All my life I wanted to live in New York City. As a kid, I was so excited to move to the city, go to college and start a life in Manhattan. So, when I got there and realized after a year the dream wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, I felt I had no idea where I would be going next. Now fast forward to today, I’m overjoyed with the realization and that I ended up transferring to Sacred Heart where I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else or experiencing college at any other university.
Transferring as a sophomore felt like looking into the unknown. It was daunting and confusing. Though, as soon as I visited Sacred Heart and saw the campus and the college style I wanted, I knew it wouldn’t be that bad. From the start, everyone I encountered was helpful and kind and I found myself talking to new people every day. It was refreshing to be on a campus where people had similarities and a connection to the university itself. In short, it felt nothing like the college experience in New York. Going to college in Manhattan, you find yourself surrounded by people while still feeling a little isolated, as if there is almost too much to the college experience in New York City. Sacred Heart brings the campus feeling you could never find in Manhattan, somewhere that everyone can meet, hangout and be students together.
Transferring still isn’t easy though and making entirely new friends, meeting whole new roommates and getting to know a ton of different professors was not something I ever expected to do almost halfway through college. In the beginning, there are days where you wonder if you made the right choice, or if you should have stayed behind and times where you might feel a little lonely. Luckily, I realized quickly I wasn’t the only transfer student. In fact, there were quite a lot in the same boat as me who were still learning the names of the people, their way around campus and which dining hall is the best (It’s Theas by the way). As time went on though, I think we all learned that adjusting wouldn’t be that hard and making friends wasn’t going to be impossible, in fact in some cases it was easier. Does anyone else remember meeting people freshman year? It was awkward, scary and sometimes you just wanted to go home. By the second year, experience plays its part. You know that if you could do it the first time you could do it the second time. Now, months into the semester, I go out on weekends, study with friends on the weekdays and get to use my car whenever (a luxury no college student can afford in Manhattan). In the mornings, I can grab coffee for $4 instead of $9 and walk around campus knowing it’s a second home.
What surprised me the most though was the unity and school spirit it seems Sacred Heart never runs out of that city colleges never even find. Every day I see the red sweatshirts or the stickers on cars and know that everyone who goes here, wants to be here. My entire time in the city I don’t remember seeing one sweatshirt that represented my school, or even a coffee mug at that. You were a New Yorker before you were a college student, at Sacred Heart, you’re always a Pioneer.
Looking back, it seems silly to have been so nervous to transfer, to meet new people and start at a new college. New York taught me a lot about myself and what I wanted out of life but Sacred Heart feels like the home I’ve wanted out of college. Reflecting on transferring and my time at both schools, I don’t think I’d change a thing.
