For whatever reason you have decided to switch schools, whether it is for reasons that are financial,
social, environmental, or just because you feel like it, you know you are ready
for something different. While it may not be a walk in the park, being
proactive about your future is worth the struggle. You might even find that, with a few premeditated transfer tactics, it can actually be fun.
The ease of the transfer process
really comes down to one aspect -- get involved. Once I made
the decision to transfer schools, I knew I only had one option if I wanted to
make my new school feel like home. I had to get involved. There was no way I was going
to leave my friends, and the comfort of the familiar, to half-heartedly start a
life of partial involvement.
The first way I accomplished this was by moving
into the sorority house. Surrounding yourself with 80 girls in your own home is
a guaranteed way to make friends. Likewise, they get to know you for more than
just how you appear on an hour lunch date. When you live with someone, they
don’t just see the white picket fence and pretty flowers on your lawn; they
see the mess inside and the organized clutter that can fill your rooms. Living
with 80 roommates automatically invites them to get to know all
of you, not just what you want people to see. Often times, our closest friends
are the ones who see the beautiful chaos of a life we live and want to be our
friend, regardless.
The second way I got involved was
finding a community of people with the same beliefs. For me, this meant
attending almost every Christian organization I could find. In the long
run, maintaining this level of involvement is highly impractical if you want
depth, instead of breadth, of relationships, but it was the best solution to finding
a place where I could see myself becoming a part of the community and
forming relationships with people of similar mentalities and beliefs. While I
think it is important to get to know all different types of people, in a
university setting where anything goes, maintaining your own beliefs can be a
challenge. For this reason, you need to figure out what you want in a community, and go full speed in that direction.
Another mentality that helped me
with the transition was being open to new experiences. If you
are not open minded, then the transfer process can be quite
difficult. Normally, I would work on saying no to things, because I tend
to get in way over my head. But, as a transfer
student, in order to make yourself known there is little room for that. When you say yes, more than you say no, your
whole mentality will become more positive as a result of being open. While
saying yes all the time may result in exhaustion and over commitment, you will have options for involvement, and a broader sense of where you want to
spend your time. Once you have reached this point, you will be able to narrow
your interests and you will find that people
know you more fully.
Lastly, be bolder. As a transfer, you have already missed out on
at least a year of football games, tailgates, mixers, clubs, hiking
or whatever it is that you love to do. There is no time to wait for people to
reach out to you. Be bold and get involved. I guarantee, you will not be just another face in the crowd.
