Entering the Unknown: Advice for New Bruin Transfers
I had many plans and dreams when I transferred to UCLA. I wanted to do everything, especially be a part of student organizations. However, on the first day of my class, I stood by the bruin statue and did not know where I should start because so many people were walking by, talking, and laughing around me. It was overwhelming. This made me wonder whether or not there is a place for me at UCLA. It was difficult to make friends in class since everyone seemed to be extremely concentrated on their course work instead of socializing. I was frustrated, but then I found the transfer community! I met many fellow transfers and became friends with them after the first transfer event I attended. It was like magic!
During my conversation with many transfers I discovered that most of them experienced the same thing I did; I was not alone. As I became more involved with the transfer community, I found the abundant love that it offers to every transfer student at UCLA. Being a transfer student could be hard but it could be awesome too! My best recommendation for any transfer struggling with the feeling of being left out is to never be afraid of reaching out and to never avoid social events. You will be loved!
As a senior student, I start to feel like I miss UCLA already, even though I have not left the school yet. It’s quite a strange feeling. Even now, I try walking to different parts of the campus and wish that I could discover things that I have not yet found, for example, the dinosaur fossils in Geology building, the Hall of Fame in the athletic building, and the turtles in the Botanical Garden. I realize there are so much I do not know about UCLA and wish I could have another two years here. I recall my first year at UCLA, there were so many challenges and pressures I faced. Honestly, they were all worth it. UCLA is worth it. The challenges I faced as a first-generation, immigrant, and commuter student at UCLA helped shaped me into who I am today.
If one asks me what I would miss the most after I graduated, I would answer “The UCLA spirit” (of course, the dining halls too). No other school has the same vibrant school spirit UCLA has, and no other transfer community is as awesome as ours. People genuinely care about each other from the bottom of their hearts. They are supportive, motivated, optimistic, sincere, and lovely! My friends at UCLA are like my family. They are always there to help me whenever I need them. Before I transferred, one of the UCLA alumni told me that I would love UCLA and truly enjoy my time here. I was not sure what to think. I could hardly picture how to love something when I had no idea what it was. Two years later, I became UCLA’s crazy number one fan.
My tips for all the new transfers are to enjoy your time no matter what the ups and downs are, take care of yourself, believe in yourself, make lots of friends, eat at the dining halls, and make every day at UCLA count!
