Dear Transfer Students

Dear Transfer Students Dear transfer students, I know that this is an overwhelming and exciting time in your life. Ive been in your shoes. Whether you are coming from another university or a community college, there is nothing like the experience of being at Illinois. You may feel fully prepared or not at all. You may feel excited or nervous, but probably a mix of both. You might be ready to say goodbye to the last chapter in your book and start this new experience, but  you might feel like its going to be too hard. These are all feelings Ive had, transfer students before me have had, and you will probably have. Your expectations and what it is really like to transfer may be different. That is totally acceptable and even normal. The coursework will probably be more difficult and may not resemble work you are used to doing. You may not find your best friends the first month youre here. Campus may feel too big or you may feel alone and like no one else knows what youre going through. However, there are a ton of resources and people who  can help you work through these feelings. It is scary and intimidating to walk to your classes the first day, meet your new roommate, buy your books, and figure out what extracurricular clubs and groups you want to join. My advice would be to involve yourself in a lot of events, especially new student programs, and talk to  people.  Even though you may not hang out with those people four years from now, they are people  to connect with while you all  find your place. My last piece of transferring advice is to know that you chose this school and you deserve to be here. You will fall in love with it for so many reasons. The difficulties of transferring will slowly fade away once you start having the best time of your life. If you have any concerns, thoughts, or questions, I will  gladly help you out to my best ability. Consider me your first friend here :). -Alex Cheesy picture of  my first day of school: Spring 2015. Alex Class of 2017 My major is Social Work and I love every minute of it. I grew up in a really small town called Braidwood, Illinois. Before I attended the University of Illinois, I went to Joliet Junior College.