For traditional college students, the first-year marks the start of a new academic journey but also the beginning of one’s adult life. In a human existence marked by constant change, the transition to college will be one of the single biggest changes a person can experience. It is a transition that is at once daunting, exciting, confusing, and at times can be both surprisingly marvelous and mundane. While this transition is big for almost every student, it is also true that no two people will have the same first-year experience. FYE’s courses (NAU 100, NAU 120A, and NAU 130) and programming are designed to actively inspire a student to explore the unique contexts where they feel success, to highlight a student’s unique strengths with the intention of expanding those strengths to other areas, and to support students in beginning an adult life of learning and development. The end result, we hope, is the beginning of adult life of meaning and personal fulfillment, regardless of chosen major, career aspirations, income potential, identity, and family of origin. It is our commitment to students, their families, and our colleagues that one’s course experience or programmatic interaction with FYE will be marked by attention to supporting the development of, not strictly schooling of, an individual student. Educational persistence will require that our individual values, aspirations, and dreams drive our hard work. And so, discovering, honoring, and supporting those values form the foundation of not only student success, but our development as human beings.