In celebration of National Transfer Student Appreciation Week Oct. 21-25, Birmingham-Southern College’s Office of Residence Life has hosted events to encourage our transfer student populations. Residence Life staff has provided snacks and times for students to meet each other, and the Transfer Student Appreciation Dinner will be held Thursday night.

This fall’s group of 57 transfer students is the College’s largest to date. Recognizing the stories, challenges, and strengths of these students is an important part of making sure they succeed like many before them.

Numerous outstanding alumni, including BSC Transfer Admission Counselor Pamela Grubbs-Lowery ’17 and 2019 Distinguished Alumnus and President Emeritus of DePauw University Dr. Bob Bottoms ’66, transferred to the Hilltop from other institutions.

BSC currently has 11 articulation agreements with community colleges throughout the region, agreements that allow students like Makayla Craig, Logan Lowery, and Drew Rhea to seamlessly transfer college credit and continue their education at BSC.

These three students, who began their first BSC classes in August, shared a bit about how they came to the Hilltop from other institutions.

Makayla Craig
Fairfield, Alabama

Birmingham-Southern always felt like home to Makayla Craig. Her mom, Katie Craig, has worked in the bursar’s office for more than 10 years, so she’s been familiar with the campus. However, BSC truly became her home when she began courses this semester.

Craig saw the scholarship opportunities for transfer students and decided to attend Jefferson State Community College before transferring to a four-year school. BSC, only 10 minutes from her home, became her first choice last September.

“I fell in love with the atmosphere. Everyone was welcoming and catered to what I need. People care about me and want to see me succeed,” Craig says.

She recently declared a sociology major, knowing she would like to pursue a career in counseling. Craig wants to study communication, and her first courses at BSC, from entrepreneurial thinking to an introductory theatre class, have presented her with a wide variety of communication styles.

“I love helping people and having one-on-one interactions with them,” Craig says about her interest in counseling. “I like getting to understand what people need as individuals. I can get to know them personally, which means more to me than talking out to a large group of people.”

Craig’s classes push her to generate new and profound ideas, and she has used resources like BSC’s writing lab and Grammerly subscription to craft her best work. Also, she’s already gotten involved with organizations such as the Black Student Union and the Gospel Choir, which performed at Homecoming last weekend.

Logan Lowery
Ashville, Alabama

In May, Logan Lowery visited a friend on campus as a Jefferson State Community College student. After a meeting with his admission counselor while he was here, he applied, enrolled, and received a music scholarship at BSC by June.

When he first began looking at colleges, Lowery was interested in Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. However, scholarships fell through, so he began courses at Jefferson State last year, where he recognized his deep interest in music through the school’s choir.

BSC’s admission office helped him set up a meeting with music faculty, even though the official audition process ended a few months earlier. Through this experience, Lowery saw how willing BSC faculty and staff were to help him through the transfer process and how incredible his academic experience would be.

“The music faculty are brilliant and some of the kindest people you’ve ever met,” he says. “In my audition, I sat with three faculty members, all three incredibly brilliant and interested in bolstering my musical ability. They were getting excited about my music career and education.”

Lowery is a member of the BSC Concert Choir and Hilltop Singers and hopes to be involved in more organizations soon. Most of his free time over the last few months has gone towards his involvement with 3B Productions and their performance of “Sweeney Todd” this weekend at the Birmingham Improv Theatre. He plays a lead role, designed the set, and arranged some of the musical tracks.

A talented vocalist, pianist, guitarist, and thespian, Lowery is working hard to constantly improve alongside his professors. He says they are always anxious to see his growth and help him adjust to classes at BSC.

Drew Rhea
Gadsden, Alabama

Whenever she wore her BSC sweatshirt last spring, people would ask Drew Rhea if she was a Birmingham-Southern student. Her answer wasn’t “no,” it was just “not yet.”

Her sister, Rebecca Rhea ’17, attended BSC, so she was able to visit the campus as a high school student. However, after a difficult high school experience, including two stays in the hospital, Gadsden State Community College was a better fit for her at the time.

Rhea received a choir scholarship at Gadsden State and graduated in May, ready to continue on to BSC. She wanted both the challenge and encouraging community found in a BSC education.

“I love school, even when it’s difficult for me,” she says. “BSC was the healthiest next step and was going to push me in the right direction. My experience here was exactly what I needed.”

Coming in as a junior, Rhea jumped right into psychology courses for her major. She felt as if she blended in from the start, and interactive classes allow her to discuss ideas and ask lots of questions.

“I’m learning how to learn. My classes are challenging and rigorous,” she says. “But I’ve gotten into the swing of things, even though I’m in classes with students who’ve been here longer.”

Rhea has also felt supported by the BSC community. When she struggles on a class assignment, instructors reach out to meet with her. She often visits professors during office hours or receives kind texts from new friends, which confirmed what she’d experienced even before she was a student.

“The kindest people had already contacted me before I’d even decided on BSC,” Rhea says. “Professors know that I can improve and offer me so much support. I don’t think that would have happened anywhere else.”

Learn more about Birmingham-Southern’s transfer students in our press release for our articulation agreement with Shelton State Community College and in our blog post on Dr. Lana Bates Atchley ’86, another highly successful graduate who transferred to BSC. Please reach out to our admission office at [email protected] with any questions about applying to BSC.