When Desiree Hoff ’24 first stepped foot on Le Moyne’s campus, she immediately felt lighter. “All the stress from my shoulders just lifted,” she says.
A psychology major with a minor in criminology, Desiree transferred to Le Moyne following the closure of nearby Cazenovia College this past spring. While initially overwhelmed by Cazenovia’s closure and the need to find another school at which to finish her education, Desiree soon found a new home in Le Moyne, which serves as a legacy institution for Cazenovia College. Upon seeing the small class sizes and the close connections that students form with professors, she knew Le Moyne was the right fit for her.
She was also drawn to the abundance of opportunities available to students within the College community. As a resident advisor previously at Cazenovia, Desiree knew she wanted to continue serving as an RA at Le Moyne. Currently, she is the RA for a floor of transfer students and works to foster community and engagement among her residents through events such as a root beer float social. “I just wanted to be able to help the transfer students be able to understand that while you may feel alone, you’re not on the ‘transfer floor.’ Everyone had to transfer from some college, everyone’s got a story,” shesays.
Embracing the uncertainties that can come with such a major change like transferring schools can be difficult; however, Desiree has navigated the shift with grace, confidence and an eye for the future. Her current job in childcare at the Manlius YMCA has helped to inform her career goal of becoming a school psychologist and helping to guide children through ups and downs.
“The best piece of advice I have ever received is you don’t know what the future is unless you try,” says Desiree. “Because you really don’t know. If you always put yourself in that position of wondering, you’ll never actually know. So just put yourself out there.”
This is part of a series of stories that Le Moyne is featuring on its vibrant transfer student community in honor of National Transfer Student Week (Oct. 16-20, 2023). For more information about transferring to Le Moyne, visit the Office of Transfer Admission