As I walked into my first class as a Wolverine back in September, I remember feeling almost like a kid again. I was excited and wide-eyed, staring at the people and the buildings and the squirrels, in awe of everything around me. For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to go to Michigan, and have dreamt of The Big House and spending Saturdays wearing maize and blue. In February, when I got the email that I had been accepted as a transfer student, I was on top of the world. All of my hard work had finally paid off, and I felt invincible. Although my freshman year of college wasn’t an easy one, I knew that all of the struggles I had been through would be worth it because come fall, I would be at the school of my dreams and everything would be perfect.
But my transition here hasn’t been perfect – nothing in life ever is – and as I reflect on my first semester as a transfer student, there are a few things that I’ve learned.
First, transferring schools is scary. Leaving behind a campus that you know, moving away from the friends that you’ve made, and coming to an entirely new place with new people and a new way of doing things isn’t easy. You forget how hard it is to make friends, and how intimidating it is to walk into a classroom and not know a single person. I sometimes feel like I’m a freshman in high school again, just trying to figure out where I belong.
I’ve also learned that everything takes time. When I first got here, I thought everything would just fall into place – I would join clubs and meet new people, go out every weekend and still do well in all of my classes. I thought I could effortlessly place myself into life at Michigan, act as if I didn’t transfer here, and pretend that I was an old pro. But it took me a solid week to learn that Mason Hall and Angell Hall are in the same building, and I’m still trying to figure out how to balance going out and doing work. I’ve realized that it’s okay that I’m still figuring it out, it’s okay that I wandered around East hall for twenty minutes yesterday trying to find the stairs, it’s okay that I sometimes feel like I’m doing everything wrong because it’s only been a semester, and it takes time to get acclimated. I can’t expect to have it all figured out in a few short months (hell, does anyone ever have it all figured out?), and half of the fun is learning and growing and making mistakes.
Lastly, if there’s anything I’ve learned during my first semester as a transfer student, it’s that you can’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Coming into a school that is so big and feeling like most of the people around you have already found their group of friends, it’s easy to see yourself as an outsider. But you’ll only feel like an outsider if you close yourself off, if you sit and let life pass you by. So, take a chance. Talk to the girls that sit next to you in psych class. Go to the club meeting by yourself and meet new people. When someone asks if you want to study for the stats test together, or sees you struggling with the homework and asks if you want help, say yes. Always say yes. There is so much out there to experience, so many people to meet and places to see, but you won’t be a part of any of it if you don’t set aside your fears and inhibitions and just go for it. You transferred here for a reason – you’re here for a reason – so make the most of it.
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Images courtesy of: University of Michigan