{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-article-tsx","path":"/transferexperience","result":{"data":{"primeArticle":{"slug":"transferexperience","excerpt":"Many freshly graduated transfer students spent less than two quarters on campus. How do they feel about their time at UCLA?","headline":"I am a Bruin","author":"Lauren Campbell","authorbio":"","authoremail":"","authortwitter":"","coverimg":"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/transferexperience/prime.transferexperiences1.1-71636e64b9aa9293e0f2eadf4f060ec3.png","covercred":"Ashley Shue-Lih Ko","coveralt":"Illustration of transfer students connecting over zoom","articleType":"article","updated":null,"content":[{"type":"text","value":"Taylor Fairless lived on campus for less than two quarters before the COVID-19 pandemic sent her packing. As a transfer student, those two quarters were the only time she physically spent at UCLA before her graduation this June."},{"type":"text","value":"Fairless, an alumnus and former transfer student, was one of the over 3,000 transfers that enrolled at UCLA in fall 2019, only to have their on-campus experience cut short."},{"type":"text","value":"Committing to UCLA was a leap of faith, Fairless said. Since she didn’t have the chance to visit the university prior to enrolling, she spent the summer of 2019 anxious and uncertain. But that all changed once she finally stepped foot on campus."},{"type":"text","value":"“It wasn't until I got to UCLA and actually saw it in its entirety that I realized that ‘OK I can actually find what it is that I love in this environment ... I can actually blossom,’” Fairless said."},{"type":"text","value":"Fairless quickly found her place at UCLA. She earned a job working with the admissions office for the LL.M program at the School of Law."},{"type":"text","value":"“I think actually getting a job on campus that is meaningful to you ... helps you to adjust to living on campus and going to UCLA because it makes you feel like you’re part of the university as more than just a student,” she said."},{"type":"text","value":"Before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Fairless said she grew to love even the smallest parts of life on campus, from midnight strolls to Kerckhoff Hall to early morning piano music at Covel Commons."},{"type":"text","value":"But the transition to remote learning presented transfer students like Fairless with a multitude of challenges."},{"type":"text","value":"Mathew Bui, a fifth-year history transfer student, recalled that the first few months of remote learning were emotionally draining. At the start of the pandemic, Westwood was like a ghost town, he said. He felt lonely and worried about the strain the pandemic would place on his friendships, especially with graduating transfers to whom he wasn’t able to say goodbye."},{"type":"text","value":"“I was also living in the apartments for a couple months after the lockdown ... everyone had left,” Bui said. “I felt really alone ... (Back) then, it felt horrible. It just felt like ‘Wow, everything got taken away from me.’”"},{"type":"text","value":"Like Fairless and Bui, alumnus and former transfer student Zachary Durkee struggled with missing out on what he had hoped would be a conventional college experience. Instead of walking between buildings for classes, he was confined to his home to watch lectures via Zoom."},{"type":"text","value":"“I felt like I was definitely more productive before the pandemic just because I had places I had to be,” Durkee said. “Now you don’t really have that separation of school or anything anymore and ... the days kind of just go by.”"},{"type":"text","value":"Durkee also longed for the social perks of attending college in person."},{"type":"text","value":"“It has kind of sucked because you don’t have that connection to your friends that you are used to,” he said. “College is a time where people are dating and meeting people, sometimes that they end up marrying, and you start thinking about at the back of your head how much you are missing out on.”"},{"type":"image","value":"{\"alt\":\"Illustration of student imagining the things they are missing due to online school.\",\"url\":\"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/transferexperience/prime.transferexperiences2.1-d28f9f8135dd78f5434023aa015d197e.png\",\"credit\":\"Ashley Shue-Lih Ko\",\"caption\":\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Durkee wasn’t the only one who wrestled with isolation at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic – fifth-year Spanish transfer student Eleticia Rangel  did, too."},{"type":"text","value":"Rangel, who had hoped to find a friendly environment and bustling intellectual community at UCLA, said the social barriers of online instruction have been especially difficult for her to overcome."},{"type":"text","value":"“I wanted to have a sense of community because in community college, I had a strong one,” Rangel said. “But because everything is based on COVID, it’s kind of hard to make (friends) online.”"},{"type":"text","value":"Despite the challenges associated with remote learning, these transfer students have found ways to navigate the process and take advantage of the virtual environment."},{"type":"text","value":"Rangel was able to connect virtually with the children at the San Fernando Valley Refugee Children Center, where she worked as part of a community engagement course she took. She said this experience encouraged her to pursue a career working with refugee children."},{"type":"pull","value":"{\"caption\":\"I wanted to have a sense of community because in community college, I had a strong one,” Rangel said. “But because everything is based on COVID, it’s kind of hard to make (friends) online.”\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Fairless has founded two organizations during her time at UCLA. In winter quarter 2020, she spearheaded the UCLA division of Lawyers Without Borders, a group of aspiring lawyers that tackle international cases like overturning the death sentence of a Yazidi man in Iraq targeted for his race and religion."},{"type":"text","value":"Lawyers Without Borders gained traction in spring 2020 during the transition to remote instruction, Fairless said, and created an opportunity for students to remain connected to the university while isolated at home."},{"type":"text","value":"“We helped to continue making people feel involved and helping people manage what was a very difficult situation at first,” Fairless said."},{"type":"text","value":"In July 2020, Fairless established the Journal on World Affairs at UCLA, fueled by her passion for foreign policy. In the publication, student writers have released articles about international topics like sectarian violence in Pakistan and elections in East Africa. The journal has allowed college students around the world, from Columbia University to the University of Melbourne, to connect virtually."},{"type":"text","value":"The remote environment ushered in by COVID-19 has created many opportunities for her to build strong connections across the globe, Fairless said, which has been especially beneficial considering her interest in international relations."},{"type":"text","value":"“I have friends right now that I’m working with in Australia, Germany, France, Mexico ... kind of just scattered across the world, and I feel like Zoom normalized that,” Fairless said. “It allowed people to connect with each other in ways that we’ve never been connected before.”"},{"type":"text","value":"Just as Fairless has used online platforms to connect with people all over the world, other transfer students have turned to social media to connect with their peers at UCLA."},{"type":"text","value":"According to fourth-year ethnomusicology and comparative literature transfer student Herman Luis Chavez, who is also the 2021-2022 Undergraduate Student Association Council transfer student representative, online platforms such as the UCLA Transfer Students Facebook Group have created a strong sense of interconnectedness within the transfer community."},{"type":"text","value":"“I didn’t know that UCLA had such an amazing network and history of transfers,” Chavez said. “That transfer Facebook group has so many students on it. There are students that graduated years ago that are still there to give their advice and their wisdom.”"},{"type":"image","value":"{\"alt\":\"Illustration of students finding community\",\"url\":\"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/transferexperience/prime.transferexperiences3.1-55f33fb1525364f6560d62757379463d.png\",\"credit\":\"Ashley Shue-Lih Ko\",\"caption\":\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Chavez, who now helps to moderate the Facebook group, said he was taken aback by the support he felt from the transfer community on Facebook when he was first admitted to UCLA in spring 2020."},{"type":"text","value":"“I ended up talking with a couple of really amazing graduating transfers ... and it was so clear to me that the community was one that was willing to help support one another,” Chavez said. “The fact that I was able to get that sense even on a Facebook group in the middle of a pandemic I think is outstanding.”"},{"type":"pull","value":"{\"caption\":\"That transfer Facebook group has so many students on it. There are students that graduated years ago that are still there to give their advice and their wisdom.”\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Right before the pandemic, Durkee landed his dream internship at the U.S. Department of State. Once everything moved online, he grew anxious about the possibility of missing out on this experience."},{"type":"text","value":"Durkee said that, luckily, his State Department internship was offered remotely. Since he hopes to become a foreign service officer, he described his remote internship as one of the best experiences he has ever had."},{"type":"text","value":"Similarly, Bui has found ways to not only adapt to the remote environment but take advantage of the unique opportunities it has presented to work toward his career goals."},{"type":"text","value":"Bui took a leave of absence in the winter and spring quarters of this year to extend his time at UCLA and plans on graduating after fall quarter 2021."},{"type":"text","value":"“I was like, ... Am I really going to just go out like this?” Bui said. “I don’t feel like I am ready to leave school yet. I felt like there was still more to be done.”"},{"type":"text","value":"Since spring 2020, he has focused on growing professionally."},{"type":"text","value":"Bui developed a new interest in the entertainment industry during the pandemic, he said. In the past year, he has joined programs such as the Emma Bowen Foundation, the Evolve Entertainment Fund and the Academy Gold Rising Program, all of which work to connect minority students interested in entertainment to media companies. He also became a brand ambassador for Discord at UCLA."},{"type":"text","value":"Bui attributes much of his professional and networking success to online platforms such as Slack, where peers have shared various extracurricular opportunities, and Zoom, on which he has attended virtual workshops and coffee chats. He said Zoom has actually made the sometimes difficult process of networking at these events much easier."},{"type":"text","value":"“I remember back when we were in person, going to these events was a whole mission,”  Bui said."},{"type":"text","value":"Zoom has, in many ways, democratized networking, he explained."},{"type":"text","value":"In place of overcrowded in-person events with business attire and nerve-wracking conversation, Bui said these virtual events consist of people in pajamas, with background clutter and casual conversation. Bui feels this new online culture has helped him see industry professionals as relatable, everyday people."},{"type":"text","value":"“They’re just like us,” Bui said. “Outside of work, they’re just normal people who are messy, who sleep all day, who struggle with working at home. It’s just been relatable ... it’s nice to see the authenticity ...  it’s really nice to have that.”"},{"type":"text","value":"Bui said he finally feels ready to graduate – something he could not have imagined saying at the start of the pandemic."},{"type":"text","value":"Rangel felt especially proud of her upcoming graduation in the fall after the past year of remote learning."},{"type":"text","value":"“For me, the actual degree from UCLA means I survived,” Rangel said. “It means I went through one of the most rigorous times of my life despite the outside world being as big of a mess as my brain ... I think I am more appreciative of everything.”"},{"type":"text","value":"Fairless credits the collective efforts of UCLA faculty and students with helping her foster a connection to the university, despite spending most of her time there remotely."},{"type":"pull","value":"{\"caption\":\"For me, the actual degree from UCLA means I survived,” Rangel said. “It means I went through one of the most rigorous times of my life despite the outside world being as big of a mess as my brain.”\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"“Especially being a transfer, that’s particularly hard during these circumstances because we were never really on campus that much,” Fairless said. “So it’s still kind of remarkable that even despite that, I still feel like I am graduating and I would tell people ‘I am a Bruin’ – I don’t feel like I am not. So I think that’s pretty remarkable.”"}]}},"pageContext":{"term":"summer21","slug":"transferexperience"}},"staticQueryHashes":[]}