Nickira Anderson
Jour 325
31 October 2011
Story 1
Does USC Really Help Transfer Students Adjust to Their New Life as a Gamecock?
“If we didn’t know each other or know people what are already students here, I don’t know what we would do” says sophomore transfer student, Ashley Bankhead from Greenville Technical College. “Yeah I agree, knowing people here already has made this transition a lot more smooth, and I wonder how students who don’t have connections here feel, it must suck” said sophomore Andrea Foster. Often times, there are two sides that transfers student stand on. One side being the side that has friends and connections that can help them settle into their new lives smoothly and the other side having the ones who don’t know anything about Carolina. Either way transferring to the University of South Carolina can be a demanding task, but the truth is USC does not do their best on helping transfer students transfer smoothly.
For most transfer students coming to USC is exciting and a relief from what they are leaving behind from their previous institutions and it should feel that way, but what happens when it doesn’t go that way. “I know when I came, I didn’t know anything about how selective housing was, so I came here thinking that I was going to live on campus which would have worked out great since I didn’t have a car at the time but when I found out how housing was scarce I had to get an apartment and a car, so now I’m stuck with two monthly bills to pay” says Michael Williams, a junior who transferred from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “I personally don’t think USC helps as much as my old school did, because in Alabama they have transfer student clubs and social events to get people acquainted but here, they’re focused more on getting the freshmen settled and forget about us” said Williams.
“I could go on and on all day about how unprepared I was for USC.” “Down to the housing, to the parking, to student advisement, to how to get tickets to the games, its overwhelming and it really turned me off from getting to know people and USC as a school for a second, I was over it especially since I didn’t know anyone and I hated being here but I am just now liking it more” says sophomore Tessa Barnett who transferred from Lander University. For those students who don’t rely on connections to flourish at USC find it more difficult to adjust. “I mean there was so much to know, I mean little things like I didn’t know I could park in Bull Street garage and pay a dollar for an hour.” “Before I knew that, I was getting tickets on Greene Street like crazy” said Barnett.
Although USC has offices and designated faculty to help transfer students adjust but they are hidden. They aren’t publicized as much as they should be. There should be flyers or something to let the transfers know that there is something out there for them to help them. Also a club or social/support group should be active on campus for those students who need extra help adjusting to their new life as a gamecock. When asked about knowing about offices and personnel that are for transfers, Bankhead had no idea. “I have no idea about that, I didn’t know that existed, they should promote it better, especially because their dealing with people who don’t know anything about USC.”
Overall, getting use to a new environment is a task that can be daunting period, but getting use to a new college is hard. These uneasy feelings that transfer students experience can cause them to be turned off from USC and be disappointed, but some students don’t let this experience hold them back from enjoying being a gamecock. Students who come from a small school could get intimidated by a bigger environment and students who come from same size or bigger schools could be disappointed and unimpressed with what they’re use to. Either way, USC needs to do something to help transfer students feel more comfortable and confident about being a new gamecock. “I hope that USC gets it together for next year so that the transfers next year won’t feel like we did” says Foster. “But at the end of the day, I’m still glad to be a gamecock now”.
