Freshman year of college shows you how to adapt to new environments, invent yourself outside of a small town, and how to find a balance between handling the workload of a scientist while also maintaining the social life of a rock star. If you were in my shoes, you walked into freshman year without knowing anyone at your school, what your classes were going to be like, or what it was like to be miles away from family. Somewhere between second semester and sophomore year however, things become less nerve wrecking and you get used to the life of a college student. But now, I’m transferring. Being stuck between “a rock and a hard place,” doesn’t leave much opportunity for the average individual to make choices based upon their personal interest. Sacrifices have to be made, and even though starting from scratch isn’t the most ideal situation, change is good, right?

Whether it was your plan to transfer after two years at one institute to another or whether something caused you to have to transfer after you’d planted your roots, it’s still nerve-wrecking having to make such a dramatic change. Transferring from the Disneyland of universities, High Point University, leaves very little room for any other institute to compare. Leaving the life of a “pampered” college student and diving into unknown territory causes a little bit of anxiety and a whole lot of questioning. Who am I going to hang out with? Where am I going to live? Will the course load be more challenging? What are the professors like? Will I like it there? The questioning doesn’t cease and all the worries remain as this newly found second-year comfort zone vanishes quicker than it was built.

Every new chapter in your life can be a little bit overwhelming. Whether you're in Pre-K or graduate school, changing schools continues to hold the highest honor of disrupting what you've grown used to. Between meeting new people, setting up new routines, finding new interests, and learning how to adjust to a brand new environment, transferring can be a little troublesome.

Though transferring disrupts your life, this new change holds endless, positive, possibilities. If you didn't fit in so well at your previous school, your grades weren't the best, you had too much to handle from being involved, or you simply got burnt out by the scene you were in, transferring allows you to change it all. You get to reinvent yourself! You get to go out and show a whole new environment just what makes you, you. If you don't know who you are, which trust me not a lot of people do, you can find yourself without having to live behind the ghost of who others believe you to be. Just think, you get to add a whole new chapter to your book of life, fresh pages full of endless possibilities!

Embarking on this new path in life from High Point University to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte is startling but super exciting. I’m anxious to learn new things, meet new people, and find out a little bit more about myself through this new journey. So no matter where or when you’re transferring know it can be terrifying at first but make sure to embrace it and look forward to the endless opportunities transferring holds.