UCLA Alum Panelist

Meet Trent McBride, a UCLA Veteran Transfer Alum and featured panelist.

Trent transferred from San Diego City Community College to UCLA where he majored in Political Science and minored In Education and earned his Bachelor's degree in 2021. Trent describes his experience navigating community college and being connected to the military as “a unique experience that was relatively simple once the administrative aspects were taken care of.

As a 1st year law student at the University of Washington and UCLA Alum, Trent explains that his success was enabled by two major components. “The first was is a disciplined work ethic that was developed from his time in the military. The second component was the veteran community who have been invaluable in navigating the various demands of the institutions”.

UCLA Alum Panelist

Meet Aubrey Sutherland, a UCLA Veteran Transfer Alum and featured panelist

Aubrey transferred to UCLA from Moorpark Community College. Earning her Bachelor's degrees in Sociology with a minor in Labor Studies in 2021, she is currently a 1st year master's student in Social Work at the University of Southern California (USC). In sharing her narrative, Aubrey explains that she avoided all things military-related until she graduated from community college. Adding “It was not something I talked about or wanted to talk about”. As she navigated community college and being connected to the military, she explains that it was learning about the opportunities available to the veterans with respect to education that opened her mind to the possibility of becoming more involved in the military community at UCLA. While her military path was not typical, and not entirely positive either, she adds that through years of self-reflection, therapy and educational accomplishments, she has been able to overcome and appreciate the journey that her life has taken and explains that the military has been and will be a huge part of her life, no matter the amount of time served.

Aubrey attributes her success to her strong support system of family, friends and professors at her community college. Additionally, her ability to harness her abilities and achieve more than she ever thought possible for herself through open-mindedness and the desire to try. She adds that she didn’t think she would make softball team at Moorpark college and become captain. “I didn’t think that I would get accepted to UCLA and I most definitely did not expect to get accepted to USC and yet here I am a student of both.” She encourages fellow students “you don’t really know that you will fail unless you try. If you don’t try, you’ll just have the recurring thought of what if you had. I would rather fail and learn than never try anything I was interested in “and she adds that” the impact of the unique experience of the military allows a different perspective that many schools and business are looking for. Embrace your journey”.

UCLA Alum Panelist

Meet Abraham Urias, a UCLA Veteran Transfer Alum and featured panelist

Abraham is a Los Angeles Pierce College alum and transferred to UCLA where he recently earned his Bachelor's degree in Nursing and will be a double Bruin as he is currently a graduate student in the UCLA School of Nursing, working on a Master's of Science in Nursing degree. Abraham shares that at first navigating community college and being connected to the military was difficult. He shares that he didn’t know how he could relate to a bunch of “young” people as a returning student. He adds “I didn’t know what questions to ask the academic counselors and even felt undervalued. He shares that he quickly learned that he had nothing to be afraid of because the campus was filled with a diverse population of people just like him. “As for the counselors,” he adds, “I just kept showing up, semester after semester until graduation. They really guided me in the right direction in achieving my academic goals”.

Abraham shares that the Center for Academic Success, LAPC’s tutoring center is one of the places that enabled his success “At first it was just a place to get help with my homework, but soon I was invited to work as a tutor for some of my favorite subjects. I really found a home in my department through helping other students achieve their academic goals.”

UCLA Alum facilitator

Meet Lonnell Edwards a UCLA Veteran Transfer Alum and featured panelist

After graduating high school in Georgia, Lonnell Edwards enlisted in the Marine Corps where he served four years. This is when his educational journey began. He enrolled at the universe's best community college, Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) in pursuit of becoming a football coach and physical education teacher. Along the way, Lonnell received guidance and mentorship where his passions extended out to research. This is where he fell in love with the intersectionality between athletics and academics. He received his A.A in Kinesiology and transferred to UCLA. In his free time, he traveled back to West Covina to coach his Pee Wee football team. As a Peer Advisor for CCCP, he assisted students at Mt SAC with their transfer applications to four-year universities. After receiving his B.A in Sociology, he took his talents to Cal in pursuit of his M.A in Education, Cultural Studies of Sport in Education. He developed his research skills by writing his thesis on the transfer population while being a Graduate Tutor to Cal Athletics. Currently, he has graduated from Cal with the intention of landing a job as an athletic academic advisor for student-athletes.