Transfer Bruins helping transfer Bruins

Few students understand the impact of that support more than incoming transfer student Nathaly Blas.

The daughter of Peruvian immigrants, Blas began her higher education journey at UC Santa Barbara. But after struggling to connect with the campus culture and experiencing severe anxiety for the first time in her life, she realized how much she missed her hometown of Los Angeles.

Despite her parents’ initial reluctance, Blas made the difficult decision to start over after her first quarter. She enrolled at El Camino College and set her sights on transferring to her dream school: UCLA.

A Bruin who traveled the same path shows the way

Along the way, she found an important mentor in her instructor Michael Reyes, who teaches writing at El Camino. A 2014 UCLA graduate in English and former transfer student himself, Reyes is also the co-coordinator of El Camino’s Puente Project, a comprehensive support program for first-generation students that is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. (It also brought Reyes back to UCLA for the 2025 Puente Conference.)

For students balancing jobs, family responsibilities, a return to school after a long hiatus or simply the complexities of the transfer process, Reyes serves as a trusted guide, a sentinel helping them envision a future that may still feel out of reach, both in and out of the classroom.

“I think good mentorship — and being a good instructor, period — comes from a lot of care and a lot of curiosity,” Reyes said. “Being an expert in your field is important. It’s equally important to genuinely care for students and understand their stories.”

One day, remembering a conversation about how much attending UCLA meant to Blas, Reyes assigned her a book he had read for a Chicana/o and Central American Studies course, hoping it would inspire her to pursue her own Bruin journey.

“He gave me that book as a way of preparing me for the reading I might encounter,” Blas said. “He treated me like I was already a UCLA-caliber student. That made me feel seen and understood.”

In addition to helping students strengthen their writing, Reyes also makes it a point in his teaching to discuss how to find and create meaningful academic and personal experiences in school.

During one class discussion, he spoke about the organizations and activities that helped him find community at UCLA, like Bruin Hope, a student volunteer organization that works with orphanages in Tijuana, Mexico, and his work writing for “La Gente,” UCLA’s Latino student-run news magazine.

“These experiences allowed me to build those human relationships that made me feel at home at UCLA,” Reyes said. “I encourage Nathaly and all my students to do the same because it’s what I believe they’ll remember long after they’ve earned their degree.”

This fall, Blas begins her UCLA journey as a pre-psychology major. And, inspired by Reyes’ example, she is already making plans to seek out her own Bruin communities.

She hopes to become involved with the Peruvian Student Association, further explore her fascination with fossils through the UCLA Bruin Geological Club and pursue opportunities that will help her achieve her goal of becoming a court forensic psychologist.

“I’m excited for my psych classes, to meet new people, and I have Professor Reyes to thank for where I am today,” Blas said. “He’s a role model and one of the most valuable professors I’ve had on my higher education journey.”

For Reyes, seeing students like Blas pursue ambitious goals, like attending UCLA, underscores the lasting power of mentorship, encouragement and representation.

“Nathaly had the courage to start over and now she has the chance to live out her dream of becoming a Bruin,” Reyes said. “That makes me happy to have played a small part in her journey.”

A Bruin welcome on the other side

Once Blas arrives on campus, a new community of transfer Bruins will be ready to welcome her.

One of the first people she may meet is Mauricio Gutierrez, program coordinator for the UCLA Transfer Student Center and a first-generation college graduate who transferred from College of the Canyons and earned his UCLA degree in communication in 2021. He’s often found speaking with students in the hallway of Kerckhoff Hall, their conversation framed by the center’s service window, the blue “I ♥ Transfers” sign overhead, a smile on his face.

Coming full circle

As part of his multifaceted work with the center, he hosts the “UCLA Transfer Talk” podcast, where conversations about topics such as research opportunities, study abroad programs and student government help highlight what he calls “the real experiences of transfer students at UCLA.”

He also connects with students through some of the center’s signature events, including Transferpalooza, UCLA Transfer Bruin Week and Transfer Alumni Networking Night, which brings alumni and students together to build connections that often extend far beyond graduation.

“As a former transfer student, it’s hard not to see myself in the students I serve,” Gutierrez said. “It’s almost like looking at your previous self and helping that person go through their college journey.”

Gutierrez, like Reyes, is proud to pay his own experience forward. He hopes students like Blas recognize what makes their journey so special, take full advantage of all available opportunities and, one day, continue the cycle of support that helped them succeed.

“Transfer students like Nathaly have grit,” he said. “They worked hard to get here, and once they’re here, they want to fully embrace the UCLA experience.”

Part of that experience is deeply personal for Blas.

Before the quarter started, she had the chance to visit campus with her father, Jackson, where they shared an unforgettable moment in front of the Bruin Bear statue.

While Blas always felt a lifelong link to the institution because she was born at Harbor–UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, standing in front of the statue together, her father shared something he had never told her before: He had worked on campus as a landscaper before she was born.

As they stood there together, he recalled the sprawling campus, the meticulously maintained fields he tended and the students from around the world who came to UCLA hoping to transform their lives through education — and how unbelievably proud he was that now his daughter was one of them.

“I had no idea,” said Blas, “but what a full-circle moment! He worked here and one day not too far from now, I’ll graduate from here.”

Learn more about the Center for Community College Partnerships.