Her Campus CWU caught up with Alex Sanders, a sophomore transfer from Vancouver, Washington to get the scoop on her first few weeks as a Wildcat. Alex already has a year of college under her belt from a year at California State University at San Marcos. But after a year under the California sunshine, Alex decided to return to the Northwest to start her journey at CWU. When we asked Alex what she thought of the campus, she described it as “beautiful, and not too big, but also not too small. The classes are larger compared to my old school, which has been an adjustment because I’m used to knowing the names of most students in my classes and having a closer relationship with my professor.” We are so excited to see Alex’s journey as a Wildcat through the years!
Alex is involved on campus as a member of the CWU Women’s Club Soccer Team. Her advice to future first year or transfer students is “get involved and don’t just stick with the friends you know from high school! Whether that be joining a sport, social, or academic club, going to CWU athletics events, or going to one of the many events provided by CWU, get out there and meet people! A lot of the friends I made in college I am much closer with than some of my childhood friends, so don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone; get involved, and meet new people!” We couldn’t agree more with Alex and believe the best relationships are made when you step outside your comfort zone and join clubs and extracurriculars to meet like minded people!
When we asked Alex if Central was what she expected, she said “No. I was kind of dreading leaving San Diego to move to Ellensburg. Not just because of the weather, but I thought there was going to be absolutely nothing to do in Ellensburg. But that is not true at all! There are new events every week and they’re pretty well advertised around campus!” This year our school has already hosted so many fun events like the Homecoming football game, the comedy show [starring] Nick Offerman from the hit-comedy Parks and Recreation, and the Glow Run 5K. With even more events like basketball games and Halloween to come, there are so many opportunities to have fun around Ellensburg this year. When we mentioned the dreaded Freshman 15, Alex notifies future freshies “[it’s] a myth. I actually lost weight my freshman year cause I didn’t eat out as much! Another myth is that professors are stricter and more intimidating than high school teachers, especially in gen eds. College professors are actually much more laid back than you would expect.” The Freshman 15 and intimidating professors are notorious on college campuses, but if you keep an open mind to these daunting myths, they might not affect you like you’d think.
We know that whether you are a first year freshman or a transfer student from another university, the transition to college is not necessarily a piece of cake for everyone. Our newest Wilcat collegiettes answer our burning questions on their experiences at Central in the First Year Follow-up series. Come back next week for another girl’s take on being a new student at Central!