My Experience as a Transfer Student
November 6, 2020 - Christian Torres
There are many reasons why students transfer or go to colleges all around the nation, with some wanting to go to play sports, military transfer, financial circumstances, or wanting an academic challenge. For my first two years I was going to Georgia State University because it was still in my home state and was a 30-minute commute. However, toward the middle of my 2nd year at Georgia State I decided I wanted a change in my life, a fresh start, try something new, move out West and just focus on being just a student. I decided to transfer to the University of New Mexico, but I knew moving across country by myself was going to be a pretty penny. Being a transfer student can be difficult at times, especially when it comes to our pockets. I knew when I transferred to UNM, I was going to learn how to budget and save. Toward my last semester at GSU I decided to work three jobs, one on the weekends, one in the afternoon and one late night, to save up as much money as possible to move to Albuquerque.
I began to apply for scholarships and lucky for me, UNM offers a scholarship, the Lobo Undergraduate Exchange and the Western Undergraduate Exchange, which allows students pay in-state tuition instead of out of state tuition. When I moved to Albuquerque, I had saved up enough money, so I did not have to work the first semester. It was a breath of fresh air because I just focus on being a student and my transition to UNM. I made the mistake of not knowing the requirements of the LUE scholarship, resulting in losing the scholarship. This made me realize I would have to work again, but I knew it would not be till the Spring semester where I would have the time to begin working. In the start of the Spring semester I began to look and apply for jobs. As I began having interviews, the COVID-19 pandemic had made its ways into the United States, shutting down our country. At this point, money was becoming tighter and tighter, with having to practice budgeting and making many mistakes on the way. With not many business hiring due to the pandemic this would cause me to be resourceful. I began going to the Lobo Food Pantry which offers free food for all UNM students and was able to apply for scholarship using the American Indian Student Services, which is a great resource to find and apply for scholarships. Although, they were many ups and downs transferring to UNM, I am happy with decisions because it taught me many skills, such as budgeting and being resourceful.
