A few years ago I was accepted to a college I did not think I would get into let alone end up transferring from. No one goes into college with the intention of transferring, but it does happen. High School most certainly was something I looked forward to leaving. I couldn't wait to leave my small town and meet people I had not known for as long as I could remember. I was excited for something new and to start over. My first year of college was the best year of my life and I couldn't wait to go back for sophomore year. My sophomore year however, turned out to be everything I didn't see coming. I was no longer happy to be at the school I was attending in anyway, I even had countdowns in my phone for each break. This is not how a person should feel about a place they are paying a lot of money to attend, especially when they became as unhappy as I was. That's when I decided I had to do something about it, and made the hardest decision of my life to transfer after my sophomore year.
In January a few days before the start of the Spring 2018 semester, I was in my bedroom at home scrolling through my Instagram and saw posts about how excited my classmates were to return to school and how winter break dragged on for way too long. That's when it hit me, I did not want to go back and did not feel the same way. I began to cry and let the dread consume me. I thought I was just nervous to start a new semester and come face to face with all the stress and anxiety that school can bring me at times. I told myself I would just let this feeling play itself out, only it never went away.
I arrived back at school reuniting with familiar faces, scenery, and a campus I had known every inch of feeling as empty and emotionless as ever. This feeling of not wanting to be here grew stronger and I knew something wasn't right. I went about my week throwing myself into homework and doing anything I could to occupy myself, but the thought of not wanting to be here was still present. Finally, the first week of the semester came to an end and I found myself in my room crying yet again. I decided to call my mom and broke down. The first words that came out of my mouth were "I can't be here anymore I want to transfer, I need to transfer." My mom was speechless and told me to calm down and that I needed to think things through. She was right. I had never considering transferring and telling her was the first time I said what my gut had been trying to tell me. That night I began researching colleges that had my major, accepted students with my GPA, etc. I made a list a began working on the Common Application for the second time, something I had hoped to never encounter again. My parents came to see me and tried to convince me that things would get better and I should just stay. I had such a hard time explaining that I was no longer happy. My dad always tells my siblings and I that if we don't know how we are feeling, then how is he suppose to know how to help us. He was right. I felt that I was not doing my best academically and felt lost. College is about finding yourself in many ways. It is suppose to be the best four years of your life and I did not see that happening at my former university anymore. I kept getting asked why I wanted to leave and all I could formulate was that I was unhappy. I was changing and growing and my former university was no longer the right fit for the person I was becoming.
In March during my spring break, I had been accepted to the only school I had my heart set on and was beyond relieved. I wanted to attend this university so badly and knew that once I got in I knew would go. Two weeks later I took a tour and at the moment I stepped on that campus I knew this was where I was suppose to be and what I was doing right. I made my deposit that day and began finalizing my transfer process-which wasn't easy. My former university kept trying to make me stay and still believed that I was making the wrong decision, but my mind was made up. Finally they saw how truly unhappy I was and gave me the papers that officially un-enrolled me after my finals. This moment made it all official for me and since then I haven't had any doubts or regrets.
I am now wrapping up my 4th week at my new university and couldn't be happier. I am involved in various clubs and organizations and have established a daily routine. I am more myself than I have been in years and I owe that to transferring. Within in my 4 weeks I have already been exposed to so many opportunities that I would not have gotten if I stayed where I was no longer meant to be.
Everything happens for a reason, and I believe I had to transfer to restore my own happiness and further grow as a person. The transfer process has been such a learning and very maturing experience for me. I learned that nothing is more important than doing what makes me happy and its never to late for anything, when you set your mind to it. While transferring is a scary and intimidating process, it is all worth it in the end and I wouldn't have had it any other way. I gained a new sense of maturity through this process as I was selfish and realized I have to do what makes me happy and what is best for myself and that the rest will fall into place in time. Nobody knows what is best for you other than yourself. Through this experience I learned to trust myself more and become more self reliant when making a decision. Not only have I gained more self confidence, but also a new sense of self admiration. Making a life changing decision is never easy, as we rely on familiarity over the possibility of taking a risk with the unknown. I took that risk and learned that and ending simply marks a new beginning. So yes, I transferred halfway through college and it was the best decision I ever made.
