by Beth Royston
Thinking about transferring from Portland Community College to Portland State University, I had always felt exuberant and confident. Unfortunately, in the spring term of last year, my nerves about transferring had begun to swamp my excitement. I felt inferior to the other juniors who had spent their first two years at PSU, learning where the best study spots were and which elevators wouldn’t take an eon to reach the fourth floor in Cramer Hall.
I knew that I would learn it all in time, but the feeling that I was playing catch-up still bothered me — especially as someone who considers feeling ahead of the game to be part of their personality.
PSU was a much bigger campus than I was used to, with more resources, buildings and people. I was thrilled to begin taking upper division classes and starting to study some really fascinating stuff in preparation for my dream career, but it simultaneously seemed to loom over me like a mountain I wouldn’t be able to climb. I was incredibly nervous, but I made myself go to one of the Viking Days events — the transfer student happy hour. It turned out to be wildly fun, I got to demonstrate my prowess at trivia, and I got the sense that a lot of other people there also were nervous about starting school. It was nice to feel that I wasn’t alone, something which I knew rationally but still needed to see demonstrated to feel better.
I’m learning the ins and outs of PSU pretty fast. Transfer students blend in pretty well with the rest of the crowd, but there are still resources to distinguish us and our different experiences. I haven’t checked out the new Transfer Student Resource Center in Fariborz Maseeh Hall, but I am curious about stopping by. I think in the future more events specifically aimed at transfer students would be a great idea — because we’re all out there, but finding and holding on to one another is really helpful!