Hanh Tran started college in 2011 as a nursing student.
She wanted to change the world and to her, that meant joining the medical field. Unfortunately, finances and her mental health kept her from graduating at the time.
“It wasn’t until 2014 when I actually had a little stint in the military, I got medically discharged for something that wasn’t in my control,” she said. “I was actually at a very low point in my life and I got to a point where it just clicked for me and I started thinking, ‘If I feel this way about my own life, I wonder how many others are affected by this?’”
That was when Tran changed her focus.
“I realized that I do want to help people, but by being a nurse, I only get to help a couple people at a time,” she said. “But by becoming an engineer, I can help thousands more.”
Initially, Tran reached out to Charles Goodman, an instructor at Pitt Community College (PCC) in Greenville, North Carolina, who told her about the Engineering Pathways Program.
Through the program, various schools within the University of North Carolina System partner with several community colleges around North Carolina to make it easier for students to transition from a community college. Program members meet twice annually to discuss best practices and pain points for students, share course materials and connect with NC Community College System representatives.
The program has grown more competitive over the years due to its success. Engineering transfer students who come through the program and graduate from NC State leave with similar GPAs to those students who entered NC State as part of the Engineering First-Year Program.
Those who work with the Pathways Program aim to provide information on course offerings so students can take needed courses at partnership institutions, to provide course materials to partnership programs and more.
According to Kim Roberts, the College’s director of recruiting, enrollment management and educational partnerships, one of the program’s most important goals is to help students take classes that they need to graduate on time.
“An associate in science is drawn out kind of generically,” said Roberts, who also noted that the program led to an associate in engineering degree rather than just an associate in science.
“You could use that time to launch yourself into any number of majors at a four-year institution,” she said. “Sure, you could be taking history and religion and all that, but you can take those anytime. Let’s take more calculus, more physics and chemistry.”
Tran took several STEM classes at PCC, which she said helped her prepare for her time at NC State University. She is currently studying biomedical engineering at NC State and is a Goodnight Scholar and a Goldwater Scholar.
“It definitely put me in a better position to transition,” she said. “I wouldn’t say seamlessly, but it definitely made the transition a little easier.”
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