By Samantha Garza | Staff Writer
Between in-state and out- of-state students, experiences differ, especially when it comes to moving in to a new semester of college.
Federated States of Micronesia senior Jourdyn Adams said she was blessed to be able to travel across the U.S. throughout her life, but she had never been to Texas until she came to Baylor.
Adams said she came from a place where most of her leisure time was spent outdoors. When she came to Baylor, she sought out the outdoor adventure program and quickly found a community within it.
“I wasn’t completely sure what to expect, but right off the bat, I slid into a great community that I felt I could relate to and had similar values to me,” Adams said.
Adams said an advantage of being an international student was her ability to offer a new perspective, as well as to learn about new perspectives herself.
“As an international student, I’ve had a lot of opportunities to connect with people on different levels,” Adams said.
A struggle of being an out- of-state student is moving in. While move-in is a short road trip for some, it was 50 hours of travel for Adams.
Adams said one of the biggest struggles of being an international student was her inability to drive around Waco. Since she didn’t have her own vehicle, Adams would stay on campus for 12 hours.
“I spent crazy amounts of time either at Moody or at the SLC, just hoping I would run into someone that I knew just so that I could get a ride home,” Adams said.
Baltimore senior Miguel Iglesias said Texas felt like a completely different culture compared to his home in Maryland. He said the moving in process was particularly challenging in his case.
“I had to fit everything I could in my suitcase and my parents’ suitcases,” Iglesias said.
For two summers, Iglesias left his belongings in a friend’s apartment. Last summer he rented a storage unit, which he said was expensive.
Iglesias said it was hard to fit in at the beginning, not knowing a lot of people who were from Maryland forced him to find friendships outside of his comfort zone.
“Sometimes it gets lonely when you see all these people that know each other, and you’re like, ‘Man, I don’t have that connection with people from back home here in Waco,’” Iglesias said.
Fort Worth junior Peach Storm said since she came to Baylor as a Texas native, she didn’t experience culture shock because people speak, dress and eat the same things.
Although it was easier for her to acclimate to the Texas college culture than it was for out-of-state students, Storm said since in-state students come from a very similar place, they’re not as open to new experiences at first.
“The first couple of times you meet someone from California or New York, they have a very different perspective than a native Texan, which is wonderful,” Storm said. “But it’s hard to be aware that there’s so much you’ve never experienced, which can be a shock.”
Throughout her move-in process, Storm said she was lucky enough to only live an hour and a half away, so she could easily go back and forth if she forgot something.
Storm said she was lucky when she moved out of her dorm because she was able to take everything home and didn’t have pay for a storage unit.
Another advantage to being an in-state student was how easy it was for her to fit in and feel connected to the Baylor culture.
