Back in October 2013, I shared a very personal blog post entitled "
The Truth About Transferring." This was written about halfway through my first semester at my current college, which was a difficult semester for me. For those of you who don't know my college background, I moved from my hometown in Maine to Western NC in Fall 2012 to attend a private Christian college. (This is also the school that I started Southern Belle in Training at!) I spent only one year there however, and then transferred at the start of my sophomore year to my current college, which is in Charlotte, NC. There were various reasons that lead me to look into transferring, but primarily it was because of my major (which is communications, as I want to work in radio broadcasting after college). When I started looking into transferring, I knew that I wanted to stay in North Carolina, because I had already fallen in love with the South and this beautiful state!
Anyways, as I said before, my first semester as a transfer student was
extremely rough. I was blessed to have a really great roommate during my first semester (sadly she ended up leaving the school!), so living-wise things were great, but everything else seemed to be falling apart. I had a couple of very difficult classes/teachers during that semester (that I was placed in thanks to bad advising, they weren't even required for my major!), and I had a really hard time finding my place in the social scene at my new school, even after joining a sorority. I quickly learned that while sorority sisters are great, your sorority can't be your life and sisters cannot be your only friends! I called my parents crying and telling them "
Did I make the right choice to transfer?" more nights out of the week then not, and I visited my former college on a monthly basis to see my old friends. At the time I felt like I was more in-tune with the news and happenings at my former school still then at the college that I now attend!
But this year- things are 100% different. And it's incredible. Here are a few snapshots of my junior year.
|
My roommate first semester and I on my 20th birthday! (I got a new roommate this semester because she is currently studying abroad in the UK :-) ) |
|
ADPi Chapter Retreat 2014 |
|
ADPi Mallard Ball with my sweet friend Lily! (She isn't an ADPi but she was a fantastic date!!) |
|
Getting my Little, Julie, this semester and giving her the crafts I made for her. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
|
|
A visit at my internship from Jessica, one of the girls that I interned with during my very first semester at Seacrest Studios! (Currently in my third semester of my amazing internship) |
|
Casino Night with my sweet friend Caroline! An annual semi-formal event at my college (for the whole school). | | |
|
|
|
ADPi semi formal with my best buddy/co-intern Max as Big Sean and Ariana Grande (the theme was Famous Couples!) |
|
Getting my Big back!! She studied abroad in Europe during the Fall semester. |
|
Volunteering at a local church organization with my friend Lily and some other students from our school during this year's Martin Luther King Day of Service! |
|
Celebrating my current roommate's 21st birthday! Both she and my friend Soo Jin (far right) are on the golf team- they're definitely my favorite golfers. :-) And speaking of golf... |
|
My first ever golf lesson thanks to Soo Jin! (PS I SUCK at golf...) |
|
|
These are only a few of the pictures that I have from this year so far, and they all represent such great memories! (I do apologize if some of these are duplicate pictures that have appeared in blog posts of mine before.) I have met and made so many amazing friends this year, and also strengthened a lot of friendships that I had last year.
At my former college, I had a lot of friends and was very involved on campus. When I transferred, I tried to become involved again as well, and thought that friendships would immediately follow. I didn't ever take into account that the social climate of my new school might be totally different from that of my old school, and that it might take awhile to fit in and make some solid friendships. My mom always told me in high school that "Good friendships that are worth having take time to take, and don't form overnight." Well, my experience in transferring schools proved exactly that! There were many times at first after arriving at my new school when I was lonely or didn't really know how I fit into the social scene here, but all that I had to do was be patient. (Very, very patient ;-) ). But everything did work out!
I stuck it out with staying involved with things. I have a leadership position in my sorority (I'm in my second year of serving as our chapter's chaplain, and this year I started a bible study for our sorority), I tried some other clubs on campus, I was blessed with an amazing internship, and I started talking to people more and trying to be the person that I would want to be friends with. And it paid off!
This semester is currently the most challenging semester academically that I have ever had in my life. I thought last semester was bad, but clearly I didn't know what I was in for! (This is Midterms week which is the halfway point of the semester, and in my hardest major class we have already written eight papers so far. EIGHT!!!) School might be kicking my butt this semester, but I am so thankful to have truly wonderful friends and sorority sisters here that I know will support me and help me through everything. And be there when I want to have a little fun!
To anyone reading this who is a transfer student or just in a situation where they are new somewhere: know that it does improve! Settling in is definitely a process, and I learned that the hard way. Even though the academics of junior year much tougher then sophomore year, my second year at this school has been so much better.
Lastly, the reason why I shared the photo of me twirling with the balloons at the beginning of this blog post is because that's how I feel when thinking about how far I have come at this school in the past year! So happy that I could just get up and dancing with balloons. :-) (Now- if only I could have that type of attitude about some of my tough classes!)
Thank-you for making it to the end of this very long post! If any of you are in a similar situation and would like to e-mail me to chat about this, I am always here!
rainbowflash94@yahoo.com
xoxo Miss ALK
We continue to live parallel live sisters! This year is SO much better for me than last year! This semester is also my most academically challenging too! Love this post, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteXOXO
-M
This is such a great post! I met a couple freshmen this past semester who either decided to transfer or are thinking about transferring and it's such a hard process. I think you are so brave for doing it and finding your own path! I'm so glad that you are having a great semester and I loved seeing all your pics! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to hear you're loving your new school! It takes some time to find your place in college, but once you find it, college is amazing!
ReplyDelete-Nicole
www.meetmeinmidtown.blogspot.com
This post makes me miss college soooo much! I'm glad that you're having a great junior year :)
ReplyDeleteXX, SS || A Little Seersucker Sass