Like any Belle, no matter her age, turning on The Avenue means she’s home. I was excited to be back at Saint Mary’s and to finally live in Le Mans. As I was carrying my belongings up to my room, I thought about how lucky I was to be moving in with my best friends and how blessed I was to be receiving a great education. I knew my junior year had a lot in store for me. Moving in this year felt worlds different than moving in just one short year earlier. This time last year things were farm from familiar.
Last fall, while many of the girls returning to Saint Mary’s were beginning their second year, I was feeling all the emotions of a typical first year student, and it wasn’t even my first year of college. I was a transfer student. I started my college career at a school that I thought was meant for me, and I quickly discovered that was far from the truth. For a better part of my freshmen year of college, I knew Saint Mary’s was where I really belonged. Before my second semester was even over, I applied to Saint Mary’s and was accepted for the upcoming fall semester.
Unfortunately, from the moment my feet hit campus that fall, I felt like I had a big sticker on my head that read “transfer student!!!” I was constantly telling my story about how and why I transferred schools to girls I was meeting in the dining hall, my classes, and those who lived down the hall from me. I felt like being a transfer student was now a part of my identity at Saint Mary’s. This was not exactly what I had in mind when I decided to transfer schools. I did not want the label “transfer student” to follow me around for the next three years. Even though everyone I met was very welcoming, I still felt at times I was less of a Belle because I was a transfer student and I was not here from the start.
Wary of how second semester would go, I returned to SMC with an open mind. Just one short month in, being a Belle was a totally different experience. I met girls that would soon turn into my best friends and I felt like the “transfer student” label was slowly starting to fade away. I didn’t feel like I was always the “odd Belle out” in a room. I also found myself telling girls I transferred less often. I didn’t find it necessary to share anymore. I was a Belle and that’s all that mattered.
My sophomore year was definitely a transition year for me, and it was more difficult than I could have ever imagined. I was at a new school, meeting new people, making new friends, and adjusting to a new way of life. With that being said, I’m starting my junior year feeling nothing but excitement for what the future holds. Even though my transcript will always say “transfer student,” that label will never take away the fact that Saint Mary’s is my home and I am now, and always will be, a Belle.