastics, cross country, soccer, swimming, rugby, lacrosse, field hockey, equestrian, golf, wrestling, bowling, tennis and volleyball.
Unlike most private schools which aren't Ivy League, Russell University doesn't offer athletic scholarships. How about that? They were both cheap and expensive. Oops, sorry. I guess I shouldn't bad mouth them. I mean, I never know who might read these lines someday. The school costs thirty five grand a year, including room and board. Luckily I got a free ride. Even for a family like mine, the costs were getting up there. Since moving into the dorms, I acclimated myself to campus life. I made a few friends. And I went to class and studied. Russell University's student body was fifty percent male and fifty percent female. That's cool, especially in an age where male students were the new minorities on campus. The school was also eighty eight percent white. How about that? I didn't let that bother me. I wanted to get my engineering degree and then move on to bigger and better things.
Still, even the most dedicated student needs something to help him or her unwind. I found that special outlet in Janice Stephens, a student-athlete at Russell University and one of the most popular students on campus. When Janice and I first met, I couldn't help but notice her. She was about five feet eleven inches tall, lean but still somewhat curvy, with dark brown skin and long black hair framing a pretty, nicely rounded face. She also had the loveliest almond-shaped golden brown eyes I'd ever seen.
This fine African-American beauty hailed from my corner of the South. Her father, Magnus Stephens was a longtime member of the Georgia State Senate. Her mother, Jane Brown Stephens was a bank vice president. Janice was a native of Atlanta City who transferred to Russell University from Spelman College. I was impressed. Spelman College was an exclusive elite school for young black women. The academic equivalent of Morehouse College, the best school in America for young black men. As you can imagine, I was drawn to Janice. She was tall, sexy and quite bright. Also, easy to talk to, which surprised me. In my experience with pretty girls, many of them were mean and conceited. Not all, but the majority of them fell into that category. Janice seemed the exception. We began dating.
At first, everything was great. Janice was the kind of lady any man would be glad to call his own. I mean, she was sexy as hell and she was smart and decent. A very kind and patient young woman with wisdom beyond her years. She was supportive of me and I repaid her in kind. I attended all of her basketball games. She led the Russell University's women's basketball team to victories over West Virginia University and Virginia Tech, our school's worst rivals in many sports. I happily cheered my lady as she shone brightly on the court. After her games, we would go out together to celebrate. The gal had lots of friends. Her cousin Mario Jenkins, a big and tall, dark-skinned guy with dreadlocks was an offensive lineman on the Russell University varsity football team and her sister Julianne Stephens was the captain of the school's all new women's varsity wrestling team. Her younger brother Albert Stephens played soccer for Ohio State University. Damn, the gal's entire family had the sports gene. I sometimes felt inadequate around them star athletes. Most people would never guess this about me. I stand six feet two inches tall and weigh two hundred and fifty pounds. I can't throw a ball to save my life. But I was the first minority male valedictorian my high school had seen in decades!