On a grey, cold, and drizzly early morning last Wednesday, 35 Puente & Transfer Center students boarded a bus for the first-ever Puente/Transfer Center collaborative SoCal College Tour and the Transfer Center’s first-ever SoCal trip. Chaperones were Adriana Johnston & Guillermo Alonzo from the Transfer Center and Angela Serrano and Lucia Lachmayr from Puente. It took a lot of planning and coordination between Puente counselors and Angela Serrano, and Transfer Center counselor Adriana Johnston, who handled most of the logistics of our trip. We received a warm welcome at every college and had amazingly comprehensive tours at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, UCLA, CSU Long Beach, and finally UC Santa Barbara.
The students were impressed by the diversity of climates and the substantial support offered at each college. While the daily itinerary was jam-packed from early morning to late evening, the students definitely enjoyed the visits. They were encouraged to consider other colleges by this Southern California college tour.
After visiting the campuses, many students said they wanted to apply to the schools they visited. One student, who had already been accepted to UC Davis and had applied to, but hadn’t seriously considered, UCLA, was surprised by how much he liked it. He found out on the last evening of the trip that he had been accepted to, and now has plans to attend, UCLA. This student, Shukhratbek Khabibullayev, whom we discovered on the trip, also wrote a book about memory called The Mnemonics Chronicle. Another student, Camila Rodriguez, shared, “The SoCal trip was very valuable, especially as a first-gen Latina, because I learned how different universities work. I also appreciated the level of independence we were given to explore and gain new experiences. Our chaperones were caring, responsible, and supportive throughout the entire trip. Definitely recommend and hope to do this again!” Another student, Marian Soto, noted that, “My biggest takeaway from the SoCal trip was seeing how many families take their kids to explore campuses, and growing up, I never got the chance to.”
Many students were really impressed to see the actual schools, as they had only ever heard of them but never visited. Several students mentioned they had never considered applying to a UC but will now. Several other students are now adding Cal Poly and CSU Long Beach to their transfer plans. Overall, this was a useful and transformative trip, as most students are now considering expanding their college choices.
