“I think it's a great school.”

Andrew Buckles
AA - Business Administration pre-major, College Transfer

Andrew Buckles graduated from Forsyth Tech with an Associate in Arts degree, pre-major in Business Administration in May 2008. The following autumn, he transferred to UNC-Chapel Hill and eventually hopes to attend the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC-CH. He feels that his two years at Forsyth Tech have prepared him well. "I think my time here has gotten me well acclimated to college life and the demands of the college curriculum," he says. "Forsyth Tech isn't really different from a four-year school, other than the size of the campus. You really get exposed to a lot of different people. There's more than ample opportunity to get involved with activities after class." He does point out that there is one big difference, though - "It's much less expensive."

During his time at Forsyth Tech, Andrew took great advantage of those after-class activities he mentioned. He served on the Student Government Council and was elected SGC President. His involvement with SGC brought him in contact with many other student organizations and gave him the chance to participate in many worthwhile causes, including clothing drives, blood drives and repairing bicycles that were given out by The Salvation Army at Christmas. He also credits his outside activities with helping him get accepted to UNC-Chapel Hill (along with good grades). "When I got my letter from Chapel Hill," he points out, "they said that despite the high number of academically qualified applicants, my personal and academic achievements at Forsyth Tech were what got me in."

A graduate of Davie High School, Andrew chose Forsyth Tech largely because of its location. "It was my obvious choice because of the number of people from my area who go there," he says. What he found was a school that was filled with opportunities, academically and otherwise. "I had a lot of good classes at Forsyth Tech," he recalls. One that stands out is an American Literature class that was both enjoyable and challenging. "Dr. Rosenberg. She was tough. You knew the material. It was a lot to read and a lot of out-there kind of discussion. She was very open to interpretation of all the American canon. A very informative class."

He also found that, in addition to its low tuition, the school offers tremendous value in a number of different ways. For instance, he took golf as an elective. "I've gotten golf lessons for the last eight weeks for forty dollars that normally cost forty-five dollars an hour," he says.

Now, having left Forsyth Tech to get his Bachelors degree, he knows he made the right choice — and recommends that others do the same. "I think it's a great idea for students coming out of high school to get involved at this level and then go to that next level," he says. As for Forsyth Tech, he says simply, "I think it's a great school."