He often took interest in the cultures from which his immigrant friends came from and was then introduced into socialist and communistic beliefs. The introduction to these very radical politics so early in life had a great impact on his writings and social activism (Berry 10). .
Hughes then decided to attend Columbia University in New York with the help of his father (Berry 12). When Hughes arrived at the university, the racism was greater than he ever expected. They gave him the worst dormitory and a job on the newspaper reporting about the white fraternity parties. Instead of focusing on his studies, he visited Chinatown and Harlem, where he felt welcome. After his freshman year, he decided to leave the university. After leaving college, he greatly desired to travel. He applied to work on a ship that went up the west coast of Africa. There, in Africa, he was treated like he was White and found that it was, in many ways, like reverse discrimination from what was in America. He then traveled to Paris where he worked in a jazz club. Hughes loved jazz and his poetry and songwriting often reflected that love. He once said, "Jazz to me is one of the inherent expressions of Negro life in America" (Berry 21). .
When Hughes returned to New York City in 1926, he became involved in the Harlem Renaissance, and published his first poetry book, "The Weary Blues." Of the many writers that where involved in the Harlem Renaissance, Hughes was said to be, by far, one of the most important (Cobb 103). He then attended Lincoln University, an all black male school, in Pennsylvania (Meltzer 115). He strived to finish what he started at Columbia and wanted the legitimacy a bachelor's degree provided (Bloom 12). While there, he brought up many issues concerning the all White school board and faculty; those issues would later be resolved (Metlzer 120). Hughes made moderately good grades and graduated in 1930 with the fifth rank in his forty-five student class (Meltzer 117).
