Description
The experiences and voices of community college students continue to be underrepresented in communication scholarship. This study examines how community college students of color describe memorable experiences in the pre-transfer process, with transfer being studied as a communication process. More specifically, this study seeks to contribute to growing literature that challenges the deficit perspective of students of color. Utilizing community cultural wealth (CCW) as a theoretical framework, this study highlights the capital and wealth that community college students of color have and rely on when having conversations or making decisions regarding transfer. In order to further understand their experiences, 20 participants were interviewed, with 19 participants being included in the final analysis. After conducting a two-stage analysis, two themes emerged. The first theme highlights three salient experiences and circumstances related to the pre-transfer process, including: the influence of disadvantaged familial backgrounds, the first experiences of belonging in academic contexts, and negative experiences with academic advising. The second theme, as outlined by CCW, highlights the various forms of cultural wealth that emerged through memorable moments or experiences in the pre-transfer process, which consist of: aspirational capital (including aspiration to resist), familial capital, social capital, navigational capital, and experiential capital. This study reaffirms the need for more efficient advising systems and student-centered articulation agreements. In addition, this study calls for future research to focus on particular racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups within the community college system. Keywords: Community College, Community Cultural Wealth, Student of Color, Transfer, Memorable Moments
