At the beginning of the semester, I had my mind made up: I am going to transfer out from El Camino College to a four-year university.

Thanks to family and friends encouraging me to move on to “better places” I was mentally worn down and wanted to leave EC because I thought it was the best thing I could do for myself.

A month into the spring semester, I realized that the smartest decision was to stay at EC for another year.

Despite it being a community college, EC has proven to be elite when it comes to transferring students to higher education institutions.

According to transfer statistics, EC ranks 8 out of 112 California community colleges for transferring students to CSUs and ranks 9 in just as many schools when transferring students to UCs.

With numerous facilities being constructed and renovated, EC has the campus of a four-year college, with the price of a junior college.

According to an article by CollegeCalc, the cost to attend EC is 72% cheaper than the average California tuition of $3,929 for 2 year colleges, sitting at an average between one and two thousand dollars for in-state residence.

Apart from excellent cost of attendance and fine transferring statistics, EC also represents an excellent place to continue playing sports, boasting an excellent athletics program.

The athletic program is also equipped with an athletics website that features coverage to all 22 sports teams at EC, dishing out quality content on a regular basis.

Throughout my time here, I’ve also learned to truly appreciate the work that the faculty and staff at EC do.

Having great teachers has been a common theme for me and is something that has influenced my decision to stay at EC.

Moving on to a new school is an experience that is exciting and worth working toward, but staying in one place does not mean you’re not continuing to improve yourself.