National Transfer Student Week — Oct. 18-22 — celebrates the accomplishments of transfer students at different colleges around the country. The week also honors all the staff and professionals who support transfer students as they navigate the transfer process to reach their ultimate academic, career and personal goals.
The Wolves to Rams (W2R) S-STEM program welcomed more than 100 new transfer students from Front Range Community College to Colorado State University this semester. As the W2R program continues to grow, it is better equipped to support and create more opportunities for transfer students to be successful at CSU.
According to W2R leadership, the semester has been very challenging. Coming back to on-campus classes, working through the pandemic and navigating new transitions are just a few of the obstacles that our students are facing now, but once again, transfer students have proven to be resilient, strong and overall champions.
Their stories and experiences are a tribute to the strength, resiliency and aspirations to be successful and obtain their bachelor’s degree at CSU.
Corey Simpson
Corey Simpson is a second-year transfer student double majoring in horticulture and psychology and a peer mentor for the W2R program.
“The transition from FRCC to CSU has felt lengthy due to the pandemic; online and hybrid classes have made the transfer of institutions feel less real, less tangible,” Simpson said. “Fall 2021 is my first fully on-campus semester and I am grateful to be a part of the Wolves to Rams community.”
Simpson explained that while incoming first-year students have time to explore the campus, find their niche and gain an understanding of how CSU works, transfer students do not have that luxury.
Simpson said that Wolves to Rams provided her with ample resources to navigate campus and a means of self-exploration that has increased her comfort levels. “I have garnered a wonderful network, which in large has been facilitated by my supports in W2R,” Simpson said.
Simpson who is an honors student and is planning to apply to graduate school after graduating from CSU added: “Having this community before, during and after the transfer process truly set me up for success. Without them, I wouldn’t be where I am.”
Dinesh Giri
Dinesh is a first-generation transfer student looking to be the first in his family to get a bachelor’s degree.
“I was born and grew up in Nepal,” said Giri transferred to CSU this semester and is majoring in computer science. “I came from a small village, in a low-income family, in a small country with many different cultures and languages. Moving from Nepal to Colorado was significantly different in many aspects.”
Giri explained that he started at Front Range Community College, where he spent more than two years learning as much as he could about the new culture, the language, and everything there is to know about computer science. “I never thought that I will be transferring to Colorado State University to pursue my career in computer science as a Ram,” he said.
Giri said that while he has mixed emotions about the transition W2R has been a significant asset.
“W2R has helped tremendously,” he said. “They helped me transfer my credits from FRCC, discovered scholarship opportunities, and organize my financial aid to make my transfer super simple.”
Susan Baden
Susan Baden is a first-generation transfer student who is also a student parent working on her bachelor’s degree in natural resources management with a minor in restoration ecology.
“The transfer process, during the middle of the pandemic, was a hard adjustment,” said Baden.
However, Baden said that the W2R community helped guide her into enrolling at a four-year university. “I constantly felt like I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the other students who have been at the university for an additional two years prior to transferring, but I feel that the involvement with the W2R community prepared me, maybe even more so than the university students, for what university life entails,” she said.
“From assistance finding research/lab positions on campus to creating a STEM resume, the W2R community helps guide you into a successful university experience, ultimately setting us up for success into our career post-graduation,” Baden said.
These are just a few examples of how strong, resilient, and amazing the transfer student population at CSU is. Let’s continue to support, encourage, and promote transfer students as we continue to celebrate National Transfer Student Week.
