Exploring the transfer student capital-building experiences of lateral transfer

Abstract

First, to my family and close friends, thank you for all of the love and support you have given me. I appreciate each and every one of you for all of the positive energy you add to my life.I would also like to thank my dissertation committee: Dr. Dan Volchok, Dr. Joe McNabb, and Dr. Lee Brossoit. I am especially grateful for Dr. Volchok's guidance, thoughtful feedback, and encouragement as I made my way through this journey. Thank you all for trusting me to do a good job with this.To my participants, thank you for sharing your stories with me so openly and honestly. I am so appreciative of the time you spent with me, allowing me into your lives in such a meaningful way. I would not have been able to do this without you and I hope I represented you well.To my academic advising colleagues across the university who helped me recruit participants, I appreciate you so much! Thank you for taking the time and energy to share my message with students.A very special shout out goes to MM, who cares about transfer students as much as I do and who went above and beyond to help me find participants. Thank you for all of your support and for everything you do to help transfer students thrive.Last but definitely not least, to my FY family, thank you! To our amazing students, your successes have inspired me to do this in so many ways, and you continue to inspire me every day. To my colleagues, thank you for cheering me on, for helping me brainstorm and troubleshoot, and for allowing me to share the lessons I have learned from this research with you. Another very special shoutout goes to my advising team colleagues, MML and ETC! Thank you for everything you have done over the last eight years to help me feel supported and for contributing to my growth as a professional. This dissertation is a very big deal for me, and I appreciate that you see that and are sharing in this excitement with me. DedicationThis dissertation, and everything I have ever done in my career, is dedicated to the women in my life who share my last name and my DNA, my mother Cecilia holding the very top spot on that list. I did this for and because of these women, many of whom came to this country with nothing, risking everything to work harder than everyone else, sacrifice, resist, and push forward to do whatever needed to be done so they could give their children the opportunities they never had. This is especially true of my mother, whose many sacrifices paved the road for me and my hopes and dreams. Mami, I will never be able to repay you for everything you've done for me, but please know that I will be forever grateful.Me siento muy orgullosa de ser tu hija -I'm incredibly proud to be your daughter.To the rest of these special women -my sisters, aunts, cousins, and nieces -I dedicate this to you as well, and I hope I have made you proud. May we continue to blaze trails, reach new heights, and pave the way so future generations can follow in our illustrious footsteps! 5