J. Cole visits Alma mater, Terry Sanford

Fayetteville's own Grammy-nominated hip-hop artist J. Cole came through Fayetteville Thursday afternoon. He made special appearances at both E.E. Smith and Terry Sanford high schools as part of his week long Inaugural Dreamville Weekend project. The project's goal is to inspire young people, while bringing some notoriety to his hometown.

Cole remarked to the enthusiastic cheering crowd to go after their dreams. Speaking to the media, he said he hoped to convey that the world is bigger than their own neighborhood, be it Vanstory or Bonnie Doone.

The grounded singer, remaining humble, shared about his rise to fame and how he has been financially responsible and just recently bought his very first car.

During his stop at Terry Stanford the rapper met with Mayor Tony Chavonne, State Senator Eric Mansfield and House Representative Elmer Floyd where he was honored by a proclamation that made March 1, J. Cole Day,  in Cumberland County.

Graduating in 2003 from , J. Cole thought that he had a better chance of getting signed in New York City, so he chose to attend St. John's University on an academic scholarship where he majored in communication and minored in business, graduating magna cum laude.

Singer J. Cole previously visited Fort Bragg's Sports USA in September upon the debut of his most recent album.