Home can have a multitude of meanings to a person. It can be places, people, objects, elements, you name it. In my life, I have had many places to call “home,” from moving 22 times and attending eleven different schools, but no matter where I went, I didn’t feel truly at home.
I transferred to UCSB because I felt a magnetic pull there — it felt special and made me feel the same way. The ocean, the community, and livelihood of Isla Vista had felt different from all of my other “homes” because it felt right to me. As I face graduation in the next few weeks, leaving IV might be one of the hardest goodbyes.
What I’ve learned from IV
I learned a lot while living in IV, but here are my best tips that I wish I knew going into it. Balance is key. When they say work hard, play hard, they truly mean it here. Having to transition from semester to quarter system was rough, all while trying to manage a new busy social life. Balance was so important to make sure I didn’t feel like I was going insane. So yes, go have fun and party on Friday, but make sure by Sunday you’re grinding in the library at your favorite spot (second floor mountainside).
There are new experiences around every corner, so take them all in, but don’t let it affect you too much. Your life doesn’t end when that situationship ghosts you, and that person may be cute, but I promise they’re not worth ditching your friends for. That class may seem pointless, but there’s a reason you’re taking it, so do your best, even if you think you’ll never use the material again. You’re going to be stressed and feel like you’re spiraling, but take a deep breath and go for a sunset ocean walk. It’s a staple in IV for a reason!
Transferring = Adulting
As a transfer, I didn’t get the usual UCSB experience. As much as I love and appreciate this school, they expect transfers to be more independent than first-years, and won’t hold your hand through the process. There will be many petitions and struggles, and you might feel like you’re all alone.
The best thing I learned was to ask for help from your advisors in your major and the Transfer Student Center. It’s tricky moving to an entirely new area and new system you’re not used to– UCSB has resources for this reason, and I implore you to use them! Join as many facebook groups as possible for housing, and make sure you stay on top of your degree progress. Trust me, it may seem like common sense, but a lot of the time the most simple things are the first to get away from you!
My experience
I still remember my first time arriving fully to Isla Vista. I had just driven from San Francisco to IV in a cyclone, with rain-covered glasses and my suitcase in front of the door at Alpha Phi, my sorority’s house and new home for the next six months.
I was clueless as to how to get in and waited until a random girl opened the door for me and asked if I needed to come in. She was obviously confused as to why I was standing there in the rain looking hopelessly lost, but regardless she took me to my new room and wished me well on moving in.
I didn’t know it at the time but that random girl would become one of my best friends, Darby. Darby is one of those people that can make you giggle within seconds. She truly made me feel comfortable attending events, going out, or even just the daily occurrences of me barging into her room to spend time together.
She’s the first person I call to do an ocean dip, and I will always be grateful to have her face be the first I saw in Isla Vista. She also introduced me to her roommate Sophia, who understood the Bay as well as I did and was my favorite person to have the longest sessions at the library with. When I wasn’t in my room, I was in theirs, and yet they never complained once.
Over the next few weeks I settled into my new life and room. My roommate, Bella, was one of the most stunning people I’ve ever seen, inside and out. She was wild in all the best ways, and helped guide me through my life here. I like to think she will always be my roommate, but for now we settle with living a block away from each other on Del Playa. I had been in Alpha Phi for almost three years at this point, and yet UCSB’s seemed like a whole new world.
Living as a third year transfer in a house of second-years was amazing, but felt isolating at times. Nobody understood my experience or could relate to how I got here. I was appointed as Basket Chair for our Red Dress Gala and to work with the Red Dress Gala Chair.
This ended up being one of the best decisions I’ve ever made because it brought me Beanie. Beanie was a third-year transfer and one of the smiliest people I’ve ever met. She’s a ball of electricity, like when the static makes your hair stand up. I like to think that she was made from sunshine and rainbows, and that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you drink hot chocolate on a rainy day. All I felt was relief when I met her — relief that someone could relate to me and I didn’t feel so lonely anymore. She became my partner in crime and my favorite dance partner.
These people are what make IV feel most like home. Without UCSB, I would’ve never known what wonderful experiences were waiting for me. I was depressed arriving, with losses of friendships and many hardships, but it all brought me here to them, which makes it all worth it.
Transferring schools was one of the hardest things I had ever done. But with many tears and breakdowns came twice as many smiles and laughs. Being able to feel challenged in my classes made me excited to attend school, which I hadn’t known was possible. Everyday I looked forward to tanning in my front yard while studying with my housemates Hannah and Molly, who could make me laugh until my stomach hurt.
I was able to see a new side of UCSB with my housemate Nadia, who was an international student and showed me a new world that I hadn’t been aware of. She quickly became a constant in my life and I am eternally thankful her house fell into the ocean so she could move into mine. UCSB isn’t just a university — it’s the sunkissed faces you see while walking to 7/11, and the lights on DP that never seem to dull (until midnight of course). UCSB will always hold a piece of my heart and if you let it, I’m sure it’ll hold a part of yours. Goodbye Isla Vista, party hard but not too much without me!