I’m not going to lie, being a transfer student is difficult and this past semester of my sophomore year has been one of the biggest challenges of my life.

During my freshman year of college, I went to a small university in North Texas of about 7,000 students. The town was tiny, and if you stood in the middle of campus, you could see each of the four ends. Classes seemed to come at ease for me, and I was involved in only one organization that doubled as my part-time job. The days were slow, and I had more free time than I ever did in high school. Although this small university was great in many ways, I knew my heart lied in Texas A&M. I transferred to the fall of 2015 and boy did I have a lot in store for me.

The summer before the start of my new school I had no idea what to expect. Every article I read seemed to talk about the things that you couldn’t forget before your freshman year, but I had already been through a year in college. And on the other hand, I defiantly did not feel like a second-year student.

By the time the school year rolled around, I had this nagging feeling that I had missed out on a crucial year at school. It almost felt as if I had to make up for lost time all in this one year, so I did the only thing I knew how which was join organizations. I joined two to help me with my career, one social, a sorority, and a part-time job on top of everything else.

Of course, I enjoyed what each organization had to offer, but they all had their separate time commitments that I found I couldn’t keep up with. Eventually, my grades started slipping and realized I never really knew what time-management was, and it turns out I was bad at it.

No one tells you what you’re getting into as a transfer student because honestly how could you possibly explain? You’re stuck in this in-between trying to find your place in a huge university and to be honest, it's going to be tough.

But if you want to survive your transfer year do these four simple things:

Go to a transfer camp if your school offers one.

Don’t join more organizations than you can handle.

Recognize when to stay in and when to go out.

Make school your number one priority.