Jane Hao

As I opened the application page on MyStatus, the word “accepted” beamed on my laptop. As a CAP student, I knew this moment was coming. I hadn’t stopped thinking about it since senior year when I had decided to complete my freshman year at UT-Arlington. Even after a long first year of college, my acceptance to UT-Austin was only the beginning of a lengthy journey to adjust to Austin. It’s a process that I’m just beginning to understand. 

Before coming to campus, I had almost exclusively considered the challenge of transferring colleges in an academic context. UT-Austin’s competitive and challenging environment made me nervous, but I reminded myself that I would be able to handle it if I stayed focused.  

While I’ve maintained my academic standing, I didn’t anticipate the difficulties I would face socially. As someone who has always been considered extroverted and enjoys meeting new people, I didn’t necessarily feel unprepared to enter a school full of people I didn’t know. 

I assumed that making new friends would be much easier with UT-Austin’s large student body. However, it was difficult launching myself into existing friend groups and awkward spending my time talking to freshmen. And although the people I already knew at UT had mentioned that student organizations were a great way to meet new people, the process of applying to these organizations was overwhelming.  

I started to feel like I hadn’t done enough to make new friends. As I wondered whether I was doing things right, I realized that maybe there was no “right” way to deal with my situation. 

We often place excessive pressure on ourselves as we attempt to reach a certain goal. While a lack of linear progress can be discouraging, it’s not uncommon. We are often our own worst critics, punishing ourselves for inevitable ups and downs which ultimately place a hefty but unnecessary burden of self-criticism on our shoulders. 

While it’s important to act on things that move us toward a goal, we must also forgive ourselves when things don’t work out exactly how we imagined. 

With a newfound appreciation for change, I’ve spent this fall semester focusing on what’s important to me and letting go of the expectation to adjust quickly and effortlessly to a new environment. I’ve even managed to meet new people through classes and activities, which has turned out to be a more enjoyable way of building connections than forcing friendships right away. 

My previous year on another campus was incredibly pivotal, and trying to erase its existence at UT-Austin feels disingenuous. In fact, the unique experiences we bring to UT-Austin are exactly what make this campus incredible. Let’s not be afraid to give ourselves the time to adjust — it’s a process unique to each of us.

Narwekar is a philosophy and economics sophomore from Coppell, Texas.