De Anza College hosted its annual transfer celebration online over Zoom on June 9 to celebrate students who are transferring to a four-year university in the upcoming academic year.

Transfer Celebration Night was organized by the transfer center and “Mentors at De Anza,” which is a peer mentorship program consisting of experienced De Anza students. The mentors assist and provide resources to first-year college students in hopes of building a successful college experience.

Rob Mieso, the vice president of the Office of Student Services, said that he was thankful for his staff that have supported students throughout the year. He also congratulated students for transferring and thanked them for choosing De Anza for their academic journey.

“I know you will be successful because you have such an amazing foundation,” Mieso said. “Take whatever you’ve learned here and build on that.”

Representatives from the University of California system, California State University system and private colleges were also in attendance for the event. They helped answer questions from transfer students.

The hosts organized activities such as slide decoration of students’ experiences, a raffle, a transfer graduation slideshow and counseling time.

Lead mentor Luiza Eloy, a 23-year-old majoring in psychology and political science, helped plan and co-host the event. Next spring, she will attend UC Berkeley. She said that she enjoyed hearing about everyone else’s transfer journey.

“It was a good time where I can sit back and reflect on our own journey instead of listening to someone else talk,” Eloy said.

Despite being excited for her next phase of life, Eloy said she feels bittersweet since she made most of her friends through programs and organizations at De Anza.

Anderson Lam, a 19-year-old engineering major transferring to UC Berkeley, said that he attended the event hoping to meet fellow international transfer students who will also go to the same school as him. He said that his UC representative prepared him well by providing information and answering all his concerns about housing.

“I’m nervous to start my journey because UC Berkeley is very competitive,” Lam said. “As a student who attended community college during the pandemic, I think it will be very tough for me to adapt to the new in-person, campus life this fall.”

Kristina Nguyen, 20, sociology major is also transferring to UC Berkeley. She said that she spent most of her time at De Anza online until this spring. 

As for her next step in life, Nguyen said that she was scared of transitioning from being in a small classroom to another room of over 100 people.

“It’s a part of life where you have to grow up and move on,” Nguyen said. “Even though it’s scary to move on, at the same time, it’s rewarding as I think about it as I overcame having an education during the pandemic.”

Nguyen also said how different her living style would be after her time at De Anza.

“It’s a big transition in my eyes,” Nguyen said. “I would be living alone without my parents and this is gonna be the first time where I’m truly independent without them.”

Nguyen had the following advice to share with her fellow students who are still on their transfer journey.

“The transfer process is all about your self-determination and your work,” Nguyen said. “If you know both of those things, I feel like you can overcome anything.”