Student Profile

JaQuan Bryant
Oakland, Calif.
Major: Africana Studies
Class: 2008

During a high school workshop on the college search process, JaQuan Bryant was asked to write an essay describing “the perfect college for you.” So he described a place where students are serious about learning and build close, strong relationships with their professors; a place where “the social atmosphere is open to new ideas” and “students don’t fall through the cracks.”

The workshop’s director read the essay and suggested Bryant look at The College of Wooster.

Fast forward two years or so. It’s 2006, Bryant is midway through his sophomore year at Wooster, and “for the most part, it’s exactly what I wanted. It’s kind of surreal to be somewhere and it’s just how you pictured it.”

He’s declared a major in Africana studies and is enrolled in the teacher education program, which leads to licensure in the State of Ohio. Bryant says that when he was a student in Castlemont High School in Oakland, Cal., “several teachers took a special interest in me, making sure I stayed on top of things and knew about different resources.” Someday, he hopes to do the same.

Though blessed with a fine voice (in high school he sang in a traveling choir that performed as far away as New York and Washington, D.C.), Bryant had never tried his hand at musical theatre until coming to Wooster, where last fall, he appeared in a production of Once on this Island. He also has become a resident assistant, as well as events coordinator for the Black Students Association.

Asked what has been the best part of his Wooster experience so far, Bryant replies, “the sense of community I feel.” The dozen or so students with whom he was enrolled in First Year Seminar are still the nucleus of his group of friends. “And the Africana studies department is almost like a family. You can always find someone to talk to, whether it’s your adviser or somebody else — I feel like I’m a part of something and I’m proud of going here.”