Transitioning

Coming to Clemson, and with it, leaving Charleston, where I've lived my entire life, has been no easy transition.  It's been the largest such change of my life, greater than moving between school levels, or adjusting to new friends, since I've always lived in a relatively stationary environment.  The scenery around me, my living conditions, my responsibilities, and all but a few of the people around me are completely new, seen only in passing before.  No, you wouldn't think a transition this big would warrant a quick and painless adjustment, and it didn't.  This doesn't mean, however, that I resent the change in the slightest.  In fact, I very much enjoy it.  Charleston was becoming old, repetitive, and I felt like I hardly had any opportunity for advancement there.  Clemson, however, offers a whole new world of opportunity ahead of me.  And although it wasn't easy, I've adapted to the new environment much quicker even than I originally expected.  I've made new friends, become accustomed to the world around me at Clemson, and assumed the roles the new responsibilities placed upon me.  I now feel thoroughly prepared for my college career here.  Where in high school, my classes felt like their main purpose was so that I could say I attended them, so that I could obtain a certification instead of actually learning, Clemson gives purpose to education.  I'm learning real, valuable, and world applicable knowledge and skills.  I've already transitioned to a higher sense of educational responsibility, in response to this.  People socialize differently here.  Sure, there are the frat boys and sorority girls who just want to blend in, but there are countless unique and interesting people, who have their own remarkable stories to share here, from all walks of life.  It's quite a shift from the static clique groups of high school. Yes, coming to Clemson has been a great transition, but I'm happier it's happening than I could say.