Transfer to Teal Guide- Stephanie

When I was a senior in high school I was honestly scared to look into the future and had no idea what I wanted to do when I graduated so I decided that I would just go to the community college in my town first, and then transfer to a four year university after two years. I wasn’t ready to go to a four year university right after graduating high school so I’m very glad I decided to transfer after earning an Associate’s Degree from a two year college. It may not be the path that works for everyone and that’s okay; it just happened to be right for me. I honestly always had the idea of coming to UNCW in the back of my mind while I was in high school but wasn’t ever sure that I could actually go through with it so I never thought much of it. However, that all changed once I drove by the campus for the first time. I’ve always come to the Wilmington area for vacation with my family ever since I was in middle school but I never actually saw UNCW’s campus until the summer of 2011 and that was when I knew that UNCW was exactly where I wanted to go.

I started doing my research about the transfer process right away after getting home from vacation, sent in my application in the winter, got accepted, got a tour of UNCW in February of 2012, and made my official decision to attend UNCW within a week of taking the campus tour. I always knew with everything in me that Wilmington was where I was supposed to go and after a year here I still have no doubt that I’m exactly where I’m meant to be. I started getting involved with a couple of organizations within a month of my first semester here and cannot believe how much more I am involved in only a year. There are so many opportunities to get involved at UNCW, I’ve met so many incredible people, and have gained so many amazing experiences here. The campus is absolutely beautiful and everyone here is just so welcoming. The atmosphere is so friendly, upbeat, and inviting. Some days when I’m walking around on campus I honestly can’t help but smile just because of that fact that I get to go to UNCW since it was my dream to come here. I just love this school so much and couldn’t imagine being anywhere else!