So if you are a transfer student who transferred in the Fall of 2016, you have officially finished your first semester at a your new school. First of all, congratulations! You had a lot to combat and you did it!

Hopefully, you have settled into this new place, but if you haven't yet, that's okay. It is hard to adjust sometimes, so give it time. Either way, you have probably had some really interesting and fun experiences that have made the struggles worth it. Remember that you are basically a freshman, not necessarily credit-wise, but definitely experience-wise. You may understand how professors work and how to party with the best of them, but now you have relearn these things for this new school.

For me, I had to get used to going to a party and seeing only a handful of guys, if any at all. I also had to adjust to not having many guys around on campus. There was also a learning curve for me when I was faced with strong opinions that I had never heard before. I'm sure you probably experienced something similar because after all, you switched schools for a change. Maybe you've found that this new school isn't exactly what you expected; maybe it is exactly what you expected, either way, hopefully you are happy with what you have found.

Remember that transferring is difficult. You have survived--arguably even thrived--this semester. You may have had to lean on friends or family and that's okay; the first month of school I called my parents weekly for support or to complain or to share stories. Other transfer students at my school never called their parents. How you deal with these changes is completely up to you and it is trial and error. I am lucky enough to have a fellow transfer student as a roommate and we have become good friends and leaned on each other. Every college student needs some sort of support system, so you aren't any different in that sense.

Like any first-year student, you have probably joined and quit several clubs or groups at school already, but you have also probably found groups that you love. I can say with certainty that being a first-year again was NOT something I was looking forward to and it hasn't been all rainbows and unicorns, but it has been more fun than I thought. This time around, I was a first-year who understood college life and it made the adjustment a lot easier. I understand that you all have had different experiences with transferring so this isn't meant to tell you how to feel or how this experience should go because I'm as new at this as you are; I just want to tell you that you aren't alone and that you made it! Congratulations again, you deserve it.