Wednesday, March 30, 2016 // The Statement 
7B

by Alyssa Brandon,
Daily News Editor

Finally, you did it. You got into the University of Michigan, and this is cause 

for celebration. After two and a half years of being envious of every game day 
picture your friends posted on their Instagrams, now is your time to shine. Com-
munity college was rough — the lack of a real campus, the constant checking to 
see if the credits would transfer — and going through the application process 
again was a real drag.

Now it’s over, and I’m here to tell you about my first-hand account as a junior 

transfer student.

First of all, my orientation experience wasn’t great. I had to be in Ann Arbor 

at the Michigan Union at 8 a.m. sharp. Now, that’s not a big deal, except for 
the fact that there is literally nowhere to park in Ann Arbor. Plus, the stupid 
parking meters were just way too advanced for me. Whatever happened to just 
using coins? I ended up walking in about 10 minutes late because of the lack of 
parking. It would have been nice of the University to give the newbies a warning 
about the parking (or lack thereof ) situation.

Next, all of the transfer students were put into a room with two student tour 

guides. First, they gave us a run-down of the day ahead, then taught us the fight 
song (which I still don’t have a handle on), and finally the students who had 
to take language placement exams (like me) went off into another room, while 
everyone else toured the campus. My fellow transfer acquaintances and I, who 
were also taking language placement exams, were told we’d be toured around 
the campus later on. Spoiler alert: The tour never happened.

Once the exams were finished, we met back up with the other students. Again, 

we were put into a room, but this time we had a group of students who acted out 
what it was like to be a transfer student at the University. They were fairly good 
and probably the best part of the day, aside from the free lunch. Later on, when it 
was finally time to schedule classes, I went to go and meet with my advisor and 
was quickly informed she was ill. Now what? I waited about half an hour until 
the leaders decided whom I’d be reassigned to.

Once reassigned (side note: my advisor is amazing), we attempted to sign up 

for some classes. Long story short, the system crashed and because we tried to 
wait it out, I missed my opportunity to walk around campus. To sum it up, ori-
entation ended up being no help at all. In fact, it made me more stressed because 
I didn’t know my way around campus, I had to figure out how to do scheduling 
on my own and there was really no time allotted to meet the other transfer kids.

Rant over.
After the winter holidays came to a close, it was finally time for me to move 

out of my family home for the first time, and into my new college home. I had 
a feeling of excitement and shellshock. Suddenly, I was hit with a whole new 
set of responsibilities. First of all, trying to navigate my way across the campus 
to get my bearings (because I didn’t get a tour) was one of the most confusing 
parts. Why in the world are Haven Hall, Mason Hall, Angell Hall and Tisch Hall 
all in the same building? What’s an MLB? Why do people keep calling the library 
UGLi? Since when is Yost an ice arena, and not a breakfast place? These were 
a few of the many questions that would circulate in my mind on a day-to-day 
basis.

Walking into a 200-person lecture hall for the first time was intimidating. The 

teacher had to speak with a microphone. I’ve never experienced any classroom 
environment so intense. It’s clear to me that there are two types of students—
those who are incredibly attentive and those who sleep through the whole lec-
ture. I’d like to say that I’m the first type of student, but I’d be lying. Don’t get 
me wrong, I try my best to give my full attention to the professor, but I can’t deny 
the fact that on more than one occasion, I’ve slipped in and out of sleep.

Luckily, all of my professors and classes this semester are fantastic. Having 

said that, I wish someone had warned me about the amount of reading that’s 
required for each class. Stupidly, I signed up for English and history classes only. 
I keep telling my parents, not only will I be paying back loans for years, but I’ll 
also be catching up on all of my readings.

I’ve talked enough about readings, classes and the confusion/frustration 

of it all. The last thing I want to touch on is the topic of making friends — an 
intimidating topic. First of all, making the move into a house where three out of 
the four girls were in the same sorority was a little scary. I was pretty nervous 
and felt like a total outsider. These girls had known each other for a long time. 
They’ve lived together for at least one full semester, so how will they act toward 
a new girl? Not only am I a “new girl” but I’m also someone who is not into 

Greek life. Are they going to be OK with that? Are they the type who are way 
too invested in the sorority? Do they disapprove of non-sorority girls? These 
questions were weighing heavily on my mind before I met my new housemates. 
I mean, we’re juniors, will they even try to befriend me, or am I just going to be 
someone they live with? Lucky for me, the girls I live with are awesome. They 
were so welcoming and were always offering to include me in their plans. What 
a relief it was to realize I’d be living with such cool people.

As for making friends outside of the house, it’s been a little tricky, and I blame 

part of it on the gross, cold winter weather. Who really wants to be outside and 
social when it’s 15 degrees outside and snowing? I do have to take some of the 
blame and admit that I could be trying harder to put myself out there, but I also 
have to say it’s harder than I thought. I’ve snagged some phone numbers here 
and there, and I’ve even hung out with some people outside of class. Slowly, I’m 
making progress.

Coming to the University is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Although 

it comes with challenging academics and lots of work, the payoff is worth it. 
Being on a real college campus is so exciting, especially for someone coming 
from a small community college. It’s been a little difficult and I hope the next 
group of transfer students have the opportunity to attend a better orientation. 
Other than the unfortunate orientation process that I experienced, Michigan 
has been awesome. I love that it’s located in the heart of Ann Arbor, I love every-
one’s enthusiasm for their school, the buildings are beautiful and I couldn’t pic-
ture myself anywhere else. Working my ass off to get here — still working my ass 
off to stay here — was a challenge like none other.

Being a junior transfer student, at first, felt a little weird. Now, I’m happy to 

say that being here and being a fellow Wolverine feels just like home.

Life as a Junior Transfer Student

By Hannah Sparks, 
Daily Arts Writer

ILLUSTRATION BY SHANE ACHENBACH

ILLUSTRATION BY 
EMILIE FARRUGIA

