“How’s Canada?” That’s what my Boston College friends ask me on a weekly basis. And let’s be honest, it’s a fair question. Ithaca, New York: home to an Ivy, cows, and more gorge related humor than I can and/or care to keep track of. It’s the complete opposite of where I had my first-year experience. Boston College (BC): a mere five minute subway ride to the heart of the city. Fenway Stadium, the Museum of Fine Arts, and a world of diversity, culture, and history. Five minutes from the Cornell campus there is…a Wegmans? And only if you have a car. But hey, that’s certainly not saying that this is bad. It’s different. And different isn’t necessarily bad. But it’s certainly always…different.
We transfers all chose to come here for one reason or another. But still, there is a fear that plagues every transfer student: Newbie Status, AKA Freshman Year Part Two. Sure freshman year was great. New friends, new place, more free swag than you thought you’d ever see in your lifetime. And at the end of that first tumultuous year of new discoveries, experiences, and most likely some issues, I can say with certainty that we were all ready to be upperclassmen. We were made older, wiser, and more mature from those first shaky steps into the adult world. But hold the phone. Transfers! Do it all again. New friends, new place, hold the free swag- you don’t get that anymore.
Exploring a new place and making new friends is just not as easy the second time around. Freshman year, there is a palpable desire in the air. You can feel it in the dorms, the dining halls, and the awkward ice breakers at orientation events. Everyone is dying to meet people. Everyone is craving to make connections. Everyone wants to find something that feels normal. And by year two, you’ve crossed all of these things off of your “College To Do List.” Heck- I had at BC. I had an amazing group of friends I was going to live with this year. We were planning spring breaks to Ireland and Acapulco. And as our freshman year went by, slowly our doors weren’t as open as they had been at the beginning of the year. And we weren’t so open either. You didn’t have to try so hard anymore. You knew who your friends were. They were already chilling in your room or texting you about dinner. There was no need any more to have your “door always open.”
So I live in a suite now on West (so lucky for a transfer I hear) with a great group of non-transfers. But other than them, my hallway is filled with literally all closed doors. Friends have been made already. They blocked together or are sectioned off into their exclusive, discriminatory little suites. (Does that reek a little of bitterness? Oops). No one wants to make new friends. They had their freshman year experience, and I can’t fault them for not wanting to do it over.
But one thing I can fault non-transfers for is that they don’t keep their confusing Cornell-centric comments to a minimum. Don’t scoff if I don’t know what RPCC or PAM is. Or give me a face when I ask why Wegmans is such a big deal. Or act shocked that I haven’t had a bagel at CTB yet. I’VE BEEN HERE A MONTH, PEOPLE! Give me some time please! The same amount you were given at Cornell to get settled. If you’d be so kind.