“Students here are fun, upbeat, approachable and excited to be here; they are the heart of this campus, and they are why #IBelieveInUNH.”
Growing up in Manchester, New Hampshire, I knew there was one school I did not want to go to upon graduation, and that school was UNH. With a graduating class of over 450, I thought a lot of my high school classmates would end up coming to UNH. From that point on, I immediately told myself it was my last resort. That year I applied to roughly 30 colleges and was accepted to 28 of them. Deciding I needed something new in my life, the following year I enrolled at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore. Initially I went in declared as an international business major but shortly after I switched to political science. As the semester progressed, I kept noticing instances when I did not fit in and how I was vastly different from the average student. This left me wanting more, not only from my fellow students but also my college.
Transferring home after the fall semester, I attended Manchester Community College to keep up with credits. By the next fall, I was at UNH, enrolled in classes and had started working towards my degree, a B.A. in communication. The whole process of transferring was odd for me. You need to complete university exit interviews and questionnaires; get official transcripts sent to your new college, and make sure all your credits transfer (and for their correct credit amount). After the process, transfers are left with a mess of words and phrases to keep in mind. Phrases such as extra semester, J-term, summer classes, TAing for credit, and online courses get thrown around a lot in order to help encourage students to graduate on time.
Here at UNH, that process had already been streamlined for me. I came in as a Communication major, and my advisor, Andrew Sharp, was more than prepared to help me. At transfer orientation, he not only helped me pick classes that I needed to take, but he also steered me toward classes he thought would interest me. Andrew has helped me navigate crazy semesters with huge course loads throughout my years here, as well as petition into classes that were already full because he knew I was passionate about the topic. Since being at UNH, I have had five- and six-course semesters, I’ve been a TA and I am expecting to grasp the opportunity to use internship experience for credit this coming spring. Andrew has made it possible to schedule not only my classes, but my time here at UNH as well, to help give me the time I needed in and out of the classroom in order to be successful. At UNH, the academic advisors aren’t here to just give you your registration time and code, they are an asset. They’re welcoming and willing to help at any point in your academic career. From helping you find internship opportunities to assisting you in declaring second majors and minors, their goal isn’t just to get you to graduate, it’s to make sure you’re having fun while you do it.
While going through the transfer process, students can expect to lose the friendships they started at their first school while also having to acclimate to their new school. This includes making new friends which can be a huge stress, but not at UNH. While adjusting to life here, I found my peers to be friendly and supportive. At UNH, more often than not, you can see people talking, chatting and chiming in. Durham’s students are more than happy to engage in a dialogue. From sports and health to politics and more, the student body offers a wide variety of points of view. Students here are fun, upbeat, approachable and excited to be here; they are the heart of this campus, and they are why #IBelieveInUNH.
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Written By:
Devon Hamilton ’17 | UNH Tales
