October is here, fall is in full swing, and my first month as a BU student is already behind me. Coming in as a transfer student definitely isn’t easy, and even a short month had its ups and downs. There were times when things were great and as I walked up Comm. Ave I couldn’t imagine not deciding to come here. Then when I got lost trying to find the GCB building, (thanks construction…) my mind went back to my old campus where things were quiet, the campus was small, and the one academic building definitely wasn’t hard to find. I think feeling like this surprised me so much because it reminded me of the ever-so-present feelings of homesickness felt by almost all students (whether they admit it or not) when they’re in their freshman year.
It’s both a blessing and a curse being a new student but not being a freshman. The blessing comes when I remind myself these feelings of ‘home/school –sickness’ are normal because I am new. It is all part of being in a new environment and becoming comfortable with a new situation. I know that choosing to come to BU was the best decision for me and I don’t regret it in the least. It’s definitely a curse being new, though, when other students just assume you’re a freshman because they’ve caught you, trying to be sneaky, looking up the map on your phone, and are clearly far too timid crossing the street. I find myself always telling people, “ Hi! I’m a sophomore and a transfer student” – just to make certain I will not be confused with a freshman.
Whether you’re used to the ‘organized chaos’ of BU because you were already at a big school, or you’re like me and still trying to figure everything out in a school in the middle of everything, after being at school in the middle of nothing, all transfer students are different. Different situations for transferring, different places they came from, different sized previous schools, and all different stories. Whether you hated your previous school more than anything, or feel indifferent about it, it was somewhere that was ‘ home’ for over a year. It was what you knew; whether or not you ever truly felt like it was right for you, I’m sure at some point or another it became what was comfortable.
Complete comfort here at BU will come with time, and I think all transfer students have to be reminded of that. One piece of advice I would give to other transfer students is to hang out with others in your situation. For me, meeting and talking with other transfer students has helped me more than anything. They can give you the reassurance that you aren’t crazy for feeling those pangs towards what you used to know as your comfort zone. They’ve helped me remember that something just wasn’t right in my old comfort zone and that was why I was brave enough to make a change. And hey, it doesn’t hurt to have someone else to timidly cross the street with, right?