By NICHOLAS OSPINA and WILLIAM BOLOGNA
On the campus of Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, “I was the man, ” said a former student.
He couldn’t walk 10 feet without hearing “what’s up Billy!” It was a rather small campus so he knew just about everyone. It was exactly the college experience every incoming freshmen dreams of – making great experiences and great friends.
At Lynn, it was clear that he belonged; there was always something to go do, someone to go see. After two years, Billy decided that there was too much opportunity to pass-up in New York City, so he transferred to Ramapo College.
Little did he realize the lost and lonely feelings to come.
Roaming the two campuses couldn’t have been more different. Walking around Ramapo College, he’d look around and see different groups of people socializing, and could tell that everyone seemed to know who their group of friends were; which role they filled on campus. But not Billy. He was lonely.
This is essentially the commuter experience at Ramapo. Roughly 6,000 students attend Ramapo College, through that an approximate number of 3,000 students are commuters.
The feelings of being lost, clueless, and unaware of what’s happening are some of the feelings experienced by many transfer students during their first semester at Ramapo College. Unless a student lives on campus, or has been at Ramapo since freshmen year, friendships are hard to come by for transfer-commuter student.
“I felt like an outsider,” said Ramapo Sophomore, Zachary Mooney. “I would come to campus and see that everybody had their own group of friends; their role on campus, but I didn’t know a single person”. “go to class, maybe get a coffee after class, and then go home” – a recurring pattern for transfer-commuters, which isn’t so much the “college experience” we all dream of in high school.
“Joining a fraternity was the best thing I could’ve done,” added Mooney. “Now I can come to campus knowing I’ll always run into a few friends, and it makes me feel like I’m a part of something on campus.” “I have a great group of friends in Mahwah, but on campus, it was weird, I felt like I didn’t belong.”
Chris Robinson, 23, of Englewood, also transferred to Ramapo College after completing his associates degree at Bergen Community College. However. He doesn’t feel a certain disconnect from Ramapo.
“Luckily, I had friends that already attended Ramapo so I was able to become a part of the culture very easily. But yes if I didn’t have friends on campus I would get the sense transfers don’t necessarily belong, ” Robinson said.
While Ramapo might not be the biggest school, there are still options to get out there and be involved on campus; to be a part of something. The biggest part, and probably hardest, is the first step. Step one is always to go an get yourself out there. It may be frightening, but it will most certainly be worth it.
Ramapo has made efforts/improvements in welcoming there transfer students. Through J-Lee’s, posters for activities hung on the walls of the pavilion, greek life, etc. J-lees a place where students can go play pool, video games, or just relax getting homework done help students interact with each other maybe hopefully building friendships. Posters hung on the walls of the Pavilion show students what activities the college offers outside of campus, and every student is allowed to sign up.
There are still ways to enjoy college at Ramapo.
Not into frats? That’s ok, there are still plenty of other ways to be involved on campus and feel like a part of something.
Writing for the Ramapo paper was a great way to make some friends with mutual interests with me, and it gave me a chance make my own impact here on campus. But if news writing isn’t really your thing, there are still a ton of other options. You could also join a club according to whatever your interests may be.
Don’t see a club you like? Maybe you could even start your own club for commuters who feel like they don’t do much on campus.
Get enough minds together and you’ll figure something out. The point is that you need to put yourself out there, you may even need to leave your comfort zone for a bit, although the benefits of doing so will most certainly be worth it.
So what are you waiting for? Put yourself out there and become a part of something. There’s absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain, so go out and enjoy your time at Ramapo.
First person voices in the article. The voices included varied two different cases of transfer students, which matters, creates diversity in the article. More order in the article would have made it easier to read.