My Transfer College Career.

I think I finally found my calling. The place where I'm supposed to be. On Valentine's Day, instead of spending time with my boyfriend, I went roughly 4 hours away to go to Globe University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota to go on a college visit. Although I'm already in college, Ames just isn't feeling as right as it used to. The energy is off and it's bringing me down, so I decided a change is in order.

As soon as I stepped in Globe University's doors, I knew the atmosphere was for me. It was small and homey. It was welcoming and had that close-knit atmosphere that I absolutely love. I signed in and patiently, nervously awaited meeting the Director of Admissions. Charlie is a laid-back, friendly, and talkative guy. He greeted us in blue jeans, a sweatshirt, and a friendly smile. During the informations
 session and interview, he was very thorough and helpful with any question my mom or I had and left no ends untied. He made sure I was comfortable and accommodated. No other college had ever gone through that much trouble.

My one and only semester at Iowa State started off horrible and ended horrible. I contacted my Academic Advisor in March to get signed up for classes before the incoming freshman and she didn't bother with helping me get signed up for classes until the beginning of August and didn't even ask my input on which classes I'd like to take for the semester. I got signed up for 15 credits of strictly core classes with no electives. I went stir-crazy before midterm hit. My boss had me still at 25 hours a week until midterm when  requested no more than 15. I was swamped and my anxiety kicked in. Hard. I had no time for myself, let alone any time for my boyfriend and my dog.

After the informations session and interview at GU, Charlie took me and my mom on a tour of the one-building campus. It is a new, two-story building with multi-purpose class rooms. The biggest class size is maybe 20 people with only around 200 people enrolled at the Sioux Falls campus. Large groups and pressure to do well set my anxiety off. This place is very small and very open to my creative, hands-on learning style, which is wonderful. After the tour, Charlie helped me fill out the "application," which is basically the personal info for your student file. The interview/question session a the determining factor on admission as well as high school diploma/GED, minimum standards on either SAT or ACT or bachelor's degree from another college, and immunization records. They get to personally know you and not worry about your past experience at other schools.

After midterm at ISU, I decided that I was not meant to be there. I suppose that the main reason I transferred to a big university was because it was the cliche thing to do; Graduate high school and go to a big university. I found out the hard way that big universities are not for my learning style or anxiety. I can't sit in a 500 person lecture hall and retain any information. I can't wait in a huge line waiting to take an exam. I had an anxiety attack. Every. Time. I've been a test-nervous person since elementary school, so I wasn't surprised, but how else was I supposed to take my exams? My GPA suffered tremendously.

After the meeting and tour with Charlie, I decided that Globe University in Sioux Falls was where I should've gone to begin with. It just took some experimenting and learning about myself to get there. I'm not saying that Iowa State is some horrible University that is out to get everyone and you shouldn't ever go to Ames or shouldn't consider an education there. My experience was just horrible and I'm glad I found where I need to be.

I know this was long, but the point is that you have to do what makes you happy. Don't do what the cliche thing is or do what others think you should do. If it makes you happy, then do it. Don't just settle for something because you don't want to trouble anyone. Go to school where you want to. If you want to. There is a school, job, whatever that will be perfect for you.

The college experience is yet to come..

Yesterday, my grandma and I drove to Boone so I could register for college classes. Me... Registering for college classes. Everything is starting to hit me like a ton of bricks. In August, I will be out of the house, living in college dorms, taking college classes, and living the college life. I will be officially be starting over from everything I've built my high school lofe up to be. I'll be back at square one. I'm gonna be quite frank here. I didn't even make a decision about where I was going to college until a week before graduation, just to give you a hint of how indecisive and informed I need to before actually making a decision but ANYWAY! The college I settled on was actually a partnership program between Des Moines Area Community College and Iowa State University. I take my classes at the DMACC Hunziker Center in Ames, but have the luxury of having an ISU ID as well as a DMACC ID. I'll be living in the ISU dorms, and will be able to get into all the buildings, clubs, things like that. It'll be cheaper and it'll make transitioning from high school to college a little bit easier, which is what I was looking for. Eventually, I'll be a full-time ISU student because that's what the APP program allows me to do. Pretty cool, huh? Community college classes with the university feel. Spent all of junior and senior year coming up with that, but don't be quick to judge. There's a lot of things you have to... or at least should think about before deciding on a college. Tuition for classes, meal plan, dorm fees, book fees, scholarships, financial aid, whether the college has the right feel, is right for you, size of campus, student to professor ratio, how many kids are on campus, etc. It's a big decision and you really do have a lot to think about. Another thing I had to think about as well was my family. Both sides are HUGE Iowa Hawkeye fans, and the Iowa State Cyclones are kind of their rivals. No, I didn't choose State over Iowa just to piss my family off. I chose State over Iowa because I didn't want to go to Iowa because my family expected me to and if i went to iowa, I'd never know if it was for them or me. I also chose Iowa State for it's beautiful campus, and because it felt right being there. When you know, you know. It's kinda like falling in love, but with college. I fell in love with Iowa State. It just clicked for me so when you're doing campus visits, try to find that feeling. I'm super duper happy with my decision and hope to have an awesome time on campus next school year. Maybs see you on campus(es)?

Of course I'm showing my support towards Cy and Iowa State! ... And DMACC above.

... My family would kill me if I didn't put Hurkey somewhere in the blog...