I am very happy and blessed to have found my new home at The University of Iowa. Unfortunately, I did not pick the right college my first time around.

Transferring in from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, I never felt truly at home in a tiny Wisconsin town as a Chicago boy who has never been a fan of the Badgers or Packers, the two most represented teams of the school.

No, that was not my primary reason to transfer. I truly wanted a Big Ten Experience and just felt I wasn't getting the experiences I wanted at a small Wisconsin school. Despite my frustrations I experienced, I still believe UW-Whitewater is a great school to attend. I even did ponder leaving it entirely over my winter break, but I was convinced enough to return for one more semester.

Unfortunately, a medical issue forced me to withdraw in February of my Spring Semester to put an end to a frustrating first year of college. However, I felt a variety of emotions that triggered me to want to transfer and live my dream. If you feel any of these thoughts consistently, then it is time to break up with your college and get yourself a new one.

1. You want to go home (and think about when your next weekend to go home is) as much as you possibly can

I have gone over two months without returning to my home state of Illinois. I know staying at your campus every weekend doesn't seem like much to celebrate. But believe me, this is something I applaud myself for very much. Last year, I wanted to be like many of the kids at my school and go home as much as I could. I missed all of my high school friends very much and I wanted any reason just to go home and visit them. Sure, I still had some fun times and went to a few wild parties with some people I met in my year at Whitewater, but there was one time when I deliberately left a house party early just so I could watch the IHSA football playoff pairings show. Yes, I knew I would not be suiting up for my team the next week. But since I felt so deeply about home, I felt that my hometown ties were more important that night than exploring new ones. I won't worry about that too much this weekend, even though I will check to see who my high school team, and all the other teams will be playing in the first round of the playoffs once it gets announced. I still have enjoyed following my old team and IHSA football this year. But since I became less obsessed with my hometown for this year, I no longer feel a need to religiously check on that stuff.

2. Or, you have a further extent of homesickness and want to relive high school instead of trying to make college exciting (and maybe, you still feel like you are still a student of high school)

Yes, you read that right. If you are like me last year and are trying to relive high school during college, than you may not have found the right school. I do not think there is anything wrong with wanting to go back to visit your high school nor do I see any problems if you want to wear some of your old high school gear on campus. But if you are going back for multiple football games, Homecoming when you are not dating someone still in high school, or yet, still acting like you are a student of your high school, then you're probably not enjoying college. For me, I didn't get to go to a fifth homecoming dance like I had hoped to, but I still came home for two football games, where I sat in the student section as an alumni. Yes, I snuck myself into the student section for two games last year as an alumni since I truly felt a need to relive high school and see my friends again.

3. You regret your decision to leave home for this school.

This one may be the most obvious. If you truly regret leaving behind your family, friends, and anything you absolutely loved about your hometown to start a new life at your current school, then you picked the wrong college. It's ok if you still love your hometown like I do. And yes, I do miss Libertyville and many things about it. But this year, I have no regrets leaving my longtime hometown. With plenty of school spirit, bars and restaurants located in the downtown district, Iowa City does remind me of Mainstreet Libertyville to an extent.

4. You aren't joining any student organizations

If you don't feel much of a motivation to join student organizations, then yes, you probably did pick the wrong school. But this is especially true if the reason why you are not joining any student organizations is because...

5. You know you have always wanted to go to another school you wanted to go to, and you are spending all of your time studying because you are extermely worried as to whether or not you will make the grades for that school

Yes, I essentially dropped out of all my student orgs at Whitewater halfway through the semester because I was scared as shit that I would not make the grades to transfer to a Big Ten School. While I did pull off a 3.22, I felt that I didn't earn that GPA in the best way because there was no balance.

6. You are skipping football games and study all day on Saturday

This was me in the second half of first semester last year. I missed at least two home football games to study. And of course, that was all because I became so worried and stressed that I would not make the grades too transfer. Now, since there is no more need to transfer, I don't have to skip any football games. You can throw me three papers, two tests, and a big group project to do. But if the Hawkeyes are home on that Saturday, there is no way in hell I will skip the game just to study all day on Saturday.

7. You cannot name more than 5-8 people on your floor

Last year, I got close with the girls next door to me, my RA, and two guys at the other end of the floor. And then, I didn't know anybody else because I focused more on transferring and reliving high school then meeting new people. While I still haven't learned everybody's name, I have indeed took more time and effort to meet new people on my floor (and even a few on some of the other floors) this year.

8. You are not fitting into the culture surrounding the area of your school

I had a difficult time as a Chicago boy accustoming to Wisconsin culture. If you just aren't blending into the culture of the area your school is in, then it may be time to transfer where there are more people like you.

9. You rarely go to the gym

Yes, if you aren't going to the gym because you are trying to study and study all of the time, that shows that you picked the wrong college. You don't have to workout competitively in college, but you should at least be going to the gym as often as possible to keep in shape and be mentally healthy. If you do not see any urgency in working out because you are trying to study all day, then it is time to transfer.

10. It just doesn't feel like a second home

This one is the most obvious of all. If you wake up everyday and don't feel like this campus is a second home for you, then you defintely need to transfer. Everybody deserves a school where they can wake up everyday and willingly accept that this is going to be home for the next few years. If you can't do that, then you need to transfer ASAP.