To The Unhappy Student: Transferring Is Okay

During my second semester of my sophomore year in college, I transferred. It was the most terrifying experience of my life, and also one of the most important. I decided that I genuinely regret nothing. I do not regret the time I spent at my first school because my first college taught me about the importance of keeping myself accountable for my actions and how to navigate college life. I made amazing friends who I still keep in touch with to this day, and have many happy memories.

However, at the end of my freshman year, I had to do some serious deliberation. I experienced unrealistic expectations of myself and trying to just deal with the environment I was in because I didn't want to be a failure. I thought that some of the feelings I was having were just freshman nerves. But when these feelings followed me to my sophomore year, I knew I had a problem.

I still recommend my old school to people this day and think it is an amazing university. There was no one event that made me feel like the school wasn't for me, it was more of an overall feeling. I listened to other people talk about how excited they were for college, and how proud they were of their university, and I realized I just didn't have that feeling. I wasn't truly passionate about where I was. I knew in my heart that I could thrive and be better somewhere else. I thought I knew what I wanted out of my college experience, and I know now that it is okay to admit that I was wrong.

But the truth about transferring is that it made me realize that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. Just because I didn't stay at the college I originally chose does not mean I am less than anyone else. If I have to stay for an extra year, or semester, it does mean I have failed either. One of the most important things I learned by going to college is that everyone's on their own journey throughout college, and that it doesn't matter who graduates on time or who does not.

Transferring helped me to realize that it is okay if I decide I don't want to study what I thought I wanted to when I was 18. It made me realize that I shouldn't stay in an unhappy environment because I was afraid of disappointing my family and/or jeopardizing my future. It is okay that the first school I attended did not fit me perfectly. I know now that every event in my life has happened for a reason, and now I am exactly where I am supposed to be.