By Kehinde Hopkins
History beckons on every path that I walk. In one of Fort Worth’s most historic neighborhoods, on Fort Worth’s oldest university campus, I feel like I’m in the nook of eternity.
My first impression of Texas Wesleyan University was from the billboards that line the roads of Dallas-Fort Worth highways. Something like: “Smaller, Smarter” and “You in the Back is Not Your Name.”
I’m a Dallas native, and I’d never spared a thought to Fort Worth, apart from two initials that follow the “D” in DFW. I’d always thought of the city as Dallas’ ugly cousin. Now, it’s a second home.
I applied to Texas Wesleyan on a whim — the application was free and I’d been rejected by my dream school. I eventually chose Texas Wesleyan to chase a dream: to play college soccer. I stayed because I found a new dream.
I’ve been at Texas Wesleyan for six semesters, and I’ve spent all but one as part of the student newspaper, The Rambler, occupied with exploring the boundless worlds that exist in each student. I’ve grown to love worlds outside of mine.
I love the international students that make up so much of the student population. All four corners of the globe seem to converge in this unlikely nexus of Southeast Fort Worth.
I love the ghost stories that pervade every other building on campus — remnants of the past that remind me of the countless people who have walked these same halls and traversed these same paths.
I love the Eunice & James L. West Library, where I spend countless hours of the night cramming, studying, suffering and paying the price for my procrastination.
I love Martin Field, where I have practice for the men’s soccer team everyday. I especially love the walk to practice — over a fence, down a hill, under a bridge, past a street of auto repair shops and a bar until I’ve arrived to join a group of about 30 guys who have become a second family.
I love the student paper newsroom where I’ve risen up the ranks to editor-in-chief and discovered and rediscovered my unrelenting passion for journalism. It’s where I get to lead and learn from a staff of some of the most creative people I’ve ever met — my third family, and counting, in this essay.
I love the Polytechnic United Methodist Church where, only a five minute walk from my campus apartment, I have access to the offices of esteemed professors who I can hassle and harass with my ceaseless questions and seemingly insatiable appetite for their knowledge.
I love the Willie the Ram statue whose horns I now habitually rub for good luck, no matter how much I claim not to believe in superstition.
I like the Oneal-Sells Administration Building. I can hear history whispering to me with each creak of the floorboards as I walk. I say “like,” as opposed to “love,” because it’s also where I have to deal with Financial Aid and the Registrar’s Office. Even so, I’ve grown fond of the lady who forgets me each time I come to her with the same problem because she always calls me “sweetie.”
That’s the lesson Texas Wesleyan has taught me — home is wherever you lay your head at night, and family is whoever’s shoulder you put your arm around, no matter how unfamiliar they once were.
Kehinde Hopkins is a junior at Texas Wesleyan University. Hopkins is the editor-in-chief of Texas Wesleyan’s student newspaper, The Rambler, and plays for the Rams’ men’s soccer team.
Texas Wesleyan University area
Total population: 1,857
Male: 43% | Female: 57%
Age
0-9: 14%
10-19: 24%
20-29: 23%
30-39: 14%
40-49: 10%
50-59: 7%
60-69: 8%
70-79: 0%
80 and older: 0%
Education
No degree: 34%
High school: 40%
Some college: 19%
Bachelor’s degree: 5%
Post-graduate: 2%
Race
Hispanic: 46% | Black: 31% | White: 11% | Two or more: 9% | Asian: 3%
Click on the link to view the Texas Education Agency ratings for nearby schools:
This <a target=”_blank” href=”https://fortworthreport.org/2026/02/14/where-i-live-dallas-native-finds-second-home-at-texas-wesleyan-university/”>article</a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https://fortworthreport.org”>Fort Worth Report</a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.<img src=”https://i0.wp.com/fortworthreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=80&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”>
<img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https://fortworthreport.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=409698&ga4=2820184429″ style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https://fortworthreport.org/2026/02/14/where-i-live-dallas-native-finds-second-home-at-texas-wesleyan-university/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } </script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”//cdn.parsely.com/keys/fortworthreport.org/p.js”></script>