The right campus doesn’t just give you a major—it gives you momentum. Alie Jones learned that when she transferred home to PennWest Edinboro after one semester at a much larger university. At Kent State, she admired the fashion merchandising program, but the scale made it hard to break in. “It was a huge, huge, huge campus and it was so hard to get involved,” she says. She’d thrived on clubs and leadership in high school; she wanted that same energy in college.

At Edinboro, involvement clicked into place. Now a junior, Alie jumped into Greek life, cheerleading, and the PennWest Leadership Academy, picked up shifts in the campus library, and joined the peer mentoring office. There, she’s often the first friendly guide for new and transfer students, answering questions, making connections, and pointing classmates to the people who can help. “If you have a question, somebody knows the answer—just ask it,” she tells them. Over winter break, she completed an online orientation; by summer, she was serving as an orientation leader, paying forward the welcome she received.

Academically, Alie shaped a practical, passion-aligned path: Interdisciplinary Studies with a minor in Event Planning & Management, channeling a long-standing interest in weddings and hospitality into career-ready skills. On and off campus, she keeps giving back—volunteering with her high school marching band and staying active in theater, widening her circle of mentors and friends.

Her transfer felt easy because people made it easy. “The whole Edinboro admissions team was just so amazingly helpful,” she says. Forms, credit questions, housing details—each step came with clear answers and warm support. The result: confidence, community, and a degree plan built for real careers.

That simple posture—show up, ask, connect—turned a hard-to-navigate start into a campus life full of friends, mentors, and résumé-ready experiences, so transfer students like Alie can find their people, shape a path, and keep building momentum at PennWest.