Transferring without regrets: From Duke to UVA

“Why did you transfer?”

It’s a question I’m used to answering. I spent the first year and a half of my college life at Duke University before transferring to the University of Virginia, two pretty good schools, if I may toot my own horn, and two that are pretty different.

It makes sense that people are curious. I have to admit my answer changes based on who I’m talking to and how much time I have – I’ve said everything from “I wasn’t happy or fulfilled at Duke” to a twenty-minute conversation about all my thoughts and feelings. In thinking about it, though, I’ve had a pretty wonderful college life. I get to experience both Duke and UVA and know what they’re really like to attend.

I went to Duke because it was exactly what I wanted as a senior in high school. I loved the beautiful gothic architecture and the weird wonderfulness of Durham. I loved school (yeah, I was one of those kids), so I wanted a challenging environment where students wanted to make a real difference. In fact, I distinctly remember that during the summer after my freshman year I couldn’t name a single Duke student who wasn’t abroad or working on some world-changing project (or both, like a friend who worked with nonprofits in India).

I desired a liberal arts curriculum that pushed me to explore topics outside my areas of interest. Most importantly, both then and now I love how passionate the students are about what’s important to them and how they put thought to action so effectively. All of these expectations turned out to be true, and even now I can say that Duke is a pretty extraordinary place – just not one for me.

My short year and a half was packed with a lot. I was at Duke for the NCAA-winning 2015 basketball season, and I vividly remember watching the victory game in the common room of my dorm before sprinting outside to catch a bus to West Campus for the customary bench-burning. (Sidenote: I hated having to take a bus from my dorm to class. Thank goodness UVA is walkable!)

I tented for a few weeks, climbed the Chapel, and snuck food out of the freshman dining hall in to-go cups. I was actively involved in at least three clubs, because you aren’t a Duke student if you don’t fill your schedule with activities, and (to toot my own horn again) I even made the Dean’s list my spring semester. In the words of Scotty P., I have “no ragrets.”

Obviously, though, I don’t go to Duke anymore, and I didn’t just leave because I hated the buses. I transferred because in some cases reality was different than what I expected, or what I wanted originally no longer suited my needs. Those two categories encompassed every aspect of my college experience, so I left.

For example, I had trouble meeting all the general education requirements while still learning what I wanted to learn – my own interests are so broad (Russian, history, politics, German, religion, theater, and as many other languages as possible) that taking chemistry, as Duke requires, was burdensome. I also found that a lot of people I knew were stretched too thin, so the activities I was interested in had clubs that were either far too intense or far too chill.

The expectations placed on a Duke student were too much – not too much to handle, but too much to be around and still be happy. My short summation of my experience is “I was neither happy nor fulfilled” for a reason – in my particular case I couldn’t learn what I wanted to learn nor do what I wanted to do, and I wasn’t happy spending all my energy trying to create a good college experience in spite of the institution. I wanted to go somewhere I would be fulfilled because of the institution, so I chose UVA.

I came to UVA because I truly believed I’d love it and it would be a better fit, and so far I’ve been proven right. I’ve only been at UVA for two or three months now, but I already feel better in every way. At this point I don’t feel qualified giving the end-all summary of “the UVA experience” or even generalizations about UVA.

However, something I’ve noticed is that there isn’t really one experience. Sure, there are stereotypical UVA things, but you can be a student and be fulfilled without having to experience them. I’m not involved with Greek life, but many of my friends are. I love the diverse student culture – you can be involved in a million things or none and it doesn’t make a difference. I like being allowed to live off-campus (“off-grounds” here) and enjoy Charlottesville, which really feels like the epitome of the college town. And I can’t list things about being here without saying how gorgeous the mountains are to see when I leave my house every morning.

To be honest, it was frustrating feeling like a freshman (or rather, “first year”) again when I’m four semesters into college, but I’ve found that being new doesn’t just mean being clueless and far too enthusiastic. I have an appreciation for everything UVA right now and a sense of luck that I get to call it mine.

I’m enjoying the novelty of eating lunch of the Lawn, of walking to the Corner to get Bodo’s, of singing “The Good Old Song” at basketball games. With UVA alumni as parents, I grew up singing UVA fight songs. I may or may not have teared up at my first game where I got to sing not as some kid in attendance but as a UVA student, singing it as my song, too.

I’m still learning to hang out with people other than my housemates, and I still mix up Bryan and Bryant Hall (they’re different, right?) but I’m overall very happy. I’ve rediscovered a confidence and a love for learning that I had growing up but was lost since junior year of high school.

People often ask what is different, or what I miss most, and I don’t know what to tell them. I miss places at Duke, like the Divinity School library, and I miss my friends more than I can say. (It’s not a normal week if I don’t send my old roommate a funny video of GIF set!)

I don’t miss Duke, though. If Duke was everything I wanted when I was 18, UVA is everything I want now. I’d be lying if I said it’s not difficult at times, but I’m definitely grateful for my weird, wacky college experience.