From community college to university: Zoe Brown’s transfer student success story
Published on Jun 11, 2024
Zoe Brown found success through her community college experience at Somerset Community College (SCC). She is continuing her higher education journey at Western Kentucky University (WKU) to pursue her passion for mathematics. Her dream is to give back to others just as her professors have poured into her.
The path to Brown’s success was not always clear. After she graduated from her homeschool in 2019 with a perfect ACT score and earned college credits in high school, she took a break from her studies. However, her one-year break from school was met with the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, Brown took additional time off from her academic pursuits.
In the fall of 2021, Brown found herself at SCC and started making strides to complete her associate degree. She did well in classes but had yet to discover a passion that she could transform into a career.
Her next semester at SCC would change the trajectory of her goals when she experienced her Intro to Computers class taught by SCC’s Associate Professor of CIT.
Xia encouraged her to pursue the Computer Information Technology (CIT) program at SCC due to her talents in Math and Computer Science.
Brown already had the goal to transfer to the University of the Cumberlands after her studies at SCC but after discussions with her professor, she was encouraged to consider other transfer options in the state.
“I figured this is someone who knows what he is talking about,” Brown thought. “I should look into what he recommends.”
After careful consideration and completing the CIT Program and two associate degrees at SCC with academic excellence, Brown graduated with high distinction from SCC in spring 2023. She was then accepted to Western Kentucky University.
It has been a year since Brown started her educational journey at WKU, but she says that the transition to a University from a Community College has made her stand out among her peers.
She encourages students to be involved and take advantage of all the resources at SCC.
“You never know where you will find those opportunities,” Brown advised. “You don’t want to get to your last semester and realize the opportunities you could have had.
Brown actively sought out opportunities and became involved in the social scene at WKU by taking on the role of webmaster for the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) and joining a Christian club. These experiences provided her with a supportive community as she navigated living on a college campus for the first time after mostly studying online during the pandemic.
When she graduates WKU with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics and a minor in statistics, Brown will have already completed 15-18 credit hours towards her master's degree thanks to WKU’s JUMP program she was most recently accepted to.
In addition, she received a prestigious third-year mathematics award and a scholarship from the math department at WKU after her first year as a Hilltopper.
Brown had the opportunity to talk with one of the professors on the committee who selected the recipients of some of the awards she received.
“He told me that when they were choosing the recipients for the awards, my community college background stood out to them,” Brown said.
Because of her smooth transition to WKU and academic success, her community college background became one of her strengths.
Brown observed that community college students demonstrate resilience due to their unique stories and backgrounds.
“By the time a community college student gets to a university, they have shown that whatever it was in your past that kept you from going the traditional route, you have overcome it,” Brown said. “It’s a signal to yourself and those around you that you have already done so much more than you thought you were capable of.”
Her studies at WKU may not perfectly mirror the degree in CIT she received at SCC, but she has found opportunities with the skills she gained at SCC.
She met a professor of animation at WKU while they were both taking a computer science class. This led Brown to be included in a project the professor was working on - a Geology Lab project that would make geology studies accessible to rural communities and more accessible to vision and hearing-impaired individuals.
That connection landed Brown a great opportunity to be actively involved with programming this new technology.
“I was only able to get this amazing opportunity because of the programming skills I learned at SCC,” Brown said.
The project is currently in its early production stages, but it has ignited a vision within Brown to make her passion for Math more accessible and enjoyable to students. Ultimately, she envisions her journey culminating in a familiar place—community colleges—where she can make a meaningful impact.
“One of the things I discovered at SCC is a passion for making education more available to students who may not have other educational options and making sure those students still have access to a quality education,” Brown said.
Brown pondered a period when it felt like everything was crumbling, yet she was determined to pursue her goals amid the pandemic.
“For me, it felt like I didn’t have a lot of options due to my circumstances,” Brown reflected. “I feel like there are other students who may feel like that. They need to be shown that community colleges can offer a quality education and experience. I want to be a part of that.”
Pamela Bridgman, who was Brown's SCC advisor and is now retired, reflected on Brown's time at SCC.
“Zoe was an exceptional student while at SCC,” Bridgman said. “I know there’s a very bright future ahead of her.”
If you're interested in starting your education at SCC and transferring to a four-year school, learn more about the University Center of Southern Kentucky and our partnerships with multiple Kentucky universities at https://somersetcc.info/transfer.
Learn more about CIT at SCC here: somersetcc.info/CIT.
