In this episode of TCC Talon Thoughts, host Luisa Miller speaks with Tallahassee Community College Professor of History Dr. Andrea Oliver, and they discuss the benefits TCC2FAMU students, can gain from taking African American History their first year at TCC. Below is the Q&A between the host and the guest.
Q: So when did you become a history teacher?
Andrea Oliver: I decided to get my master’s degree in education and started my career as a eighth grade history teacher. And that was back in the mid 90s. So I guess 1995 is when I started teaching.
When you started teaching at TCC Was there any type of difference between the curriculum that you had to teach?
AD: Yeah, well, Um in a lot of ways, my early career at TCC, those were actually better years for history… But the downside of that was when I first got here, there was only one section of black history that was offered.
did you attend a regular college? Or did you attend an HBCU?
AD: I attended Florida State… I thoroughly enjoyed my Florida State experience, going to Florida State in the early 90s.
So why should TCC students who plan to transfer to FAMU take African American history?
AD: Well, for the same reason that they should try to take as many of their major prerequisite classes here as possible. I cannot necessarily replicate the experience of taking a black history class on the campus of an HBCU. But what I can do is I can provide you with a preview of what that might be like.
What advice can you give to TCC students who are on the fence about going to an HBCU?
AD: if you’re on the fence about it, you probably should go. I will also say, if you do better in an environment that’s more nurturing, then you definitely need to go forward to FAMU.
