As a high school student, choosing a college is the most important decision you can imagine. You can spend weeks or months agonizing over what address to put on that tuition deposit envelope, imagining your potential life and how it could be different at each of the schools you were accepted to. This is a decision you tell yourself you need to get right – if not, you could spend your next four years miserable! But guess what? Not loving your school isn’t the end of the world, and it might even end up being good for you.
I spent my first year of college at Wake Forest University. There were things I loved about it; first of all, the campus is gorgeous. I had (and still have) amazing friends there, and being at a small, liberal arts school was a great fit for me. Unlike the stereotypical transfer story, I wasn’t completely unhappy. But something definitely didn’t feel right. I wanted more of a sports culture, more school spirit, and more of a city-integrated campus. “Is this really enough to transfer??” I kept asking myself. Sending in a transfer application seemed like admitting that college wasn’t working out, the last thing that any freshman wants.
Despite my uncertainty, I followed my gut and began the application process. A little piece of me definitely died when I created my second Common Application account. It was like I was backtracking to high school, back to indecision and an uncertain future. Having to talk to faculty at Wake Forest about writing me recommendations was hard, but telling my friends was way harder. They were the absolute best part about my time in North Carolina, and I didn’t want them to think that I wanted to leave them. I didn’t talk to them too much about the process, because I honestly didn’t know what to say, and I was a little embarrassed.
When May rolled around and I found out I had been accepted to UVA as a second-year transfer student, I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to go. After a couple of weeks and a whole lot of crumpled t-charts, I decided to go for it. I was going to be a wahoo! Now I’m a semester and a bit in to my time here at UVA, and I wouldn’t change a thing about the last two years – Wake Forest included. Despite how crummy it felt to be a prospective transfer, being a successful one is an amazing accomplishment. No matter what stereotypes you hear about transfers, there is no shame in deciding you’re unhappy and having the guts to make the change yourself.
Not everything in life is going to be an easy or straight road – I didn’t even apply to UVA out of high school – and that’s okay! Transferring ended up being one of the best things that’s happened to me, because I learned that I have the power to change my situation. And that’s something to be proud of.