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Written by Tom Griffin
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Page 1 of 5  UW Bothell freshmen Alan Li and Xheni Diko. Photo by Kathy Sauber.
Growing up in a military family, Neal understood his dad’s obligations. But now Neal’s own plans for the future were in doubt. A student at Tacoma’s Foss High School, Neal had visited the UW’s Seattle campus several times. In sixth grade he was part of a program serving under-represented students in mathematics, engineering and science, and it got him excited about college. He had every intention of being a freshman in Seattle—until his dad delivered the sobering news.
Now Neal wanted stay with his mother and brother during his dad’s absence. When he told his high school counselor that he would have to give up on the University of Washington, the counselor had some surprising news. The UW’s Tacoma campus was opening its doors to its first freshman class in the fall. Neal could have both worlds: he could attend the University of Washington and stay with his family.
“I didn’t even know it was here,” Neal says of UWT. “I came down and I fell in love with it.”• • • lan Li was a standout at Shorewood High School north of Seattle. Even though he was from out of state, the University of California campuses at Santa Barbara and at Santa Cruz accepted him. He was excited to take a tour of both campuses, but once he got to California, something was not right.  UW Bothell photo by Mary Levin.
He knew right then he did not want to attend a mega-university. But where could he find a more intimate college experience? He found out that UW Bothell was starting its first freshman class, and suddenly California lost all its charm.
Li liked the idea of being a UWB pioneer. “It’s one of the reasons I came here. The ability to make a difference and to help grow the campus—and myself—was a tremendous opportunity.” • • • Lynetta Gray was cruising the Web at home. Her family had just moved to Tacoma and she was finishing her senior year at Franklin Pierce High School. She was tired of moving and wanted to stay within commuting distance of her home. She started playing around with FastWeb, a college search site that she found on the Internet.
“I put in the miles I wanted to commute and pushed the search button. Up came the University of Washington, Tacoma. So I enrolled. I didn’t even know that we were going to be the first freshman class until I got here!” she says.
For every college student, the freshman experience is a transformation. But Neal, Li, Gray and 320 other students also transformed the University of Washington last fall by being members of the first freshman classes ever admitted to the UW’s regional campuses in Bothell and Tacoma.
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