I recently transferred to Illinois State University after receiving my Associates degree from Joliet Junior College. Since moving down to Normal, it has been become a huge cultural change and I'm still adjusting. Being a new student has been a scary experience but luckily I have other friends who are transfer students and we are learning the ropes together. As for everyone else on campus, please let us adjust as we make our transition. So here are the six ways to spot a transfer student.
1. We Are Just As Lost As The Freshman.
While we may not have our lanyards draped around our necks and we at least have a feel for college courses, we are so confused on where everything is on campus. If I hadn't have walked around campus multiple times during Welcome Week, I wouldn't have made it to all my classes on the first day. So please, don't judge our inability to locate every single class.
2. We Travel In Packs.
The saying, "Stick with who you know" reigns true for us at this new school. No, this doesn't mean we don't want to gain new friends, we just built great friendships at the school we transfered from. When a group of us transfers and we all have the same major, you are bound to see us huddled in the hallway or saving seats in a lecture hall. Please feel free to talk to us, and if you make friends with one of us you're bound to gain the other ten as friends as well.
3. We Are Overwhelmed in Lecture Halls.
295 students in one room? THAT'S LITERALLY HALF THE SIZE OF MY HOMETOWN!!!! At our community or junior college thirty students was around the maximum capacity for a standard class. While some courses were offered in lecture halls, none of them compare to the hundreds of students packed into one room. I'm not used to bumping elbows with kids on both sides of me.
4. We Are Still Adjusting to Living On Our Own.
At a community college some of us commuted and some moved out. For the ones that moved out, we still could easily travel home to see our family during the week. Now that we're at a university things have become confusing to us. We are trying to learn how to live on our own without traveling home every night and weekend. Things like grocery shopping are difficult because we have no idea if we will be able to use a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread in a week. Then there's trying to figure out how long we can go without doing laundry. We all secretly wish we could have packed our mom with us when we moved here.
5. The Quad Shocks Us.
There is so much going on and there are so many people. People are asking me to sign up for things, they are holding rallies and preaching, and the people watching is highly entertaining. My fear of being run over with a rolling backpack on my way to class has now become a fear of being run over by a bike. I'm used to walking through a hallway and bypassing recruiters, and the most entertaining activity was watching a "dancing kid" out the window. Spending an hour eating lunch on the quad has cultured me more than two years at community college ever did.
6. We Are Avoiding General Education Courses.
Thank you to my Associates degree for allowing me to get all my gen eds out of the way the past two years. Not only did I get smaller class sizes which allowed for more one on one time with teachers, I also saved a ton of money. I'm spending $7,500 just on classes this semester and I'm fairly certain I never spent that much the entire time I was at my junior college. Now that I'm at a university I'm able to focus on what I want to do and devote my time to my major. So thank you community college.
