Being a student at Central State University taught me to be thankful of the things I have while being ambitious for the things I wish for. Central State has matured and nurtued me to be appreciative of the black men and women who have paved the way for me to receive a quality education today. After watching the film Thor, this realization became all too clear.

In the film, Thor, the protagonist hammer-wielding god associated with thunder and lightning in Norse mythology,  prepares to ascend to the throne of Asgard but is later stripped of his powers and exiled to Earth as a mortal by his father Odin because of his arrogance. Odin sends Thor’s hammer along with him, but before he can gain its powers again, he must first be worthy to wield it.

While on Earth, Thor seeks to return to his home and cockily attempts to gain his powers back by obtaining the fallen hammer, in which his egotism is evident. However, he finds himself incapable of lifting the hammer, and later captured by authorities because of the mayhem he caused to recover it.

Accepting his exile, and stuck on Earth, Thor learns to humble himself–eventually proving that he is worthy enough to wield the powerful hammer once more.

After watching Thor, I made a connection to the film’s general theme of humbleness to my time spent at Central State University. In the film, Thor was considered undeserving of his powers, and was delayed kingship because of his arrogance. Thor had to humble himself in order to return home and obtain his powers back. In relation to the film, attending a historically black university has been a humbling, and life altering experience for me.

Everything here seems to be like a process, in which one must attempt to learn the broad concept of life. Walking on these historic grounds, I often find myself re-learning the things that I thought I learned and mastered previously–such as the popular saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” I have taken this concept and applied it to many things in life. With this notion, you began to appreciate simple and material things more often, and you grow into this new entity, realizing that some things in life are bigger than you.

I am strong, confident, and intelligent. I believe I am ready to take on any obstacle that the world throws at me, and I owe it all to my HBCU. Just being at this historically black university is a humbling and awing experience in itself, and I am a better individual because of it.