Barrett had never lived among African-Americans before attending the Hampton Institute. She also had to do manual labor for the first time at the Institute. Hampton emphasized vocational education, and women were trained in morality and housekeeping in preparation for careers as wives or domestics. Barrett gradually adapted to the system at the Institute and she was especially influenced by a novel about a cultured and advantaged woman similar to herself who devoted her life to social service. While at Hampton, she began to volunteer for community projects that helped people. Barrett trained as an elementary school teacher at the Institute. The Institute taught her lessons "in love of race, love of fellow-men, and love of country", inculcating her with altruistic and patriotic values, and a sense of duty towards her race.