While the common elements of collegiate transition have been defined and explored, there are layers of complexity in students' characteristics and educational pathways that make this transition experience different for every student. This exploration centers on students as they experience the higher education continuum, beginning before the first year of college and continuing through graduation. While it is tempting to think about the various stages of higher education as relatively predictable time periods within a four-year trajectory, it must be remembered that the real world is not nearly so neat and tidy. Here, the author explores the many murky areas between and within transition periods that challenge the efforts to generalize about student experiences. She also considers the differences among individual students that sometimes make it difficult to categorize them accurately according to age and stage.