By Yesenia Coello
Campus News
Dear reader,
I’m guessing you’re a transfer student, huh? Or maybe are caught in the awkward limbo between leaving your previous school for a new one. Whatever the case may be, I’ll give you some advice from one transfer student to another. I know, no need to thank me. I already know that I’m my doing fellow students a huge service by writing this letter.
I graduated from Schenectady County Community College in May 2017. In August, I found myself in a quaint college town known as New Paltz. Maybe you’ve heard of it. And yes, most of the rumors surrounding the town have a bit of truth to them, but ultimately it’s just a town full of people who are trying to get through their lives undisturbed. The school on the other hand is a different story. I chose SUNY New Paltz over UAlbany due to its safe yet distant proximity from home and the campus community – I felt like I would find more in common with the students there than at any other nearby school. Plus, it was smaller, so maybe it would be easier to make friends and connections, I figured.
Coming from SCCC, a commuter college at its core, there was certainly some culture shock when I arrived at a four-year school with a thriving student collective. And by that I mean it was as if people’s whole lives revolved around the school. Which is really heckin’ weird when you come from a community college like I did, where school only made up a fraction of the students’ lives. The majority of my SCCC friends and people I was acquainted with also carried the burden of providing income for their families – whether due to necessity or choice. Non-traditional students also make up a hefty portion of a community college’s enrollment population, so you get folks from different strokes of life interacting and venting about their educational grievances. Kinda like that show “Community,” just without Joel McHale and Donald Glover (bummer).
At a four-year school, especially in regard to on-campus students, it feels like everyone’s lives are swept up by the college hype. Like, there are actual things to do in your resident halls, something I had never heard of from resident students at my community college. This may be in part because I lived in a predominantly freshman hall, but nonetheless, the experience was surreal. Going from a school that fostered independence to one that regularly hosted non-alcoholic mixers felt regressive. As for parties and such, I was already 21 when I transferred, so I had no interest in hiding in the shadows with younger students from campus authorities. Plus, I felt like I had, I don’t know, already “hit my stride,” so to speak. I was ready for more mature excursions and relationships.
Classes, however, were a slightly different tale. Since I had my A.A., I now was taking more advanced courses with people who had been through a similar level of schooling as I had. Thus we had similar struggles and that lifeless glare in our eyes from 2+ years of higher education. In that regard, my four-year experience was really no different than my community college one. Especially since the students I encountered were an assortment of commuters, students who rented nearby houses and apartments, and those who lived in the residence halls. I guess that felt more like a college experience than living on campus; if only because I felt like I missed the window of opportunity to indulge in closeted drinking and insane party hi-jinks.
Yet, I have managed to make friends. It was a given that I would bond with younger students. You know, those doe-eyed teenagers who were still full of optimism even after the toils of high school. Obviously because we had one thing in common – we were newbies. You know how people tend to band together in unfamiliar situations, like zombie apocalypses? Same principle. I was also able to bond with older residents due to our closer ages, and the simple fact that they were amiable, easygoing people. In hindsight I was able to relate to both younger and older students for different reasons.
So, what should you, the pending transfer student, get out of my ramblings? If you’ll be remaining a commuter after transferring, then there might not be that many changes. Even then, it might be harder to evade pressure to attend events on campus, or the temptation to be involved in the community. Bottom line is that you better be prepared for some changes – some that are not necessarily bad and some that’ll even enhance your college experience. As long as you keep an open mind.
Until next time,
Jessie
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