Transferring colleges is challenging, good

Students come to BYU-Hawaii from all over the world and also as transfer students from other universities. Three transfer students said while there were differences between the college they went to before BYUH and challenges they had to overcome, they all said they felt inspired to come to Laie and now feel they are part of the BYUH ohana. Photo by Mark Daeson Tabbilos.

Finding balance as transfer students

Leaving one college to go to another is challenging say 3 students because of culture, met and unmet expectations,and more

BY MCKENZIE ALVAREZ

Transferring from other colleges to BYU–Hawaii can be a mix of emotions, students said, from being enchanted by friendly people from all over the world to being frustrated by trying to navigate a new school, social life, and how all of these different cultures work together in this school community.

“It is very hard to get used to college in a certain way and having done it and then starting over,” said Rachel Richardson Osborne, a senior from Arizona studying intercultural peace building about her journey to BYUH from BYU-Idaho. “It is humbling and there are so many amazing things about this place too.”

However, Osborne said she was surprised getting used to being in Laie was so challenging as well. “I think a lot of people don’t expect that at first,” she said.

Along with Osbourne’s first feelings and thoughts about Laie and BYUH, other transfer students, like Tierra Kammerman from Idaho Falls, Idaho, a senior studying intercultural peace building, said this about her experience starting BYU Hawaii back in Fall 2020. “It’s harder than you think it would be. Coming to a new place is harder than just starting somewhere because I already have these expectations of what college should be.” However, when she came here, she said it was not what she expected, but them it was better than she expected too.

The transfer students said they went through some ups and downs in their journeys to get BYUH to .

Both Kammerman and Osborne said they transferred from BYU-Idaho in 2020 and came to the island during the pandemic. Both said they had the benefit of making friends and having great roommates to help them through this transitional time. Osborne said, “A happy memory I had when I first came here was my roommates, and we got close so fast. I was super homesick and they really helped in that rough transition.” Kammerman agreed and said making friends made her transition a lot better. “One way I have been able to work through is I have joined different clubs.”

Through clubs, activities and roommates, the two transfer students said they started to build connections with others on campus but still encountered challenges as transfer students.

Cultural differences and norms here in Hawaii can be new and exciting, said Kammerman, but also difficult. When she got to Laie, she “had to quarantine for two weeks” because of state COVID-19 regulations. “We had a map of Oahu on our fridge, and my roommate starts listing off all these [different town] names, and I was so confused. Meanwhile, I was thinking I will never get all of this down or pronounce any of them. That was hard and overwhelming. It felt like learning a new language. It felt like I was on my mission again.”

Adding to a new culture also comes a new campus and atmosphere, said Kathryn Palmer, a transfer student from Arizona. Now a junior studying Hawaiian Studies, she said her initial response was “it is a lot different here. Eastern Arizona State had 2,600 students. Here at BYUH there are 3,200.” But with a new-sized student body, she said people can still feel lonely. Talking about her old university she said the Institute there “had activities all the time and you instantly felt like a part of the family.” But she said BYUH is not like that.

Yet all three transfer students said they knew they needed to be in Hawaii for a reason. Kammerman spoke about her process of making the decision to transfer her after her mission. “I loved my experience there, and I decided to get my associate's there [at BYU-Idaho].” But then she came to BYUH to study marine biology. “I had even taken all these classes, but then I took the intro class for peace building, and I was like, ‘This could be my minor.’ But then after my second week here, I changed my major to peace building.”

The three transfer student also said they came to BYUH for reasons that expand beyond the beach. Palmer said, “I was 12 when I visited Hawaii, and I fell in love with the culture. I took a year off because of COVID-19, and I applied for this Fall Semester.” She continued, “I really like meeting people from other countries, and I like learning from them.”

Osborne said she ultimately decided to come to BYUH after following a prompting from the spirit. She said aside from some of the obvious reasons to come like the beach, different cultures and people, and having previous not been admitted to the university, Osborne said she still followed up on her prompting and eventually was accepted.

Osborne, Kammerman and Palmer said as they continue to find their way around this campus, they added they are now finding their place in the BYUH ohana. •