Ex-Transfer Student: My Story

Please see the above video for a huge anouncement!

Or I guess you could just read this post.

Last year I was a freshman in college. It was an immensely exciting and nerve-racking experience. I moved to a new state, took really difficult courses, and had to adjust to a completely new life. For those of you who don't know, I attended the Stanford University Online High School. I was at home doing school and while I had friends through extracurricular activities in my community, I wasn't immersed in a social sphere like most high school students. College was my first opportunity since fifth grade to spend extensive amounts of time with my peer group. 

Now, this is not to say that I didn't have social skills. I'm a fairly social person and I'm good at meeting and talking to people, but the entirely new environment certainly required adjustment. 

Anyway, by April I was tired, stressed, and frusterated. Over spring break I made a swift decision to transfer to my state university. This was spurned in part by my school's smallness and I felt very limited academically. But a big part of the decision was the stress of freshman year.

I spent the summer in Boston, becoming more connected with the university, students, and the fantastic location. Two weeks ago exactly, I had to say goodbye to one of my summer friends. It hit me that I didn't want to leave. I frantically called my parents and told them this was going to be much more difficult than I thought. Previously, I felt little attachment to the university. Now, I felt very connected.

My family moved around a few times when I was a kid and besides moving I transfered schools in the middle of the year numerous times. Because of this I've never really felt rooted in one place or to a group of people. Suddenly, the thought of starting over yet again left a pit in my stomach. 

Over the next four days I called various people, shed a few tears (not gonna lie), and finally told myself I should just complete the transfer.

Then I went for a walk.

The sun was setting, lighting the sky with pink and orange cloud swirls. I walked to my freshman door at the very top of campus. The university was preparing for the incoming freshman - they planted flowers around the trees and were repaving some of the walkways. I saw my old dorm window and felt very nostalgic and sentimental. 

I don't want to leave. I have to make this work. I have to try.

I sprinted down campus, back to my apartment, and worked out a list of interesting classes and discovered most of them were still open. 

The day after I met with an academic advisor and he was more than happy to help reinstate me at the university.

A few more technical matters later and I'm staying!

I'm incredibly happy with my decision and so excited for the upcoming year. ^_^

xxolivexx