I Fear Next Year: My Thoughts on Transferring to a 4-Year Institution

I'm a very Type A person, so I have every important date in my calendar, and I (almost compulsively) have to review what upcoming events I have for the next week every night before triple checking that my alarm is on and set for the right time. (Side note: Has anyone ever meant to set their alarm for 6 am, but actually set it for 6 pm? That's the stuff of my nightmares.) I'm always fearful that I'll forget about a meeting or a class or an appointment, so I check the Calendar and Clock apps religiously.

But I digress.

It's the start of a new month, and now that the semester is about five weeks in, I'm feeling pretty comfortable with my schedule and classes. There's a lot going on, but I'm keeping all the plates spinning and in the air. I've found my daily groove, found my stride, found a balance.

So imagine my agony when I realize what major event occurs in less than a month: SPRING COURSE REGISTRATIONS. On November 6th, 2017, the BayNavigator portal will open and I'll have to pick my classes for my final semester at MassBay. (Also, MBCC scholarships are available to apply for on the 6th, as well. No pressure!)

I should preface this by saying I obsess to an almost unhealthy level over scheduling classes. Like, I spend weeks weighing the pros and cons of this course versus that course, comparing whether this time or that time fits my life better, reading reviews of professors on RateMyProfessor.com (but I take each of those reviews with a grain of salt and proceed with caution to come to my own conclusion), and doing a bunch of research on what courses will be most beneficial to me in the short term and the long run.

It's exhausting.

However, the upcoming course selections aren't my biggest fear as next semester creeps up on us college kids. This spring will be my final semester at MassBay. And I'm terrified.

Transferring schools is going to be such a difficult transition. I personally don't handle change well, and not only do I plan on switching to a huge public university, but I'll also be moving out of my home and away from my parents, free meals, private room, and bathroom that I don't need to wear shower shoes in.

I'll also have to make new friends who will have already established close bonds with people they met as freshmen when they were all in the same boat of newness and uncertainty. What if everybody's friend quota has been maxed? What if I spend the next two years of undergrad as a lonely loner? Or what if I make friends, but I'm seen as more of an outsider than a permanent fixture of their group? To be honest, I don't think I remember or even know how to make friends. I've been hanging out with the same people since eighth grade, so I'm super rusty when it comes to meeting new people and initiating a friendship.

I'm also dreading having to memorize an entirely new campus. I've been attending MassBay for almost two years and I still get terribly lost, so you can only imagine how learning one of those huge UMass campuses will go down. My sense of direction is tragically nonexistent, so I'll probably spend at least the first year lost in a subway station along the red line or stuck in an administrative building.

Another change I'll have to get used to are larger class sizes where I'll be just another face in a lecture hall. MassBay's classes max out at like 22-32 students per class depending on the subject (I think), and most of the time a handful of kids never even show up. I've gotten so accustomed to professors caring about their students (which isn't to say that other professors with larger class sizes don't) by putting effort into learning our names and remembering our faces after the course is over, so I'm worried that I'll just be student #2156973 when I move to a university with tens of thousands of students.

Since I'm planning on dorming, there is a chance that I'll have a roommate who could be a psychopath or, even worse, a person lacking hygiene or manners. I'm an extroverted introvert who needs her privacy and alone time, especially after a few hours of socializing, so sharing a room with someone is going to take some adjusting. Plus, I'm a light sleeper that really likes naps and listening to music without headphones, which are issues that I'm going to have to work around whilst sharing a space with a stranger, who, once again, could be a murderer or want to steal my identity like in that awful Leighton Meester horror film.

I'm also worried that people will think less of me since I transferred in from an "easy" school. MassBay is definitely not on the same level as an Ivy League (I'm assuming), but there is definitely hard work, dedication, and determination needed to succeed. I don't want people to think that I took a shortcut to get into whatever 4-year I matriculate to. Because I didn't. However, there is such a stigma around community colleges (which is quite unfortunate because they're affordable and unbelievable underrated), and I don't want people's preconceived ideas about my current school to impact how highly they think of me at my future school.

Lastly, I'll be starting my junior year, so I'll already have to start thinking about grad school, which is an exciting and also horrifying thought, but I think I'll save that for another long and pointless blog post.

If anyone else (i.e. all -3 of my readers) is feeling the same way, let me know. After all, misery loves company!

-Jackie