At the beginning of the year, I was embarrassed to tell people how old I was.
My age didn’t normally come up in conversation. I had suddenly appeared in Winship, usually surrounded by other first year students, so all of the upperclassmen just assumed that I was a freshman. But then I would let something slip, like how excited I was to be turning 21 in March, or how I had graduated high school in 2011, and that’s when I started confusing everyone. They’d ask me a simple, innocent question: “How old are you?”
There are perks to being a transfer student, believe it or not. For one thing, I took care of most of my general education classes at a local community college before I came to UT. Now my schedule is almost entirely dedicated to my major, and I spend a majority of my time in the various Fine Arts buildings on campus. I also got to enjoy the comforts of home for a little while longer, like home-cooked meals, a room to myself, and a giant bed. But my story is a little more complicated than that.
I won’t get into the boring details of why I deferred from another university or how it took me two years to earn a little over 30 credit hours, but those factors all led me to my eventual response: “I’m almost 21. It’s my first year at UT, but I’m a sophomore, and technically it’s my third year of college.” And the simple fact that my answer was just a little complicated embarrassed me for some reason.
Life doesn’t always go according to plan. That sounds like such a simple concept to understand from the outside, but when it’s your plan that’s falling apart, it’s a little harder to accept. It takes a long time, sometimes even a few years, to realize that life will ultimately take you where you need to be. Sure, there are still some days where I wonder what would have happened if things had turned out differently, but I’m happy with where I am and what I’m doing.
I had some amazing opportunities during my two years in community college. I found a job that I loved with an amazing group of people, and I rekindled friendships that I thought I had lost forever. Even the bad days made me realize how thankful I was for the good days; I had never realized how tightly wound I could become. Those two years forced me to revisit my life, my feelings, and my future. Those two years led me to UT, where I’m getting a chance to study theatre, the only thing I’ve ever really wanted to do.
If I had gone anywhere else, I’m sure I would have met good people and gone on plenty of adventures. But they wouldn’t be the amazing friends I’ve made at UT or the crazy adventures I’ve had on this campus. And I think that’s one of the most important things to remember as a transfer student: it doesn’t matter that you didn’t start here, all the matters is that you’re here now. I remember being so nervous at Transfer Orientation because I had no idea what to expect when I actually went away for school. Now that I’m settled in, it seems silly that I was ever nervous at all. Every once in a while, I’ll see a familiar face from orientation around campus; they’ve found their niches on the Forty Acres just like I have, and it makes me smile.
It doesn’t upset me anymore when people mistake me for a freshman. It doesn’t bother me that I spend most of my time with people who are younger than me, because they all just happen to be amazing people. And every day it becomes less and less embarrassing to tell everyone how old I am. I think I was embarrassed mostly because I felt like I didn’t have my life together…what I’ve come to realize is that, in college, no one really has their life together yet. We’re all just taking things one day at a time.
So hold your heads up high, fellow transfer students! There were days when we felt like our lives were on hold, but we persevered and found a place where we belong. We’ve lived through experiences that have shaped up, changed us, and made us thankful to be here in Austin.
Yes, it might take me longer to graduate than some of my fellow students from the class of 2011. But if I have to spend another year anywhere, I’m thrilled that it’s UT.