I am sitting on the patio at one of my campuses Starbucks this morning just thinking about the madhouse that yesterday was. Not your normal first-day-of-the-semester madness, but much more. As a mom in college you can’t just hop in the car and head off to school in hopes to get on campus early and grab a parking spot — no. You have to feed, clothe and send your own kids off to school as well. For me, this includes 3 children.

It turns out that even though I had to park a half-mile from my older two kids’ school, that dropping them off was the easy part of my day.

Driving on the freeway was also easy.

Dropping my son off at the campus daycare was a breeze.

Finding a parking spot? Not so easy at 10:30 am when school is in full swing so everyone is on campus. But what choice did I have? I couldn’t go earlier like many people do, I had to make sure my children made it to their respective classrooms safely. So I drove around and around and around. Over an hour later I finally got a spot in a dirt parking lot across the street from the college. And when I say across the street I mean the furthest I could have been from my class. But nevertheless, I kicked up the dust and trudged across campus, sweating bullets in the hot August sun. But really this wasn’t anything new to me coming from a community college with 60 thousand students. This just kind of set me on the wrong foot.

Once I was able to sit down and rest, I stopped to observe the people around me — this is NOT my community college. I see more younger students than I am used to seeing and no older students. I probably don’t, but I feel like I stick out like a sore thumb. I am making myself feel as though I am wearing a sign that says “Hey! I am a transfer student, a mom and I am in my thirties.” As I sit here the following day I have spotted a few older people, but have yet to meet any moms. When waiting in line to get my coffee I talked to the girl behind me, who is not a transfer student. She has been here since day one. I suppose as time goes on I will run in to more students like me –transfer students, moms, older…but it hasn’t happened yet. I miss my friends. It may seem petty but my close friends — all of those in the hallway, and of course Andrea, Adriana, Kim and Anita. I miss the familiarity. People talk about transfer students being somewhat at a disadvantage for not having the “freshman experience” and I totally get that now. 

I won’t lie, even on the very first day I wanted to just go back to my community college…it is like home to me. But something inside me reminds me that I am meant to be here….that I deserve to be here….that I will make an impact on my campus. It is that knowledge that keeps me going. I have only attended one class so I know that my feelings are quite normal. I have to allow myself to adjust…and I will!

So for all of the moms who are transferring or are considering it, don’t hesitate to do so — it is going to be scary and overwhelming, but you are smart, capable and they accepted you in to their university for a reason! Enjoy the ride, I know I am going to!