Before I was a student at Queens College, I was enrolled at Queensborough Community College from 2016 to 2018. During my time there, I was in an Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) which provided me with a personalized advisor, stipends for textbooks and transportation, and priority registration. I was also involved in student groups and student government on campus. I just immersed myself in the collegiate setting overall. While I established a deep familiarity at this campus, I knew I was eventually going to graduate and move on to another university to pursue my Bachelor’s degree.

Students preparing to transition to another college are most likely focused on making sure their admissions paperwork is taken care of, documents for their financial aid are being processed, and that the credits that they have earned are successfully being transferred. What transfer students are most likely not focusing on are clubs to join, where they can find mental health resources, places to print documents, good food spots, and comfortable places to sleep in between classes. Or is that the campus they’re transferring to doesn’t do a good job of explaining these to their upcoming transfer students?

I was able to visit Queens College a few times before I was fully enrolled as a student, but I was limited in the exploration of the campus during the time I was there. I remember receiving a group tour, however, it wasn’t all that helpful in directing me towards the other areas of support I needed. As transfer students, it’s usually up to us to roam around campus and discover the spaces that can be of use to us and asking who to go to when you need help academically, professionally, or emotionally. These things are gradual and take time, and doesn’t
happen in a linear fashion, which is unfortunate because you might later on discover a resource that could have helped you out during a crucial moment in your life when you needed it the most.

I was fortunate enough to have the time to be social on campus and become involved in different organizations and clubs that exposed me to different opportunities and resources to aid in my turbulent time transitioning to this new environment and overall new chapter in my life. The reality of no longer having the institutional support I had at my previous school really affected me in ways that I was very much aware of, but struggled to resolve during my initial start of my first semester.
When you’re a transfer student, you’re given the opportunity of a restart. But you’re also given this reset that makes it a bit uneasy to re-establish yourself academically and socially in a new environment without the tools and support to navigate it. As a black, neurodiverse student, who constantly encounters barriers to receive adequate means of support, transfering school made it difficult for me to pursue and complete my academic endeavours successfully. Thus, creating a feeling of disempowerment within myself that negatively influenced my college experience.

Anthony Vancol is a senior at the Queens College, CUNY and a member of YI-New York’s 2021 Fall Young Advocates Program.