<p>Greetings.</p>
<p>I’ve been lurking around this message board after googling certain phrases regarding transferring colleges. Currently, I’m a sophomore with 59 credit hours. I’ve obtained at least 33 general education credit hours and I’m in good standing at my most recent university. However, all is not well in my life because what I want has changed. Let me try and explain.</p>
<p>During my senior year of high school, I didn’t think college though entirely. To be honest, I was on a fantasy island. I was in a long-term relationship and I wanted to keep it going, so I searched for schools that matched my ACT score, my first chosen major (English with Teaching Certification), and of course, being close in proximity to where my then girlfriend was going to school (U of Illinois, 45 minutes away). I was looking for a school that had a newspaper that I could write on, a radio station program, and that was a good college for potential teachers. At the time, I wanted to teach high school English, both the broadcasting and journalism class at my high school, as well as marrying my high school sweetheart after my college graduation. I liked to write (and not exactly read, but teach people how to write) and my dream career goal was to write for the Chicago Tribune or have a radio show on ESPN Radio 1000 in Chicago. I thought that these were my true passions in life.</p>
<p>I never was real excited to go away to this school (because I was caught up in my relationship - she was my first love), and I found myself coming home once every two weeks to see my then girlfriend. I worked for the paper, worked for the radio station, met people on my floor and around campus I organized a gaming group, but I wasn’t happy or having fun since I was doing the same thing that I did in my high school. In fact, I celebrated when I returned home for the summer. </p>
<p>Over the summer, my father questioned my career goal of being a sports writer for the Chicago Tribune because it wasn’t a steady profession. I would have to agree with him in certain respects, partially because of the newspaper industry being in shambles right now, and partially because I felt as though I never learned anything important other than writing. </p>
<p>As time progressed, I realized that broadcasting and journalism wasn’t my passion. My idea of teaching wasn’t in my career plans anymore, and I had the unfortunate break up with my long-term, long distance relationship after 3 1/2 years. All of the reasons of why I attended the school was thrown out the window. </p>
<p>After seeing that I was changing as a person, I decided that it might be beneficial to get out of the rural area and find another school to attend. (Keep in mind that when I was going to go away, I only applied to this school and visited only two other schools - UIC and NIU.) I only applied to EIU because I knew that I would get into the school and because I was discouraged by my ACT score of 20. Basically, I underestimated my academic abilities.</p>
<p>I felt that all I had going for me at the school was the hobby store 10 miles away from campus and one true friend that I trusted. Other than that, I felt as though I wanted to find a major that had more purpose and that I enjoyed, as well as an area that I would feel more comfortable and happy at. With that said, I have decided to attend a community college in the fall and take some business courses since I’ve often thought about how great it might be to work for a sports organization or even to own my own business.</p>
<p>Right now I’m researching different schools and plan on revisiting a few, and I’m thinking about Northern Illinois University (it’s closer and is in a more urban area - it also has a good business program), St. Ambrose (out of state, but it’s closer and it is liberal arts based, as well as being in an urban area), Illinois State University (in state, I’ve heard decent things but I’m not sure that I would like living there, though it is in a small city that I might enjoy) Western Michigan University (the ideal location, but my Mom said that cost is an issue). </p>
<p>Do I have a valid case to transfer? Am I making a smart move by seeking out other colleges to be sure that this is what I want before I act upon anything? I’ve set my priorities as finding a college, meeting new people, working and running the Chicago Marathon. I’m very ambitious and motivated (though I wasn’t last semester - I tried majoring in Corporate Communication and I wasn’t interested in it; the only reason I majored in it was to avoid the math that I’d need for a business degree) and I want to learn as much as I can over the next few years. I’d like to move on from the distress of that painful breakup, stop thinking about getting married and taking life too seriously so that I can enjoy the college experience. So, is transferring to a more urban area, with better programs (EIU is only known for its education program), so that I can be happy and enjoy my life a valid reason to transfer/a good idea? Any advice is appreciated.</p>