Entering college is terrifying; you're leaving home for the first time, leaving friends, and heading off for new and exciting experiences. Typically, you move into college when you're eighteen. You start life on your own and get your footing where you want it. That wasn't my case; I decided to enter community college first because I wanted to prepare myself for college-level courses and save my parents some money.

I had a nice two years at the community college I attended; my best friend went with me and our commute was only 30 minutes both ways. Other than school, I was typically at home, my best friend's house, my boyfriend's apartment, or hanging out at his mom's. I didn't branch out from my little bubble of people because there wasn't anything to really get involved with at the community college I went to. I had a job at a boutique in Dinwiddie, and other than that, my life consisted of the same people.

Now don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with being around the same people. I love my people; they helped shape me into who I am. But getting into Longwood and learning my best friend wasn't coming with me, my dog would stay at home, my parents weren't in the next room, and my boyfriend would be even farther away terrified me. Longwood had been my dream school since the sixth grade, and I wasn't going to pass up this opportunity.

Over the summer, I started buying things for my apartment little by little, a mirror here, some towels there, when suddenly it was August, and I had to pack it all into my car and drive to school. I already knew one person I'd be rooming with, and the other two I met the same day I moved in. I took a deep breath and calmed myself, everything was going to be alright. You just have to adjust. I met a few people during New Lancer Days, but I didn't click with anyone. When classes started, I had to scramble the first day to get transferred into two classes I should have been put in already. Thus began the trouble of trying to get everything done for teacher prep, and struggling with being a transfer student.

Being a transfer student I've learned, is similar to transferring to a new high school right in the middle of the year and not knowing anyone. Everyone here besides my fellow transfer students have had their scary first year here, they met people, became friends with them. I didn't know anyone here, other than my roommates, and until recently, I was struggling with talking to people and trying to find where I belonged. I'm so happy I found the Odyssey community here on campus, I've been able to reinvigorate my love for writing, meet some great new people, and take a step towards finding where I fit in.

Transferring to a new school is difficult for anyone, especially when you are coming from a different school. I graduated with an Associate of Arts and thought my transfer would go over smoothly. It's been anything but smooth, some credits I had from my last school didn't qualify for anything here at Longwood. I wasn't able to take a form of education classes at my old college, and I now had to figure out how I was going to get everything done and graduate on time.

I want to be an English teacher, and I knew to transfer here, I'd have to jump through a few hoops to get to where I wanted to be. I didn't realize just how many hoops I would have to jump through. However, by talking with my advisor and one of my professors, I created a "two-year plan" for myself, mapping out everything I needed to get done this semester in order to get into teacher prep.

I felt so overwhelmed, and I even began questioning if I truly wanted to be a teacher. I sat down and told myself "you want to be a teacher, and you knew you'd have to jump quite a few times before you get there. You can do this. You are smart. You know what you need to do, and you will get it done."

From now on, I have to take seventeen or eighteen credit hour semesters, winter and summer courses and extend my time at Longwood to December of 2020 to do my student teaching. However, none of this matters if I don't pass two tests that everything is riding on: the PRAXIS and VCLA. Math is not my strong suit; it never has been and never will be (I'm terrified for the day my son or daughter needs help with math homework).

I have my days of breakdowns, where everything just becomes too much and I can't handle it anymore. One thing about me is if I get overwhelmed, I have to be dramatic first. I need to cry, scream, rant, and eat my feelings. Once I've done that, I'm fine and I'm ready to move on with what needs to be done.

I had hoped transferring would be easier than it actually is. It hasn't been an easy road these last two months trying to get everything done. It is a tough road, but I wouldn't be on it if the universe didn't think I could handle it. I will get everything done, and I know this is the path I'm supposed to take.

Elizabeth Taylor once said, "Follow your passions, follow your heart, and the things you need will come."