Transitions

When was the last time you did something that you didn’t feel obliged to do? Something that you felt like you didn’t have to do?

Oh! I am planning on starting a blog, and I’ve been writing and thinking about making the website for it. I think it’ll be a good way for me to  escape from reality and at the same time improve my writing skills. I don’t really do that well in my poetry class and when we write papers, the professor always has to meet with me! So I just want to make a blog to help people…I don’t want to tell you what it’s about directly because I don’t even really know myself yet, but I know that it’s going to be something about helping other people.

Is it going to be poetry related at all?

So this is my idea. I was thinking about calling it “Transitions” and it’s going to be about people’s transitions, like my transition into adulthood, or my younger brother going into middle school, or older people transitioning into, I don’t know, menopause or something like that. So what I want to do is leave it open-ended where people can come in and write what they want to write anonymously and then I can post their stories. It would kind of be like Humans of New York or Humans of William & Mary, but it’s not as formal and it wouldn’t have pictures.

What do you think is hard about making transitions in life?

I feel like transitions are hard because…is it okay if I talk about my plans to transfer schools?

Yeah, sure, you can talk about anything you want!

Well, here at William & Mary I like it okay, but I didn’t think about going to a liberal arts school when I’m interested in science, and so I don’t feel like there’s the right kind of opportunities for me here. Since I’m transferring, I feel like I’m giving up on myself in a way. In all reality though, I’m not really giving up on myself, I’m just going after more opportunities that are available at a different school. So this was my inspiration for starting a blog about transitions, because I feel like when people are in college, it’s hard because there are a lot of expectations from your friends and family.

Do you think that the transition to a new school will be easier or more difficult than the transition was from high school to William & Mary?

I’ll probably end up transferring to ODU (Old Dominion University), and that school is a lot more diverse, which is what I was looking for in a school all along. So in that sense, I feel like it will be easier. But in another sense, I’m really afraid of it because I’m going to be starting over again. It’s going to be my second year of college, and I was finally adjusting to William & Mary and starting to like it. I just decided that the classes that I was taking just weren’t interesting me, and since it was hard for me to change my major and take different classes here, I had to decide to transfer to a different school. I think that transferring in itself will be the hardest part – starting over and having to meet new people. I was just now adjusting to William & Mary, and starting to say “I wanna do this next year” and “I want to do this when I’m a senior” so now I feel like I’m just starting over and having to make new plans.

What’s one thing that you appreciate about William & Mary or one thing that you’ll miss about the school?

I’ll definitely miss the scenery. One of the main things that drew me to this school is how small it is, and how it’s right next to Colonial Williamsburg. The school that I’m transferring to isn’t like the way it is here. It’s bigger and it’s in downtown Norfolk, and so there’s a lot more things that are going to be going on around it. So I’ve definitely appreciated William & Mary and the opportunities that it has given me, even being here for such a short amount of time. Being here has definitely opened my mind a lot more too.

When I was in high school, I went to a predominantly black school and the area that I live in at home is predominantly black. So coming here was a culture shock for me. I was so used to diverse communities and experiencing what it has to offer. It was definitely something that I had to adjust to. I had to accept that not every place is going to be the same and that even if I don’t like something in the beginning, it can come to fruition in the end.

How do you think being in a more diverse community will impact your individual success or happiness?

I was on edge coming here when I found out that it wasn’t as diverse as I had hoped for it to be- it’s something I look for in a school and/or community. I feel like going back to a community where there is more diversity will help shape my identity in a positive way.

My high school was very diverse – there were blacks, Hispanics, Asians, whites. I actually had a friend who was from Palestine. So, through being in such a diverse environment, I felt like I got to experience a greater variety of personalities and cultures. My friend from Palestine taught me some Arabic jokingly one day and another friend from Vietnam taught me how to say some things in Vietnamese. I didn’t remember it afterward, but just saying that I had friends who could teach me new things was pretty cool. My dad is from Mexico so I know a little bit of Spanish. Being in a place where different languages were spoken really helped me to step out of my comfort zone in embracing my family’s culture and other cultures. So overall I think I’ll be able to grow more and be happier in a place where I am more encouraged to cross boundaries and celebrate diversity, that’s what I’m looking for.