For some students, the college decision process might have felt like a whirlwind. For new transfer student Sergio Alvarez, it was a whirlwind.
After dropping his cousin off at Bluffton University at the start of this semester, Alvarez made a sudden decision to quit his job in Atlanta, move to Ohio just days later and continue his education as a business major at Bluffton University.
Alvarez was born in La Ceiba, Honduras, but moved to the United States in 2005 when he was 13 years old. He lived in Nashville, Tenn., for six months before relocating to Atlanta where he lived until coming to Bluffton just weeks ago.
Alvarez lived in Atlanta for roughly 14 years and attended a two-year community college there. He finished his two years at the end of last semester and was looking to transfer to a school outside of Georgia, but Bluffton University wasn’t on his radar.
His first experience with Bluffton was when he accompanied his cousin, Luisa Angelica, to campus at the start of this semester. Angelica, now a first-year student, moved directly from Honduras to begin classes at Bluffton.
“The deal was just to come drop her off, help her out,” said Alvarez.
While he was on campus, Alvarez said he had a welcoming experience. Not only did the university treat his cousin well, he felt he was treated well, too. This piqued his interest in attending Bluffton himself.
“I started asking around to see if I had an option of coming here,” said Alvarez. “I started asking questions because I liked it. I liked the environment. I liked the people. I liked how welcoming everyone was and friendly.”
Alvarez said he was impressed with how well Bluffton faculty worked with the students and personally knew them.
“I come from a school that has 25,000 students, around that number, and you get lost in the crowd there,” said Alvarez. “Here, I noticed it was different.”
With just days until the semester began, Alvarez began the application process. It wasn’t as simple as that, however. Before he could start classes, he first had to return to Atlanta and make quick preparations to move his life to Bluffton.
“I had to go back and obviously quit my job,” said Alvarez. “I’d been working for the same company for five going on six years. I had to tell them that I had the opportunity to continue my studies in Ohio.”
In addition to quitting his job, Alvarez spent his last days in Atlanta saying goodbye to his closest friends and family members and filling out scholarships and financial aid paperwork.
“There’s a family friend that has helped me out with my college education, so I told them about it,” said Alvarez. “They were willing to sponsor me as well and help me to be here.”
Alvarez said he was glad he took the opportunity to come to Bluffton. He was happy to venture out from Georgia.
“I wasn’t sad because I was leaving my friends behind,” said Alvarez. “I was mostly happy, mainly I knew my friends, my family and everyone around me was going to be happy to hear the news that I had this opportunity.”
“I’m here today because [of] the way Bluffton treats their students,” said Alvarez.
