Bella Mabe first enrolled at Gaston College because it seemed like the best way to buy herself some time.

“When I graduated high school, I had no idea what I was going to do,” Mabe, who grew up in nearby Lincoln County, remembers. “But my high school counselors told me, ‘You can go to Gaston for free, just make sure your grades are good.’” 

Now Mabe is a fashion and textile management student at NC State, involved in student organizations and thankful for the time she spent at home adjusting to adult life.

Read more about her experience transferring from Gaston College to the Wilson College, and her summer job as a production intern at Kohl’s.

Building a foundation in Gaston

Mabe initially dismissed NC State as a transfer path, under the impression that NC State only offered degrees in engineering and classical sciences. When a friend told her about the Wilson College of Textiles, she saw the dream of a career in fashion start to take shape. 

“I love fashion,” she says. “I took apparel classes in high school, and that’s how I learned to sew.”

Coming from a small town, the opportunity to attend a small college while still benefiting from the community and connections of a large alumni base also appealed to her.

“I really did like the fact that I would be able to get to know my professors and the people around me.It feels like I can actually talk to these people, and I’m not just going to see them for one semester and then never again,” she says. “But also, knowing that alumni are still so proud of having gone to NC State.  So being able to say, ‘I went to NC State, too.’ is a way to instantly bond. I really enjoyed that.”

Joining the Wolfpack 

Gaston College provided a great foundation for Mabe’s textiles education at the Textile Technology Center, where she was able to take a few introductory classes and participate in lab work. The influence of the Wilson College was evident, though, with an alum teaching Mabe’s courses.

“I think my textbook was literally published by professors that worked at Wilson,” Made says. “I already had a huge swatch book that said NC State on it.” 

Starting at a larger, more rigorous school and living away from home was a large adjustment for Mabe, but she felt prepared in other ways. She had already learned skills like time management at Gaston College while still being close to her support system. By the time she was at NC State, she was ready to dive right into her coursework. 

“I feel like that’s a lot of things that brand new university students have to figure out — I had already done that through Gaston,” Mabe said. 

Now fully immersed in the curriculum at the Wilson College, Mabe has enjoyed the heavy-duty machinery and hands-on classes. In FTM 219: Fashion Product Analysis, she learned about the construction of garments, sewed her own patterns and learned to evaluate their quality.

“Professor Wilmot is really good at translating skills into  the real world,” Mabe said. “I really like that because it helps me realize how these things could apply to a job.” 

Chasing career goals

Being a part of Phi Psi, the professional textiles fraternity, has allowed Mabe to connect with students at NC State that share her professional goals.

“I’ve been able to meet a lot of people, in different majors that I would never have had classes with,” Mabe said.

She is also a member of an educational offshoot of the National Retail Federation (NRF), called the NRF Foundation, where she was able to explore the full scope of internships in the retail space. 

“It really helped broaden my horizon,because sometimes you don’t even realize that certain opportunities are even available to you.”

This summer, Mabe is working for Kohl’s as a production intern in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, helping develop products for their independent brands — a job that aligns with her degree concentration in fashion development and product management. 

“I like developing products and pushing things to see what works and what doesn’t, like doing research into garment construction to make the best product,” Mabe said. 

Overall, Mabe is happy with her path through higher education, which has landed her at the Wilson College and she is hoping to continue her textiles career with a master’s degree.

“Taking the transfer pathway has a lot of pluses, especially when it comes to saving money,” Mabe said. “I was able to grow as a person, meet a lot of people and mature, so it made the transition here a lot easier.”