Week five has now ended and I feel more overwhelmed than ever. Midterms just ended, so now it’s time to start thinking about finals. The quarter system is not what I thought it was going to be. Multiple people told me that you have to experience it for yourself in order to understand it completely. But, of course, like many others, I didn’t listen. I am a transfer student and coming to a new school as a junior is hard. I want to be involved in campus life as much as possible, but school always comes first. That’s the problem as transfer students: we only have six quarters to create a balance.
Most transfer students come in as pre-majors. This means we have been accepted to the school, but we are not guaranteed a spot in our major until we fulfill certain requirements with a standard GPA. Although I am extremely happy to be here, I wonder how much better I would feel if I had room for trial and error like the rest of the continuing students that attend here did. The added amount of pressure to get into a major increases the amount of stress and anxiety I have simply being on campus. It is strange talking to other friends that attend different UC’s and are already pursuing what they set out to do. I always wonder what would have happened if I picked another route, but quickly remind myself UCSB is indeed amazing and I’m here for a reason.
So, how do I plan to create a balanced school life you might ask? Well, looking at how I’ve been doing in school so far, I know some things need to change. Study habits that worked at community college are obviously not working here. The quarter system moves at such a rigorous pace that there is no time for last minute studying. Second, reducing the amount of commitments I put myself in at the beginning of the year will also beneficial to my mental well-being. It took me a minute to realize we don’t need to be involved in everything. We can always try something new each quarter and eventually stick to what we love. These are supposed to be the best years of our life’s and it should feel that way. Lastly, something really important I learned these past few weeks is that organization is key. Don’t wait to do assignments until the last minute, do them when they are assigned. It allows for so much more free time. Transfer students we got this!
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