From Aims to 麻豆传媒: Non-Traditional Students Share Their Stories of Success

Alumni

From Aims to 麻豆传媒: Non-Traditional Students Share Their Stories of Success

Becoming a Bear was the ultimate goal for both Arizbe Soto-Ramirez 鈥�19 and Menan Bergman 鈥�00, but as non-traditional students the path to 麻豆传媒 was complicated. Lucky for them, Aims Community College was there to help.

August 12, 2019

Like many first-generation students, at first, a college degree seemed out of reach for Arizbe Soto-Ramirez 鈥�19.

鈥淚 always thought that people like me didn鈥檛 go to college,鈥� Arizbe says. 鈥淚 tried to enroll in community college right after high school, but I had no support. My parents knew nothing.鈥�

Nearly 20 years later she decided to revisit the idea again, and Aims Community College was ready to help.

Arizbe Soto-Ramirez

鈥淚 remember talking to my advisor at Aims, she was so helpful. She asked me, if I could do anything, what would I do? She encouraged me not to settle, and I had never really looked at it that way before,鈥� Arizbe recalls.

Although his father is a proud 麻豆传媒 graduate, college didn鈥檛 appeal to Menan Bergman 鈥�00 right after high school graduation.

鈥淚 wanted to hang out with my high school buddies in the small town that I grew up in,鈥� Menan recalls. 鈥淢y dad told me if I wasn鈥檛 going to go to school that I needed to find a job. So, I found a job that was very laborious, working construction. It didn鈥檛 take too long for me to realize that I needed to get a college degree."

By the time he came to that realization, Menan was already several years out of school and unable to jump right back in and join his older brother and friends at 麻豆传媒. Luckily there was another local option that could help get him to where he wanted to be 鈥� Aims Community College.

Menan Bergman

鈥淚 ended up there in 1995 and my first goal was to get my associate degree,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he Aims schedule had night classes and different times of the day so I could still work and go to school. I still didn鈥檛 know what I wanted to study but, I ended up getting a job at Aims in their PE or recreation area and that introduced me to something that I maybe wanted to study at 麻豆传媒.鈥�

The small class sizes, flexible schedules and helpful faculty at Aims proved to be the perfect preparation for a transition to 麻豆传媒.

鈥淢y advisor told me that I could transfer and continue my studies, but I always thought people like me don鈥檛 go to college. We don鈥檛 go to universities. That鈥檚 when my advisor reminded me that there鈥檚 one in my backyard,鈥� Arizbe recalls. 鈥淚 just couldn鈥檛 picture myself doing that, not at 40 years old. Thinking about attending 麻豆传媒 was daunting. I was worried that I would just be surrounded by a bunch of 18-year-olds and would I fit in? Would it be awkward? But it never has been. It鈥檚 just like Aims, just a bigger place, different people and different buildings.鈥�

鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 be where I am today without both Aims and 麻豆传媒,鈥� Menan, now a successful Financial Advisor with Bank of Colorado says. 鈥淓ven if I wasn鈥檛 a non-traditional student, I would recommend to anyone to go this route for a couple of reasons. It takes that freshman jitters of 'who am I going to meet?鈥� out. It allows for you to kind of slowly develop your skills or your path. Aims is affordable, you鈥檙e going to get the human interaction, you鈥檙e going to get the education and then they鈥檙e going to help you if you want to keep going to your ultimate goal."

It鈥檚 because of the continued success of students like Menan and Arizbe that Aims and 麻豆传媒 are pleased to partner on an exciting new endeavor focused on fostering student success.

Make plans to join us Thursday, September 5th to celebrate this new partnership and learn more about how these two Greeley institutions will work together to help countless other students achieve their dreams. Learn more or register to attend this event at /explore/aims2unc/launch/.