A program that gets students into labs as early as their first year at UC Davis transforms lives — leading many to pursue careers in research. Accelerating Success by Providing Intensive Research Experience, or ASPIRE, has begun reaching out to a wider pool of students. “We wanted to find the students who, given this opportunity, would go the farthest relative to where they started,” says co-founder Steve Luck, Distinguished Professor of Psychology.

Three and a half years into his career as a talent recruiter for technology companies in the San Francisco Bay Area, Chinsin Sim (B.A., communication, ’14) still marvels at his good fortune. The son of Cambodian immigrants and the first in his family to get a college degree, Sim said: “Sometimes I look back and ask myself, ‘How did I do it?’”

The first year of college can be daunting for students, whether they are freshmen or transfers. To help with the adjustment to college life, UC Davis launched a new class for first-year students in fall 2015.