You would think that after junior year in High school everything related to college is set in stone and finalized. You probably already had your mindset down to a handful of colleges and universities you were striving to get into, got all of your paper work done, buttered up every single teacher you ever had in order to get that letter of recommendation, and were set for senior year to come around.
I, unfortunately, had to re-do all of that hectic, messy, migraine giving paperwork all over again. Going to Miami Dade College seemed like a right fit for me. I wasn’t sure which major to dedicate my whole life and soul to, I was still wagering out my options on whether to do Theater or Journalism, I didn’t have any guidance as to the whole paper works that needed to be filled out, the datelines for scholarships and what to do with FAFSA since I am a first generation student. I was essentially lost in this whole college dilemma and while everyone around me seemed to have everything together, I was still lost in my own abyss.
At the end of it all, during the last week of my senior year, I choose to attend Miami Dade College. While most of my friends and peers from school knew whom they were sent out to be in this world, I was still not sure of who I was and what my identity was or could be.
For a while, I even felt dumb for going to Dade because of how people I knew talked of it, but let me tell you something, going to MDC was the best decision I have ever made in my life despite what everyone said about it.
It saved me a lot of money. I had the opportunity to figure out my options (ended up with journalism as a major). I had an advisor who was truly there for me every step of the way, and even had some professors who where teaching either at Florida Atlantic University or Florida International University and at a lower price. I was able to save up more than what my friends at others schools had. It was a great two years of my life.
The only downfall was, at least in my experience, that Miami Dade College basically babies most of its students. I had professors who would feed us our midterms and finals. By that, I mean that most of the professors would be so done at that point of the semester that they would rather give you an actual copy of the midterm exam. Now, if you failed that exam it was because you didn’t care to be honest.
This was hard when coming to FIU because now you’re by yourself. There is no advisor emailing you up saying “Hey, Fulana, you need to stop by my office so we can see how your pathway is going.”There is no professor giving the exact answers to the exams. You’re basically venturing college life on your own.
Transitioning from MDC to FIU gave me such anxiety, and everything else you possibly could’ve had during senior year of high school, except all over again.
The first shock I had was the class schedule. At MDC, there’s a wide selection of classes you can choose from and each with different professors, different time frames and different campus. You wouldn’t have to worry about “oh man, but then the math class I have to take is not given at this campus.” At Dade, you would’ve had a field day with the countless possibilities of classes outcome. “You aren’t a morning person? That’s fine, we have POS2041 at all time frames, we even have it from 7pm-8pm if that suits you better,” was basically MDC motto. But selecting my pre-requisite classes for the current fall term at FIU was tedious, to say the least.
I am one of those people who prefer having a 7 am class or even an 8 am class. That whole stigma of taking morning classes twitter likes to bash on, I preferred way more than taking a 12 pm class. The latest I have ever, up til now, taken a class was at 11 am but that’s it. Granted, I did go to school every day from Monday’s through Friday’s but personally, that worked better for me.
I am currently unaware of my standing, I don’t know whether I fall under a junior or a sophomore status, don’t know how to cope with the whole transitioning and traveling 50-60 minutes away from home on LYFT, and don’t know how I feel about the whole Journalism department.
I will say this and end it like this, for any future FIU Transfer students, do all your paperwork ahead of time, I know the dateline says June 1st but do it two or three whole months before just for the sake of not worrying about last minute things. Go to the campus and not just the main campus, if you have the chance to explore the Biscayne Bay Campus too, do it. Lastly, good luck with everything because honestly, I am still trying to figure out how to stand up and walk again. Just have fun really. Transferring might not be what you had envisioned but not to sound too biased, FIU really is a great school with many possibilities waiting for you at the door.