What makes you happy when it comes to college? Really think about it for a minute.

For me, it was the chance of a fresh start at a new school that was the perfect fit for me. It took five months, four advisor meetings, three transcripts, two recommendation letters and one application for me to finally become a Quinnipiac University transfer student as a sophomore.

No matter where you’re coming from, if you’re thinking about transferring to this school, I would highly encourage you to do a bit more research. I can hands-down say this has been one of the best decisions of my life. It’s been so rewarding to be able to finally call my college my home.

The second I stepped foot on campus for orientation, I knew this was going to be better than my previous college experience. Going from the University of Connecticut, which has about 40,000 students, to a student population of around 9,000 was definitely a change in pace on every level.

One thing that stood out to me and my parents happened at our first visit for an open house. Our tour guide was energetic and fun, but not fake about it. Even if she was, she fooled me that day because she really showed this place off to be the best school anyone could apply to.

That made the stress of the transfer process almost disappear from my mind as soon as I saw how simple it was to pack up my bags, send in my forms and wait for a response from Quinnipiac.

Another reason that pulled me toward this school was the help and resources available 24/7.

UConn was a hard environment to adjust to after high school. Going from a high school with a graduating class of 200 to a huge campus was a big step that I may have underestimated. The school didn’t have a great welcoming committee and my parents picked up on how I was feeling the second we stepped on campus.

After being on campus for a little over a week, I saw just how beautiful this school is. There’s always something going on and always a familiar face to smile at. Going from meals alone to having nightly dinners with good friends has been my favorite part of being here so far.

UConn’s dining halls are each close to a dorm and the dorms are all spread out over campus. The struggle came in when my few friends’ dorms and mine were all 20 minutes away and we couldn’t find a good time or place to meet because of the amount of planning that had to go into a simple thing like getting dinner. At Quinnipiac, I can send a text and have a group dinner set up in five minutes.

Another big change was the learning experience as a whole. I definitely had some trouble focusing in giant 200-person lecture halls, and looking around, it seemed like 90% of others paid about the same attention as I did. Smaller classrooms not only allow me to engage better with the material but also get to know other classmates and my professor better.

I spent way too long just sitting in my dorm giving up on any hope to achieve anything in college until I thought of the idea of transferring. I realized there was a fresh start in front of my eyes, and I knew when I got the decision letter that I wasn’t going to waste a single second on campus sitting in my dorm alone thinking about what I could be doing out there.

I got up and joined clubs, talked to new people and made sure that I was sticking to my promise that I would make things better, working toward that fresh start I promised myself five months ago in my old dorm.

So now I ask you the same question: what makes you happy when you think about college? Is it the new life of independence still kicking in, the clubs, greek life or athletics teams you might be a part of, or is it just the fact that there’s a Starbucks always five minutes away?