Being a transfer is like starting your first day of high school all over again. Especially if you transfer in the middle of the semester, like I did. Seriously, you're shoved into a new dorm with people you have never interacted with on a campus that is completely different (and even intimidating at first) than your old college campus. The first two or three days, I was all alone in my new room, waiting for my new roommate and suite mates to arrive on their move in date. Those days, I spent hours thinking “Will my new roommate and suite mates like me?” ”Will I get used to this new school?” ”Will I like my new roommate and suite mates?” “Maybe transferring wasn't such a good idea. I miss my old school.” “Why did I transfer?” And so many more over-thought and unrealistic questions kept running through my mind. In the back of my head, I knew that every decision that I have made to be where I stand today is going to benefit me in the long run. Finally, I met my roommates and suite mates, and suddenly all those questions were answered. Although they are not like my suite mates from Buffalo, they were extremely nice and welcoming of me, it really helped me calm my nerves and feel confident about this new, exciting semester.

Now about the classes, another complete mind-boggling experience. I’m not going to lie, at my old school, the classes were not very hard -- but professors often just fed you the information. They didn't care whether or not you were able to properly process and understand what they were teaching. Resources were not that easy to find, help was not at the fingertips of the students, and I was a sophomore who had never sat down or even met with their advisor. Here at the University at Albany, everything was completely different. From the classroom set up, to the general environment of the staff and students. This is where the intimidation sunk in, the classes here are relatively harder.

However, each and every one of my professors have made it a priority to help the students in any way that they could, which is a huge weight off my shoulders. My advisor is amazing -- from helping me transition to this new school, to preventing me from having a panic attack with the mini academic shock that I had. You can easily tell that the staff here genuinely care for their students, unlike stereotypical college settings. You know, where the only focus mainly is to get paid rather than caring for their students. I say this because at my old school, there were a couple of professors who stated that they do not care if one shows up to class or not; if you missed something, you missed it, there was nothing you could do about it. Or, they would get frustrated when a student would ask a question and most, if not all, had extremely limited office hours. Oh, and lets not forget, there were no such things as teachers assistants or discussion classes at my old school.

My first year of college, I thought Teaching Assistants (T.A.'s) were nonexistent and fictional, like it was only something that happened in movies. But the T.A.’s here are really resourceful and understanding since they basically are still students. Discussion classes are super helpful, one could even say that if you fail a class in this school, you honestly did it to yourself. The amount of academic guidance that is provided here makes it almost impossible to not do good in class. This is coming from someone who has experienced failing a class at my old school. I was not provided with discussion classes or professors with flexible office hours. Usually, I would have to either miss a class, leave a class early or show up late in order to attend another professor's office hours.

So far, it has only been a week since I have been in this school, but I can truly say that transferring has been the best thing that has happened to me in my college experience by far. People transfer for a reason and yes it takes time to get used to a new environment and school, but thats what life is all about. Its about putting yourself out there and making the best out of everything that you do.