Transfer101

Nepal is a world away from Texas, but for Durga Pathak overcoming the distance and differences was part of the educational experience he wanted. 

Durga grew up in Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, where he helped in his father’s textbook publishing business during school breaks. He was determined to attend a U.S. university. After scoring well on the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), he attended the University of South Alabama for one semester before transferring to Austin Community College.

Then Upon the recommendation of one of his professors at ACC, Durga visited Texas State and talked to current students. He decided it was the right place to complete his bachelor’s degree in computer science.

“The main reason I transferred to Texas State is the quality education” Durga says.

Staying in the Austin-San Antonio area allows Durga to continue his volunteer work with refugees from Bhutan, a small country east of Nepal in the Himalayas, helping them adapt to U.S. culture.

As for his own adjustment to Texas State, Pathak says, “The orientation was really helpful. My advisors and professors in the computer science department are very helpful and friendly.” He has one piece of advice for future transfer students: “Start your transfer process a little early.”

Transferring enriched his education experience more than Durga could have hoped for.  “It will be the best decision you’ve ever made.”

When Nate McCann was making plans to transfer from Northwest Vista College, he knew he had a number of big choices ahead of him, and a number of things to consider.  Angelo State University seemed to be just the right fit. “I chose ASU because of its size,” he says. “And the financial aid package they offered made it one of my most affordable options.” He also liked the fact that ASU is relatively close to San Antonio and his home town of Helotes, so going home on the weekends is always convenient.

Set to graduate in Spring 2011, Nate is a Communications major who has made the Dean’s list in both 2009 and 2010. He notes a number of campus resources that have helped him excel at ASU. 

 “The Porter Henderson Library has helped me tremendously with different research projects,” he says. “I’ve also used the Writing Center to proofread papers and get help with my writing skills.”

 But it’s not all academics for Nate. “I play various intramural sports,” he says. “I love being involved in the Film Club. I attend ASU volleyball, basketball and football games and other sporting events.”

 When asked what advice he’d give a potential transfer student, his answer is simple: “Get involved in as many activities as possible and enjoy college while you can.”

For Jesse Trevino, community college meant a second chance. The San Antonio painter and muralist had just completed his first year at the Art Student League in New York City in mid-1966, and was about to leave for one of the school’s summer programs in Paris, when he was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to Vietnam. Fighting off snipers in the Mekong Delta, he was booby-trapped and severely wounded all over his body.

Trevino spent more than two years in military hospitals and ultimately lost his right hand. Back in civilian life, he registered at San Antonio College hoping to become an art teacher. But with the encouragement of his professors, he instead learned how to draw and paint with his left hand, graduating from SAC and going on to refine his skills while earning a bachelor’s degree from Our Lady of the Lake University and then a master’s from The University of Texas at San Antonio.

Trevino began photographing scenes from everyday life on the West Side — a snow-cone vendor, kids lined up in front of an old car, a nightclub, bakery, drugstore or church — and then painting them in a throbbing, hyper-realist style. Two of them, “Mis Hermanos” (My Brothers) and “Tienda de Elizondo” (Elizondo’s Shop), now belong to the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. Then he started assembling massive, colorful murals. Trevino’s “The Spirit of Healing,” done with 150,000 pieces of hand-cut ceramic tile on the side of Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital, is nine stories high and 40 feet wide, and has become a San Antonio landmark.