Going into your freshman year of college is a huge life step for everyone. The sense of freedom and figuring out things on your own, away from your parents and family is new and can be very stressful. But, imagine you finish your freshman year and have it all figured out. You know where every academic building is, where to go certain days of the week for lunch because some meals are better than others and the middle names of all of your friends and roommates. Now imagine, that you were sent back to move- in day of your freshman year again. Back to the feeling of cluelessness when walking around campus, the feeling of being alone and awkward because you have yet to make friends and the thought of “could they have made their website any more difficult… I just want to know what the homework is.” Well, I’m back to square one just like I was at this time last year. I’m not exactly a freshman, but still someone staring at their phone to figure out what building they’re in for classes.

I’m a transfer. Thus, my eyes are glued to my phone between classes, I have no idea how my meal plan works, and I was on main campus forty minutes before my first class started. Luckily, both of my roommates are transfers too so we’re all in this together. Our second day we traveled over to campus to go through our entire schedules and figure out where all of our classes were. Freshman move, I’ll admit it. But the beautiful part of being new and not a freshman is not having to go to all of the special freshman orientation events. I was in no mood to play ice breakers and so far, only one person on the entire campus has made me, so let’s keep it that way. Please.

One of the great things, is that there are so many transfers here too. At my last university, I was in an orientation session that was all transfers (and people who missed freshman orientation- me) and there were maybe fifty transfers. I’m sure there were more but, no one really talked about it or let the world know. However, it’s my third day on campus, first day of classes and I’m in between my third and fourth class of the day. Everyone I’ve met and talked to have been transfers. Apparently, there are around fifteen hundred of us. I’m shocked. Maybe I have one of those Pokemon lures over me that transfers are attracted to… Who knows.

But, it’s actually not as bad as I thought. I feel comfortable. Maybe it’s the campus, maybe it’s me, but I’m happy with my decision. When I told my friends that I had my own room, half said, “OMG, you don’t even have to make friends” and the others said, “get your butt outside and be social”. I was thinking that it’d be easier to listen to the first half and that it was probably the way I was going to go due to my shyness. Now, don’t tell me it’s just the first day because my self- esteem is at a normal level right now and I’m feeling pretty good about it.