CHRISTIAN HARTSELLE | chartsel@butler.edu | Opinion Columnist

It may be hard to imagine going anywhere else, but Butler is certainly not for everyone. Students transfer away from Butler to different universities every year for various reasons.

For former student Austin Caldwell, Butler was too much of a financial burden.

“Continuing to go wasn’t worth the debt I would be in after graduation,” said Caldwell, who is now a junior at George Washington University.

The decision to transfer is more complex for most students, however.

Former Bulldog Becca Marshalla, who is now a sophomore at Columbia College Chicago, was an English major with a concentration in creative writing the freshman year she spent at Butler.

She had thoughts of transferring all year, but she did not make it official until August of 2014.

“I didn’t like living away from home as much as I thought. I was three hours away from my family,” Marshalla said.

She said she enjoyed the creative writing component of her studies, but she did not enjoy many of the classes required for her to graduate.

Now, as a film and creative writing double major at Columbia, Marshalla is going to an arts school that suits her better than a liberal arts school.

“It is more my speed at Columbia, but it was a hard decision,” said Marshalla. “And the physical process of transferring is very easy, so if you are intimidated by that, it is the least of your worries.”

In another case, Grant Rollins, a junior at Indiana University, went to Butler for his first two years of school.

IU Junior Grant Rollins

“My freshman year, all my friends rushed and I didn’t because I didn’t think I would fit in,” Rollins said.

He said he was able to socialize with Greek students and independents alike at first. But in the fall of his sophomore year at Butler, he and his friend in the Alpha Phi sorority “had a falling out.”

Rollins said his friend’s sorority sisters did not like how much time they were spending together, so the friendship ceased.

So, understandably, the importance of Greek life at Butler had an impact on his decision to transfer out.

In addition to issues with Greek life, Rollins also felt guilty that his parents were paying for his expensive education when he did not know what he wanted to do yet.

Lastly, the lack of diversity at Butler bothered him as well.

“Most people at Butler are white and I felt like there wasn’t a good representation of LGBTQ life at Butler, either,” said Rollins. “A lot of people at Butler are clones, and it was hard to connect with people.”

Once Rollins realized he already knew many students that attended Indiana University, he decided to leave Butler as well. He said Indiana University was the better college for him.

“It was a hard decision. I felt like I would have to restart,” said Rollins. “I didn’t want to feel like a freshman again, which I definitely did.”

But, Rollins said, he feels at home at Indiana University.

“The spirit is great,” Rollins said. “People will be on the roof cheering with a ‘Honk and we’ll drink’ sign. You can walk to places to eat.”

Although Rollins has classes with teacher’s assistants and he sometimes has to walk 30 minutes to get to class, he ultimately feels that he made the right decision to transfer.

In the end, it was more about transferring to Indiana University than transferring away from Butler. There were no hard feelings.

Rollins, Caldwell and Marshalla just wanted to go somewhere they felt they belonged.