Digital Diaries Episode 5: Redefining what it means to “catch up” as a transfer student

Ellie Stevens, Reporter
November 1, 2022

Northwestern transfer students are still acclimating to Northwestern. But a lot of transfers say they feel like they have to “catch up.” Where do these feelings come from and can we reframe them? Find out in this week’s deeper dive of Digital Diaries!

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ELLIE STEVENS: From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Ellie Stevens, and you’re listening to episode five of Digital Diaries, a weekly podcast following what students are doing and asking students questions about life at Northwestern.

ELLIE STEVENS: Every year, transfer students participate in Wildcat Welcome alongside the year’s freshman class. However, it can be hard to adjust to a new school while also managing academics and a social life. This week’s episode is an extended dive into what it’s like being a transfer student at Northwestern and what it means to “catch up.”

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EERO SOMERS: So one of the main reasons that I transferred was cause I felt like I was just spinning my wheels there. It was also a decent amount of work, but I wasn’t feeling like particularly challenged.

ELLIE STEVENS: That’s Weinberg sophomore Eero Somers, a transfer student from American University. Like some transfers, Somers feels the need to catch up to the fast-paced academic environment at Northwestern.

EERO SOMERS: It honestly is intense but I don’t think anyone comes here expecting it to be easy. I have been just sort of like super prioritizing school. It’s definitely a new experience, because you feel like you’re sort of in this middle ground where it’s like you’ve done this before, but also, you’ve never done it here before. So you, you’re sort of like split directly in the middle. My advice for that would be to make friends that are transfers, friends that are sophomores and friends that are freshmen and just see how each person is going about it.

ELLIE STEVENS: Transfer students are in a tricky position — they have to balance coming to a new school with sophomore- and junior-level responsibilities, depending on when they transfer. But Somers used this “catch up” mindset in a positive way.

EERO SOMERS: I’m someone who tries to do the bare minimum to make it happen. And that was something that was sort of, like, embraced, pretty much the rest of my life. And then here, the bare minimum set by everyone else is way higher. The feeling of being behind, I find quite motivating for me, and I don’t find it to be isolating at all.

ELLIE STEVENS: Somers noted that the “need to catch up” isn’t a problem exclusive to transfers, even though it is often presented that way.

EERO SOMERS: But I haven’t felt any more behind than anyone else at this school. Certain transfers have shared that sometimes they feel like they sort of took the backdoor in or the slipstream into the transfer thing. But the transfer pool was more competitive this year. So it’s like one, go us. But two, it’s like you should just focus on trying to find a balance in your life. Finding people who have found that balance and seeing what they do and sort of faking it till you make it.

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ELLIE STEVENS: Weinberg senior Aerin Gelblum transferred from the University of Maryland and also agrees balance is the key to surviving as a transfer student. However, she took the opposite approach from Somers when it came to assimilating to Northwestern.

AERIN GELBLUM: I dove right in like extracurricular-wise and other opportunities. And to be honest, I really overwhelmed myself. Once I was like really in the thick of it was when I had to take a step back and reevaluate. But it was definitely, I mean the element of just putting myself out there and getting involved to the extent that one can, I think that was still a good move.

ELLIE STEVENS: Gelblum said she also struggled to decide which major she would declare but ended up choosing Radio, Television and Film, or RTVF.

AERIN GELBLUM: There’s so many options here, and it’s certainly not uncommon for people to swap around their areas of study. And the idea of tacking on another major or certificate or minor — I wasn’t sure if that’s something I was going to be able to do, having spent one of my years elsewhere.

ELLIE STEVENS: Gelblum said the key to balancing everything she wanted to do was dropping the need for perfection.

AERIN GELBLUM: I think it was important to remember or just remind myself that I was not going to be able to do everything in the way I wanted. So, I think, I think “good enough” is huge. I work on that for myself, personally, that’s huge for me, but the same can be said for certain papers that maybe I thought could have been better. And I turned it in and it had to get done, and I said, “It’s good enough.” And it was fine. It’s all fine.

ELLIE STEVENS: Gelblum recommends being gentle to yourself, especially as a transfer still acclimating to the environment.

AERIN GELBLUM: You’re right on time — there is no catching up, wherever you are. If you feel like you want to do more, if you feel moved to do something else, or a change, go for it. But it’s not because you’re behind. I would say just to try and reframe — it’s a mindset shift of, you know, if you do make the choice to change what you are doing, get more involved in student groups etc. It’s not because it’s something you have to do. It should be because it’s something you want to do.

ELLIE STEVENS: In addition to getting familiar with a new academic environment, transfer students also have to assimilate to a new social environment where other students in their year have already made friends.

AERIN GELBLUM: You do feel like you might be a little bit behind socially, so making connections quickly is definitely a big one.

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ELLIE STEVENS: Weinberg sophomore Emily Hancock transferred from Smith College this fall. Like Gelblum, she joined clubs on campus but noticed she had to adopt a mindset different from the one she had at her previous school.

EMILY HANCOCK: I remember, at the liberal arts school, they just kind of have all this stuff out. So it’s like, “Do you want to join our Quidditch club?” I was like, “Yeah I want to join your Quidditch club.” And then you don’t really have any commitment to it because it’s just something that seemed a little interesting. And I felt like I was less engaged like that. But now, I think you have to be intentional in the clubs that you apply to.

ELLIE STEVENS: Hancock noticed how much more competitive extracurriculars are at Northwestern.

EMILY HANCOCK: There is kind of like a cognitive jump that you have to make about like extracurriculars here and not being just like a little club that you do in your free time. It’s kind of like its own unpaid internship, but like run by students.

ELLIE STEVENS: Hancock said she thinks being at another school her freshman year ultimately helped her out by broadening her experiences.

EMILY HANCOCK: You can either view it as a disadvantage or you can view it just as like another experience that you have under your belt.

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ELLIE STEVENS: Medill junior Gia Khanna transferred from New York University last fall. Khanna agreed with Somers that the need to “catch up” is something every student goes through — not just transfers.

GIA KHANNA: I think the fear of having to catch up to people who maybe were here the year before or weren’t transfers definitely went away. And I think it, I quickly realized that a lot of it is just kind of getting used to college in general.

ELLIE STEVENS: However, Khanna does remember the feeling of scrambling to “catch up” as a transfer student. Transferring to Northwestern last fall ultimately made her feel more grateful when students around her were stressing out over catching up to others in areas such as internships.

GIA KHANNA: And I love that people are very ambitious. And people are always, always doing things. And that was part of the reason I wanted to come here actually was because I really wanted that experience. And I am so grateful, actually, because it is a really supportive community but like still very, very ambitious community.

ELLIE STEVENS: To Khanna, transfer students are able to have a more grateful mindset because they have seen what’s out there. In addition they have the wisdom of a whole year or two’s worth of experience in a different environment. The idea that, as a transfer student “you’re a year behind,” is a myth — you just have different experiences. It’s a matter of adjusting to a new environment, same as it was freshman year of college.

GIA KHANNA: But also at the end of the day like the grade that you join, you still have done the rest of those college years. Like it’s not like you’re coming in as like a freshman into a junior class — like you’re coming in as a junior into a junior class.

GIA KHANNA: When I was walking out of class to lik get on this Zoom, I was like, “I’m going to talk about being a transfer.” And like three of the girls that I was with were like “I literally always forget that you were a transfer,” which is not a good or a bad thing. It’s just like funny whenever I hear that, because to me, it’s like such a part of my identity here.

ELLIE STEVENS: Khanna recommends leaning into what you like to ease into the new environment.

GIA KHANNA: Like a lot of my best friends have come out of clubs that I was like nervous about auditioning for, nervous about trying out for, applying for, because I was a transfer, because I was a sophomore and like blah, blah, blah. But like, I’m so glad I did — I can’t imagine not not doing it because I can’t imagine my life without those people.

ELLIE STEVENS: Ultimately, transfer students including Khanna said that catching up isn’t the issue — it’s giving yourself the time to adjust.

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ELLIE STEVENS: From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Ellie Stevens. Thanks for listening to another episode of Digital Diaries. This episode was reported and produced by me. The Audio Editor of The Daily Northwestern is Lawrence Price, the Digital Managing Editor is Angeli Mittal, and the Editor-in-chief is Jacob Fulton. Make sure to subscribe to The Daily Northwestern’s podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or SoundCloud to hear next week’s episode on Monday.

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