In high school, I had no intentions of continuing my education. I wanted the fastest track into the workforce, so after graduating I quickly got a job and that is what I did for 5 years. And now here I am, in 2018-11 years later, and I’m finishing my bachelors degree in Animal and Veterinary science. I thought I would use this opportunity to reflect on my undergraduate experience to let people know you can go back to school after a break and transfer from a community college to a university.
I decided to continue my education in the fall of 2012. Since I was out of school for 5 years, and wasn’t the best student to begin with, I thought community college was a good opportunity to get “my feet wet” again in academia. I enrolled at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. I pursued an associate degree in liberal studies because I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to study and it allowed me the possibility to transfer somewhere else.
While finishing my associates, I had full intentions on transferring to another college to complete a bachelors degree. I applied to Texas A&M and the University of Wyoming. After being accepted to both schools, I was fortunate enough to tour both campuses and get a feel for the University and their surrounding areas. Both schools offer a great education, but the University of Wyoming was hands down the better pick for me. Wyoming was a great fit for me because it offers a small town, small class sizes, friendly faculty and staff and plenty of outdoor activities when I could catch a break from class.
I transferred to UW in the fall of 2015. All my classes from community college transferred, except for two. Transferring was not the headache that some people make it out to be. I switched majors from Liberal Studies to Animal and Veterinary Sciences and minored in Farm and Ranch Management.
The education I received from UW has been exceptional and the opportunities I got to participate in have been even better. I gained hands on experience working at the Wyoming State Veterinary Lab, where I performed diagnostic serology on an array of animals. I was also fortunate to participate on a research project that involved reindeer where I got to travel to Fairbanks, Alaska for five days. I will be traveling to Oregon later this summer where I will present this research. The course program and hands on experience offered by UW has prepared me well for my future.
With only four weeks to go until I finish my bachelors, I look back at where I started and where I am now, and can’t be more thankful for the opportunities I had along the way. It is possible to continue education after a long break and transferring schools is not overwhelming. I encourage everyone in school to take part in all the opportunities they can, you never know where these opportunities will take you.