LBW Community College students returned to class yesterday, and both local students and those who moved here to attend school agreed they like the small-college atmosphere.

Kiarra Westbrooks moved to Andalusia from Springfield, La., to attend LBW on a basketball scholarship, and said the community has been great to her.

“I wanted to come here because of basketball,” Westbrooks said. “I met with the coach and then I visited a couple of times before deciding to come to LBW, but I like it a lot.”

Westbrooks said she has not met with all of the basketball players yet, but is excited to.

“I live in Saint’s Hall with a couple of my teammates and they are great,” Westbrooks said. “I’m excited to meet with all of them though.”

Westbrooks’ two main goals while at LBW are to keep her grade point average above 3.0 and learn all she can about basketball.

“I came here for my education and to learn more about basketball,” Westbrooks said. “So after I do that I hopefully will transfer somewhere else.”

Westbrooks hopes to transfer to either Southeastern Louisiana University or Auburn to play basketball and to earn a business degree

“I want to be my own boss,” Westbrooks said. “I want to do what all people want to do, I guess, I just want to be successful at anything I do.”

Miranda Fowler chose LBW simply because it is close to home.

“I decided on coming to LBW because it was really close to home and not expensive,” the 2018 graduate of Pleasant Home said. “Also I didn’t want to jump straight into a big college, LBW is a great baby step.”

Fowler is a member of the 2018 LBW Ensemble.

“I am looking forward to being in the ensemble this year,” Fowler said. “I’m really excited to meet a lot of new people. That’s the good thing about LBW, even though I’m from the area, there are still so many people that I haven’t met. It is like I get to have a new start.”

Fowler said that the staff, SGA and ambassadors made it easy on her during her first day of school.

“The teachers have answered every question that I have had and are really nice,” Fowler said. “And the people in SGA and ambassadors have made me feel really comfortable and have shown me around campus making sure that I know where everything is.”

Fowler plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Montevallo, and hopes to teach.

Recent Andalusia High School graduate Tamesha Pryor spent her summer working at the Andalusia Public Library, but is now ready to start her college career.

“It was really fun working out there,” Pryor said. “Working with all the kids and with Ms. [Emily] Brooks and Mrs. [Caryl] Ray was so much fun. I learned so much working there.”

Pryor said that she chose to begin college at LBW after learning from her past classmates’ mistakes.

“I knew that I didn’t want to go to a bigger college because I have seen my old classmates make that mistake,” Pryor said. “They think they are ready and then after a year they are back. So I would much rather get my experience here and then transfer.”

Pryor said that her some of her goals for this semester are to make good grades, make new friends and focus on all of her long-term goals.

She plans to transfer to either Alabama A&M or Troy University and pursue a career in mathematics or child development.