![\"\"](\"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Ethan-Jessing.jpg\")
<\/a>Ethan Jessing, a 21-year-old UToledo senior majoring in middle childhood education, made the choice to change universities and majors. UToledo, he said, made the transfer and transition “just easy.”<\/p><\/div>\n
It was a goal he shared with family, friends and residents of Delta, Ohio, the small village west of Toledo where he grew up. It was only a month into his freshman year in fall 2017 that he realized he was on the wrong path.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I first got to Ohio State, it was pretty obvious to me that things weren\u2019t right for me,\u201d Jessing said. \u201cI didn\u2019t like how the big school was. I didn\u2019t like how noisy it was. It didn\u2019t feel like home.\u201d<\/p>\n
He knew he had to reconsider his options. Thankfully, Jessing said, UToledo made the transfer and transition process simple.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just easy,\u201d said Jessing, who is sharing his story during National Student Transfer Week. \u201cThe withdrawal process at Ohio State was much more difficult than it was to get set up with the Admissions Office at UToledo.\u201d<\/p>\n
During that fall before he started at UToledo in spring 2018, Jessing, who worked part time as a fill-in for teacher aides in his hometown high school, had an epiphany about his career. He wanted to become a teacher.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got to work directly in the classroom with different age levels,\u201d Jessing said. \u201cI knew this is what I wanted to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I started at Ohio State, I really wanted to design buildings and bridges,\u201d he added. \u201cI\u2019m glad that\u2019s not the case.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once he became a Rocket, Jessing said he found himself.<\/p>\n
He had a 4.0 GPA his first semester. He met friends through campus organizations. And he played the mellophone in the Rocket Marching Band.<\/p>\n
Taking the football field with the marching band to perform during the first home game of 2018 remains Jessing\u2019s favorite UToledo moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone\u2019s eyes were on us, everyone was cheering for us,\u201d he said. \u201cIt made me feel like this was finally home, that I was in a place where I\u2019m included and belong.\u201d<\/p>\n
On track to graduate in May, Jessing is winding down his in-class coursework while completing his student teaching as a seventh-grade science and social studies teacher at Maumee Middle School.<\/p>\n
He also works in the admissions office and Rocket Solutions Center.<\/p>\n
Jessing is doing so well, in fact, that it\u2019s easy to forget that his path to success at UToledo started with a detour. He encourages students at other universities who are at similar crossroads to consider UToledo as their destination.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaking the jump is honestly what\u2019s going to be what\u2019s right for you personally and professionally if you\u2019re not thriving in your school environment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, UToledo was home,\u201d Jessing added. \u201cIt has so much support, and so many people are on the ball and ready to answer questions and guide you to the resources you need. If that\u2019s what you\u2019re looking for in a university and you\u2019re not getting that elsewhere, UToledo is the place to go.\u201d<\/p>\n