Back in the days of print, “DA Voices” used to be a section where the De Anza community’s voice was spotlighted. La Voz reporters would ask the same question to different people and arrange their quotes side by side so that readers could see varying points of view. This week, our reporter Andrea Infante asked, “What will you remember about your time at De Anza?”

As the spring quarter comes to an end, graduating and transfer students prepare to say goodbye to De Anza College. Many with plans to transfer to CSU’s and UC’s, five students shared what is next for them and reflected on their time at the community college. 

Bibis Hernandez will transfer to California State University Long Beach to continue their degree in criminal justice hoping to join law enforcement, perhaps as a police or public safety officer. 

Hernandez said they will remember how inclusive De Anza was. 

“Even though I had classes with people of different age ranges and who lived in other places, it never felt weird,” Hernandez said. “It always felt like everyone belonged there and we were all just striving towards a goal of education.” 

Vanessa Valenzuela will transfer to San Jose State University to pursue a bachelor’s degree in justice studies with a concentration in criminology. 

Valenzuela said she will remember how welcoming the faculty members were. 

“My whole educational experience at De Anza has been online, so the professors were very accommodating and nice and that was very memorable for me,” Valenzuela said. 

Annie Do will transfer to the University of California Irvine as a business administration major where she plans to join clubs and play basketball as intramural. Do said she will remember all the great resources De Anza offered along with her time on the basketball team, cherishing the connections she made with her teammates and coaches. 

“What I really love about De Anza is their many resources,” Do said. “I feel so taken care of sometimes because there’s email reminders, the student center and the tutor center. I definitely took advantage of that.” 

Henry Choy will transfer to San Jose State University as a software engineering major. Choy said he does not want to rush his time at San Jose State because he would like to complete his classes successfully and reduce the stress that often comes along. 

Choy said he will remember his time as a member of the Japanese and American Association Club and doing karaoke with the club, as well as his time with the Karate Club. 

“All the connections that I’ve made, all the friendships and all the supportive professors that I’ve had, who have advised me and guided me and given me extensions when I needed it,” Choy said.

Cathryn Krajewski will transfer to Santa Clara University and is approaching either business administration or economics. She plans to work her retail job in the meantime as it applies to her career goals and field. 

She said she will remember her time with the Math Performance Success Program. 

“I took a year off from math and I’ve never been math inclined, but somehow that program got me through two math classes I needed for my major, so I’m super thankful about that and definitely will never forget De Anza for it,” Krajewski said.

Krajewski said she was never able to take in-person classes during her time at De Anza. Since they had only offered a limited number of in-person classes, she said she felt “cheated of that preparation for transferring.”

Naiya Edwards will transfer to the University of Irvine as a criminology law and society major and hopes to receive a master’s degree. She said she would like to ‌work with either the FBI or CIA.

Edwards said she will remember the sports she took part in, basketball and track and field. 

“The coaching staff and the teammates and the overall experience was one of the best things I’ve ever been able to do, and it led to a lot of really great opportunities,” Edwards said.