The transition from a community college to a university is quite the change in atmosphere; I'm not talking about the workload or difficulty of a course but rather the change overall. I recently just transferred from my local community college to Florida State University and personally, it's a switch-up. There's the good, bad, and the ugly.

The Good.

There's plenty of wonderful things that have come with transferring from a community college to a university. For one, there's a lot more opportunities at a University.

Through my personal experience when I arrived at Florida State, I was rather overwhelmed with the amount of support and opportunities I was faced with that I didn't have at my community college. Whether that be daily emails about local internships, clubs and organizations, or hearing things around my classes, it seemed as though there were endless opportunities up for grabs.

The change in atmosphere was different too, I felt like I was getting that college experience. It might just be the row of sorority houses I walk pass everyday, the Saturday traffic on game days, or even the pride that I see on a daily basis of someone sporting garnet and gold but whatever it was it felt different being here than at home.

At a community college you unfortunately don't have a lot of the experiences you always hear about. I didn't even know the excitement of homecoming until I transferred. (It's kinda a big deal, like a really big deal.) or a lot perks for going to the school itself. (I'm talking about discounts, lots of discounts on shows and other goodies.) I'm taking advantage of everything around me for sure and I love it.

The Bad.

Now there are a few things that I wasn't entirely prepared for when I transferred to a University. At a community college, you always hear about how at universities they have large classes in these auditoriums and I always pictured large class size as a room full of maybe 50, but less than a 100.

Oh, boy was I wrong when I got to Florida State.

One of the first classes I took was a class in a big lecture hall with a class of almost 300. I panicked the first week or so because it was so much. How was I going to adjust not having that intimate relationship of being able to ask to slow it down a little or ask questions without feeling singled out?

I managed, but it was a lot to take in for sure coming from class sizes as small as 15. The transition from community college to a university is also very expensive.

The tuition was more expensive, the textbooks with codes I'll only use once or twice is expensive, and don't get me started on figuring out how to live on my own because I haven't figured that all out yet, but it's expensive! Everything was just overwhelming and new and I found myself drowning at first.

The Ugly.

I've learned that no matter where you go there's one thing in unison I can agree on that sucks no matter what school I go to, parking.

No seriously, what is the deal with college parking? Why is there never enough parking spaces for students or even faculty? It seems like the past three years of my life I've always seen the colleges building a new facility or something is being constructed and yet you can't build more parking garages or spaces, especially with bigger incoming class sizes every year?

I do not pay the amount of tuition I pay and drag myself out of bed in the early midsts of the morning to fight someone over a parking space, I'm just not here for it. I shouldn't have to spend endless time looking for a parking space and running to class in hopes I won't be late.

Every year I hear the same ole complaints and how it's a major issue that's been expressed over time and nothing ever changes, it's bogus. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!

Transferring to a university isn't for everyone, sometimes you can finish your degree or whatever it may be at your local community college. For me, I chose to transfer after completing my associates degree and I haven't looked back once. The choice to transfer from my local community college to Florida State University was one of the best descisions I've made.