Hi all, today marks the end of my eighth week in Ohio. I moved in literally 9 weeks ago today. Isn’t that crazy. It feels like I’ve just started yet we’re halfway done. Yet here I am, 9 weeks since that fateful night I was rethinking every aspect of me coming here, how I could transfer again, how I would make my dad drive 7 hours back to Ohio to pick me and all of my things up and head back home.

I had a really deep conversation about this with my roommate Wednesday night. Her friend is transferring to OU next semester so we were discussing our experiences and what we wish we knew, etc. She reassured me that she has also cried since being here. She cried about feeling alone, about credits not transferring, about not knowing what to do, etc. It made me feel so much better about my situation and wanting to go home and not thinking Ohio was the right place for me.

Olivia and I both agree that we haven’t made too many friends. CHAARG has helped immensely as have class and work and I’m making baby steps towards those ‘life-long college friends.’ But it’s hard.  It’s hard being singled out as transfer students. We aren’t surrounded by freshmen (people who also need/want friends) but we are surrounded by other transfer students (I can assure you that Olivia and I got the short end of the stick when it comes to the pick on our floor) and 2nd year students who have already found their niches on campus. Like I said, baby steps.

So, is school still weird? Yes, but a whole lot less weird. Ohio is beautiful and I love all of the people (minus those in Make America Great Again shirts). I truly believe that Ohio is the place I belong. Sometimes, though, I just wish I’d thought of Athens Ohio 3 years earlier.

Alicia