For those who’re studying this and also you’ve been accepted to the College of Georgia on your freshman yr of school, then two congratulations are so as. First, you made it to UGA, after all — Go Dawgs. Second, you’ve already made a greater choice than I did as a freshman.
I’m a switch pupil. Since my freshman yr, I’ve been to 2 faculties, three campuses, held about 10 jobs and moved 4 instances. I’ve no regrets now that I’m ending my journey at UGA.
I graduated highschool in 2016, and I used to be utterly misplaced. My solely extracurricular exercise was music, and I devoted practically all my free time to marching band, percussion concerti, indoor drumline, taking and giving classes and going to competitions. When the time got here to stroll that stage and get my diploma, I used to be burned out. My two choices major-wise at state faculties have been music training and music efficiency, which I didn’t need to do and actually didn’t need to do, respectively.
I additionally solely utilized to at least one public college, Kennesaw State College, which was principally in my yard. It’s not that I didn’t need to see my mother and father or my canine ever once more, however I did need to get out of the home and see the remainder of Georgia. KSU had rather a lot to supply, but it surely couldn’t supply me that.
However most significantly, I didn’t understand simply how burned out I used to be. Whereas I ought to have carried out a full pivot then and there, I satisfied myself what I wanted to do subsequent needed to be what I used to be used to: if not taking part in the drums or educating music, then one thing tangential to music like sound design, and there was one place within the state I might do this as an undergrad.
Enter the Savannah School of Artwork and Design, whose colourful brochures and high-production promotional materials promised creatively stimulating and profitable profession paths. Its movie college even had an entire division devoted to sound design.
I satisfied myself to go to SCAD for 2 years to show that my years engaged on music weren’t a waste and that I might spin my audiophilia into profession success. Now I do know that I used to be simply out of choices.
Savannah is a stunning metropolis to go to. Dwelling there was not for me. The SCAD campus exists in stark distinction to the sprawling however interconnected UGA grounds. The school had over 40 buildings scattered throughout 40-odd sq. blocks downtown. Strolling to lessons was a no-go.
The tradition of the coed physique was one I might by no means get into. In movie, everybody was searching for somebody to assist them on a challenge professional bono or make a superficial connection as a result of so-and-so’s uncle has a studio in Los Angeles, or they know somebody at an internship that most likely doesn’t pay sufficient. Most of the college students acted this fashion as a result of they have been already set. For them the exorbitant tuition, identical for Georgians as out-of-staters, appeared like chump change.
After two years, I had a number of connections. I had no pals.
Popping out of highschool, I assumed it was so cool to have an uber-specific main, however as junior yr approached, I used to be changing into more and more not sure that I wished such a slender set of expertise and profession path. It was just like the world’s most costly commerce college for a commerce I didn’t need to go into. I couldn’t justify paying a lot cash whereas being unsure.
I utilized to UGA, obtained in, then obtained into the journalism faculty a couple of yr after that.
Now, as an leisure and media research main, I’m very happy I obtained broader publicity to the leisure business. Tuition is certainly not pocket change, however I don’t should take out practically the loans I as soon as did. My lessons really feel far more like an amicable, welcoming neighborhood, and I caught up with previous pals from residence, who launched me to new ones. In some ways, I’m getting extra for much less.
The switch course of and getting credit score for programs is rarely straightforward, however everybody who helped me by means of it made me, a junior switch, really feel simply as a lot a Bulldog as the youngsters who stayed in freshman housing.
Beginning at a brand new place is tough. I do know, I’ve barely stayed in a single spot since faculty. However when you’ve chosen Athens and UGA as your new place, you’re off to a terrific begin.
