With FP nearing the completion of the Welcome Center at Aims Community College in Greeley, there has been a great deal of anticipation from the students who have been watching and waiting since the groundbreaking back in the spring of 2020. Caleb Polk is a high-school senior who began attending Aims during his sophomore year, and he has since taken three Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) classes that helped him land a job. When asked what he thought, he said, “I am pretty aware of the Welcome Center being built! It’s ridiculously big! I first saw the picture of what it was going to look like before they even started construction. I am shocked at the size and modern style it has. I am so excited to check it out when it’s done! It will be so cool!” What’s more, it seems that many of the Aims students have been following the progress of their soon to be finished Welcome Center, and Landen Bonnell, another student who has been attending since his sophomore year, shared that although he had been excited to hear that Aims was going to build a new Welcome Center, he became “much more excited when the construction company released videos entailing what the new building would look like, on the inside, and on the outside.” It seems that prospective students from the Greeley area are also interested in the Welcome Center! Emmery Bonnell said, “I was initially indifferent to [the construction of the Welcome Center] as it didn’t affect me in any particular way, but now that I will soon be a student attending Aims, I am excited for its completion.” What is the reason for all this excitement? The students have the answers. Mason Polk, a second year Aims student who is earning his associate degree remarked this about Aims’ Welcome Center: “First off it makes the campus that much more attractive because it looks amazing and it’s big but I think it will be a great way for the students to interact there and get to know each other better.” Ethan Bonnell is on track to earn his Associate of Science degree by his high-school graduation in 2022, and he stated that he thought the Welcome Center is going to be the coolest building in the Greeley area and will “definitely help the Aims community and help students connect.” Madison Brownrigg also said that she thinks the location of the Welcome Center and its proximity to the rest of the Aims campus will work well for incoming students, helping them to know where they’re going and feel welcomed. She will be earning her Early Childhood Certificate next semester, and her Associate Degree in Early Childhood Education at the end of 2023. Some Aims students were so enthusiastic about the Welcome Center and Student Commons that they decided to get involved. Saeed Saeed attended Aims and was in constant contact with them, dialoguing back and forth in search of a construction company that he could intern for. Then when he saw construction begin for the Welcome center and he saw “the beauty of the building from the outside” he set a goal to contact FP and see if he could intern with them and have a chance to work on the Aims project. FP interviewed and hired Saeed, and as he demonstrated more skill and knowledge, they trusted him with more duties, which included working on the exterior construction of both the Welcome Center and the Student Commons. He claims that it has been “busy and so much fun” for him, and that one day he hopes to be on a project where he can run both interior and exterior construction. FP hopes alongside the students that the Welcome Center will contribute positively to the community both on campus and in the surrounding area. Our team continues to work hard, and we are so excited to see students use their new building. We can’t wait to further our partnership both with Aims and the City of Greeley.