Does a Transfer Student Get the Full College Experience?

Throughout my years as a college student, I’ve heard the term “the full college experience.” Most often this simply means living on campus for four consecutive years at least 100 miles from your hometown. And the farther the better. As if there was one and only one magnificent college experience that a select few students ever get to have. I know plenty of people who chose to go to a four-year university right out of high school strictly because they wanted that traditional student “full college experience.”

Now, while I think living on campus in a new place can be a wonderful and exciting experience, it is not the only college experience. For a long time, I felt like I was missing out by attending College of San Mateo, my local community college, while working as a restaurant server in the evening. By the time I transferred to Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU), I was really not the traditional student—I was a twenty-three-year-old college sophomore.

I couldn’t shake the thought that I should have graduated already and started a career, but I didn’t even know yet what I wanted to do with my life. All I knew was that I wanted to graduate soon. Correction: I needed to graduate soon.

When I transferred, my plan was to get in and get out as fast as possible. I had no idea then that NDNU would be the place where I would not only obtain my degree, but where I would find myself and achieve my own version of the “full college experience.” After a year at NDNU, I changed my mind about wanting to get in and out. I discovered passions that were buried deep inside me and was given the opportunity to allow them to bloom.

It wasn’t until I came to NDNU that I finally got the chance to find the interests close to my  heart. What changed? I was encouraged to face my fears of failure in an atmosphere where even if I stumbled, there was something I could learn.

There’s no one correct path in college during what is arguably the best time of our lives. The “full college experience” should refer to so much more than simply living on campus and walking away with a piece of paper after four years. For me, NDNU is the place where I not only achieved my dream of graduating college, but gained the skills and found the confidence to pursue my next dreams.

Andrea Rosewicz graduated summa cum laude from Notre Dame de Namur University in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree. 

For more information on applying to Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU), please visit the admissions page.