The Transfer Portal: A Semester at Mississippi State

James Oatis

He/Him 

8/26/25

Staff Writer

Starkville, MS – Only one factor mattered to me when I was fifteen and decided I wanted to go to college: football. I daydreamed about getting accepted into colleges like the University of Southern California, Louisiana State University, or Ohio State, just to experience the life of a college football fan. As I got older, I realized that this approach to choosing a college was not the smartest. My senior year came, and though I was accepted into football schools like CU Boulder, football no longer mattered to me as much as Plymouth State’s value and top-tier faculty. 

Still, the desire to travel somewhere with prominent college football lived deep inside me. Without driving six hours to Penn State, college football in the Northeast at colleges like Boston College, Syracuse, and Rutgers does not match the energy that makes college football special in the South and Midwest. And so, through the University of New Hampshire’s participation in the National Student Exchange program, I was able to make a yearslong dream a reality for a semester. With much help from NSE coordinator Paula DiNardo, I was able to find an exchange program at Mississippi State University. 

When I first arrived in Starkville, Mississippi, one thing stood out to me more than anything: Plymouth can be an ice box at times, but Mississippi State feels like the interior of a microwave. After getting “used” to the heat after a few days, the next major difference between Plymouth State and Mississippi State came to light. While Plymouth State’s campus from the library to the dining hall is about a quarter-mile walk, Mississippi State is a sprawl of buildings and open land. I picked up my books for the semester at a massive two-story Barnes and Noble. The bookstore was littered with branded school merchandise, a full non-academic bookstore, and enough school supplies to survive off of for at least a full four years.

And though Greek Life is present at Plymouth, it seems miniscule compared to the fever of sororities and fraternities at Mississippi State. Instead of quaint Russell and Merrill Street houses, many Mississippi fraternities have large, luxurious mansions on campus property. 

Even compared to large schools in the northeast like UMass Amherst and UConn, Mississippi State seems to be a completely different place than any large college up north. And all of my bewilderment comes before any classes have even started. For now, I can only imagine the differences in ideas and philosophies of teaching in Mississippi, compared to those at Plymouth State.