I am very open about the fact that I did not like my first semester at the University of Delaware. In fact, I dreaded a lot of it, and when I look back at that time, I consider it to be one of the worst, if not the worst time in my life. Towards the end of my first semester, I was incredibly unhappy and all I wanted to be was home and away from Delaware.
You might say that's homesickness, but even going back from Thanksgiving Break, I did not want to go on the train ride back to Delaware. In that train ride, all I felt were nerves and anxiety. I did not want to step foot into my dorm room and face my reality at Delaware.
Leaving first semester, the thought of transferring schools and facing the reality that Delaware might not be the place for me were prevalent thoughts in my brain. There was a big chunk of my winter break where all I wanted to do was stay home, but things changed, and I changed as a person during my winter break. I knew I had to give Delaware a second chance, a true second chance and I had to fix my mistakes from the previous semester.
I knew this before the life-changing moment during winter break, and I am glad I gave Delaware a second chance. In that second chance, I found a new love for Delaware. I found a deeper love for Delaware than ever before, and I thrived as a person my second semester.
What did I do differently this time? What change happened? Why do I feel this way now?
These are all questions that deserved to be asked, and it's the fuel to the reasoning to if you're considering transferring why you should give your school a true second chance. Don't let a bad semester be the reason why you transfer, give your school a chance to redeem itself. Give it an actual shot, don't repeat exactly what you did the first time because if you do, then you will most likely get the same results. Einstein even has a quote about it.
Going into my second semester, I looked at myself in the mirror and I had a hard conversation with myself. I pointed out all of the things I did wrong, and I forced myself to fix them. I forced myself to step out of my comfort zone and try new things.
My first semester, I wasn't involved that much in clubs around school. I was involved in one thing, other than that I spent most of my time in my dorm room. I didn't get out much and try to make new and more friends.
My second semester, not only did I have a more intense course load with 17 credits, 4 of those being General Chemistry. I left my room a lot, in fact, I was barely in it and I used it as a place to sleep, get changed, and print stuff. It wasn't just because I was studying all of the time, it was because I got involved in a lot of things around campus.
First, I continued my involvement in the club I was in first semester. Second, I joined a service sorority and that took up a good amount of time because I wanted to get the full experience of being in a sorority. I went to a lot of events, made a lot of good friends, and had a lot of experiences. This was something that I never thought I would do in my life.
Third, I studied a lot and I freaked about Chemistry a lot. There was never a class where I feared failing before, and although I managed to do decently in the class, I had to work so hard to do well. Chemistry was the thing that the majority of nightmares were about.
Overall, I had a great second semester and I fell in love with UD. I made a lot of good friends, and I continued building friendships from first semester that I didn't expect to build on. It showed me why I chose UD and it showed me why UD is the college for me.
If I can overcome a bad semester, anyone can and it's why I suggest that you step out of your comfort zone and give your school a true second chance before transferring. Try out for a sport, join Greek life, do something that you never thought of doing before. I did, and look how it turned out for me.