Being a transfer student is what it sounds like: fearful and anxiety provoking. However, it is also a chance to become whoever you want to be, since no one knows you.
My situation was a little different; I was entering a small private school with 90 students in my class, compared to 500 students at a public school, thus I was a bit more relaxed about being a new student. Granted, I was terrified with questions like "where am I going to sit for lunch?" and silly things that don't matter, but in that moment it seemed like the most terrifying thing in the world.
As expected, the first day was not as bad as it seemed; since everyone knew each other, they were excited to see someone new and immediately introduced themselves. I found a few people I connected with on the first day and clung to them. They then introduced me to their friends and I quickly fit in. Even if I did not know someone closely or that personally, they would still say "hey" in the hallways or ask if I needed help. I did have to ask where the building for my history class was but besides that, it was fairly easy to get around.
Yes, the first day was a bit awkward, but that is to be expected. The second day, which was the first day of classes, went much better. I had a friend's phone number, who I nervously texted in the morning about books, and knew my way around a bit. Due to the day before, I had people I could sit with at lunch and on Friday, whilst I was waiting for my friends at lunch, a group of girls talked to me and asked if I wanted to sit with them. My worst nightmare, not having people to sit with the and being a loner, vanished ten minutes after I walked in on the first day.
On Friday, I was encouraged by a friend to do a hairstyle I thought was cute: space buns! While I was scared, she reminded me that I'm new, I need to make a statement and be who I want to be, dress how I want to dress. Hesitantly, I agreed and let her do my hair. I slept in the hairstyle, but it stayed through the night as well as the curls on the bottom layers of my hair. In the morning I put on some light makeup and anxiously waited to get to school.
(ignore my tiredness and lipstick as this was taken on the bus ride home)
I actually forgot I had my hair like that until my first class when I got a compliment, and they continued throughout the day. Friday I learned that while I thought people would look at me weirdly, my friends and potential friends all liked it.
While I was scared, I learned that if I acted like everything was going to be okay, it will be. I learned that since I am new, I can act and look however I wanted now without fear of being questioned. All in all, no matter what I can ask anyone and they will be happy to help. I found a group of friends fairly quickly, and believe it or not they introduced themselves to me, not me awkwardly coming up to them. People wanted to know me, they did not want me to sit alone or be left out and that is the most important thing for me, or anyone, to remember. Not all people suck, people do care about you and want you to feel welcomed.
