Everybody has a unique story from their college days; one they can look back on in later years and say, "that experience really changed me." Here's mine:
In the four years that I have been in college, I have been to three different schools.
Here's what I've learned as a two-time transfer student:
1. I learned what I am not good at
One of my favorite shows when I was a teenager was American Idol. The best part of the entire season was the audition round, where thousands of people would wait for 12 hours to get 15 seconds to sing in front of the judges. Some of the auditions were really great and it made you feel good when someone got the Golden Ticket to go chase their dream. But the real meat of the show was the bad auditions, the quirky weirdos who thought they could sing but when they finally got their "big break" they got laughed out of the room. It was pretty sadistic thinking back on it, but it's a good segue to my point:
"WONDERWAAAAAAALLLL"
I was a graphic design and marketing major — graphic design because I liked art, and marketing because I figured there is no money in art and I wanted to make money. You know how it goes. During my freshman year of college at North Central, I learned that I am not good at art. I know we are taught to never compare ourselves to other people, but I did, and I am so glad that I did. I looked around the room at my classmates' design projects and I knew that I would never be able to do what they were doing. I realized that I had a hobby, not a career.
In America today, we are told to never let people tell us "no" when we say we want something, but, as I learned from experience, that whole idea is total crap. Sometimes, you have to tell yourself "no." You have to know what you are not good at. Look at all the terrible singers who auditioned for American Idol who were never told "no, you can't sing" until they had to learn the hard way. I didn't have to learn the hard way. I didn't get to the judges table. I realized that I was not doing what I was meant to do. It was confusing and difficult to come to that realization, but I'm glad I did.
2. I was forced to reconsider my priorities in life
There's something really interesting that happens when you realize what you want for your life, and then realize you're doing exact opposite of those things: your sense of calling starts to make a lot more sense.
I was forced to think about why I made the choices that I had made. Was I an art major because I had a passion for art? Not really. It was a fun hobby. Did I really want to work in corporate marketing? Absolutely not. $80,000 a year sure sounded great, though. But was I really willing to spend the next 4 years working toward a degree in an area that I was not the least bit interested in just so I could be financially comfortable?
I wanted to be a pastor. I have no idea when I came to that realization, but in hindsight it was probably when I signed up for marketing classes and I felt no sense of excitement whatsoever at the prospect of working in the corporate world. But the idea terrified me. The church had always been a place where I was comfortable. I could use my gifts, I could interact with genuine people; I could be myself. But working there? No way. To me, college was for people who wanted to make money. I wanted to make my way in the world and have a house and a nice car. Living on a pastor's salary would not give me any of those things.
But I tried pretty much everything else, and I realized that none of it made sense. What was the point of chasing financial stability and comfort when I knew that I was doing the opposite of what I felt called to do?
3. The transfer process taught me initiative
Recognizing when something needs to be done, and then getting it done is one of my areas of strength, but it has not always been that way for me. In the back of my mind I am constantly fighting against my desire to procrastinate or take the easy way out. Transferring schools forced me to train myself to do the opposite.
During the summer after my freshman year at North Central I decided to change course and go into ministry. The only problem was that I was at the wrong school for that, and I had no idea where to start looking. I needed to transfer. Switching back to an undeclared major and commuting 40 minutes to school, all the while knowing that I didn't want to be there did not seem worth it to me at all. Not to mention the fact that I would have been paying about $35,000 for classes that may not have even been transferable. The day after I came to this realization, I dropped out.
Fun fact: Bill Gates also dropped out. Probably not to be a pastor though.
There is a community college in my home town that I decided to transfer to while I started my (second) college search. It was July. I only had a few weeks to get my paperwork in, transcripts sent, and placement exams taken. Procrastination was not an option. I spent a whole week constantly on the phone with both schools, tracking down my high school and college transcripts, finalizing my un-enrollment, and figuring out a new schedule. It was the first time that I was taking action because I wanted to, not because it was expected of me. Knowing what I wanted to do and having a plan to do it made me not want to put it off until the last second. I no longer wanted the easy way out.
A lot of it felt like a mistake at the time. I got a lot of skeptical looks from people when I told them I was transferring out of a great school like North Central to community college (uuugh!). Here's the thing, though:
4. Don't listen to people, community college is fantastic
There's a bit of a stigma in my town surrounding Joliet Junior College. I've heard everything from, "It's not real college" to, "it's basically high school without any of the smart people." Pretty harsh, right? Well, so is paying full tuition at a private university that you don't want to go to anymore. So there's that.
All bitterness aside, community college was one of the best financial and academic decisions I have ever made. I wiped out my entire slate of remaining gen-ed classes for about $4,000 including books. I ended up saving myself about $25,000 worth of debt.
Not only that, but the classes were much less academically rigorous and I got straight A's. A cool thing about transferring is that your GPA goes away. The credits transfer, your grade doesn't. I was at a 3.2 GPA by the end of my freshman year at North Central. I got straight B's and a few C's because I hated all of my classes. After two semesters at community college, I was able to transfer out with a 4.0 GPA. I was also able to work part time while I was at JJC. I was able to save up money while I was in community college so that I wouldn't have to worry about finding a job when I transferred out to another school. It worked! I'm finishing up my senior year and I'm still living off the money I saved up working at Home Depot.
Sure, there absolutely were times when I didn't want to be there anymore, mostly because JJC was lonely. I was there just to get it over with, and that was the mentality of pretty much everybody in my classes. Nobody was there to make friends. That, coupled with the fact that I was going to school full time and working 35 hours a week made it a long, long year for me, but it was worth it.
5. Transferring is difficult, but it pays off
I had no idea what I wanted to do when I graduated high school, so my college decision was not exactly well thought-out. I chose to go to a private college and major in something I kind of liked because I didn't want to go to community college. I was embarrassed about the fact that I didn't have much of a direction. But really, how many recent high school graduates have college and their career path already worked out? Not many, and the ones who do will find that it's not going to work out exactly to plan. And that's okay.
"Throw your cap in the air if you have no idea what you're doing!"
In my case, it wasn't that my plan worked out differently than I had expected; I just flat out had the wrong plan. When I realized that, going through the transfer process felt like the only option. That does not mean it was easy. I have had a lot of sleepless nights over the past three years; I have had to make a lot of phone calls and I have had to re-take a lot of classes.
But now, at Huntington University, I am in a place where I love to be in school. I am a youth ministry major, which I am confident is my calling. I have a great relationship with all of my professors and I know they have my back. I am using and developing my gifts and working toward a career that I have fallen in love with. I simply could not say any of that before I transferred.
As much of a headache as the transfer process may have been at times, it has all been worth it. My college experience has been anything but typical, but I know I am a better person because of it.
