A student’s first year of college is time to experience dorm living, sunbathe at Tucker Beach and memorize Wolfline routes.
But for many transfer and lifelong education students, the freshman tradition is sometimes something they never get the opportunity to experience.
Emily Utz, a senior in psychology, transferred from the University of Tennessee in January 2003.
“I transferred because my out-of-state scholarship at Tennessee ended,” Utz said.
The experience Utz said she missed out on was dorm living, but she said she has not had trouble making friends.
“I met most of my friends in Raleigh through Young Life and in my classes,” Utz said.
Although she said she misses Tennessee, she said she is glad she transferred.
“There is nothing like being a part of the Wolfpack,” Utz said.
Transfer students are not the only individuals who miss out on dorm living. Students who live at home, like senior in communication Avery Cress, share similar experiences.
Cress said she attended UNC-Greensboro during her freshman year and lived in an all-girls dorm. After transferring to NCSU, she decided to move back home with her parents.
But Cress said she doesn’t think she has missed anything. She said the relationship she has with her parents makes it easy for her to live at home.
“My parents are not like most,” Cress said. “They are more like good friends than parents.”
Those who opt to live at home during their college career have a different experience than those who live on campus.
“At the end of my day I get to get away from it all,” Cress said. “Going home is like an escape.”
Lifelong Education students also miss out on certain campus traditions.
Through the Lifelong Education program, individuals in the community can register for credit courses without having been formally admitted to a degree program, according to the credit programs and summer sessions’ Web site.
Morgan Grainger, a senior in communication, participated in the program after high school, and could not live on campus.
“This was really hard because I didn’t get a chance to develop strong friendships with other freshman living in the dorms,” Grainger said.
Grainger said she didn’t even go to football games her freshman and sophomore years because she did not know anyone to go with.
Now however, Grainger is a full-time student.
“I am so happy that I decided to get roommates my last two years because now I can experience campus life,” Grainger said. “They taught me what college was all about.”
It’s this lesson that Kyle Byrd, a freshman in history education who lives on campus, said he is happy with so far.
“My best experience was just meeting new people, and learning about college life,” Byrd said.
He said there were other perks to living in a dorm as well.
“Living in a dorm allowed me to have a chance to walk to all of my classes and saved me a lot of money on gas,” Byrd said.