{"id":79790,"date":"2026-10-08T08:21:40","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T12:21:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/?p=79790"},"modified":"2026-10-08T08:21:41","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T12:21:41","slug":"transferring-home-how-chase-and-izzy-barajas-found-their-community-at-utc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/2026\/10\/transferring-home-how-chase-and-izzy-barajas-found-their-community-at-utc\/","title":{"rendered":"Transferring home: How Chase and Izzy Barajas found their community at UTC"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A

Chase (top left) and Izzy (holding football) Barajas transferred to UTC with the intention of getting involved in campus life, including winning an intramural flag football championship. Photo courtesy of Izzy Barajas.<\/p><\/div>\n

When Chase and Izzy Barajas transferred to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, they didn\u2019t realize it would mark the start of a new chapter in their relationship.<\/p>\n

After transferring to UTC (Chase came in 2022 and Izzy arrived the following year), the recently married couple have earned their degrees, started careers in Chattanooga and bought a home.<\/p>\n

They didn\u2019t just find a school; they found their community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe fell in love with Chattanooga once we visited the school,\u201d Izzy said. \u201cWe were like, \u2018This is a really awesome place.\u2019 It\u2019s a place to be.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple met while attending Weddington High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. After graduating, they each pursued their athletic dreams at separate universities in North Carolina. Chase attended High Point University to run for the cross-country team, while Izzy attended Mars Hill University to play soccer.<\/p>\n

Both were injured while playing their respective sports and decided to leave their institutions. Izzy wanted to experience a larger school environment and Chase wanted to pursue mechanical engineering, a program not offered at High Point.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could network,\u201d she said. \u201cI truly loved the business school because there were always so many different opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Chase

The Barajas couple made a point of attending extracurriculars.<\/p><\/div>\n

She currently serves as a client support manager at Unum, a position she secured through an internship she found at one of RCOB\u2019s career fairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just had a table out there,\u201d Izzy recalled. \u201cWhen I became an intern, I was like, \u2018I want to do that.\u2019 I want to continue to have a fresh perspective for these students that are currently coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chase, a nuclear steam supply system engineer at the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant for TVA, said the size of the College of Engineering and Computer Science and its classes were ideal.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing very technical sometimes, having smaller class sizes helped a lot compared to people I went to high school with who went to way larger institutions,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have kind of big classes your whole way through your graduation. Even the very technical senior-level classes, you\u2019re still in a group of 50-plus.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone I was in class with, if you applied yourself, you were given opportunities to succeed. I mean, the people I know who wanted it went and got it, crushed it, and got jobs. You have that one-on-one connection with your professors and other people in your department.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chase, who received his bachelor\u2019s degree in May, was a member of the Rocket Mocs\u2019 senior design group. He was surprised to learn that many of the engineers he currently works with had similar experiences at UTC working with UC Foundation Professor of Mechanical Engineering Trevor Elliott.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a bunch of UTC engineers that work there and graduated in 2012, 2016, and all went through the same design through Baja or Rocket Mocs with them,\u201d Chase said.<\/p>\n

He explained how the course helped prepare him for his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou go through the whole base from starting it out, designing stuff, making sure you have budgeting, safety, any sort of regulations you have to follow,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone loves it. Everyone that was part of it had a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple lived off campus during their time at UTC but wanted to stay connected to campus and deepen their roots in the community.<\/p>\n

Izzy joined the Delta Zeta sorority, was a member of the pickleball club and was active in intramural soccer, basketball and flag football. Chase helped coach in his downtime.<\/p>\n

The couple is still active at UTC sporting events.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have already invested in the Mocs Club,\u201d Izzy said. \u201cWe love sports, very big sports people. We have basketball season tickets. All the amenities that you get at the discounted rate when you graduate, people don\u2019t really know about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Barajas\u2019 credit UTC for their success as young professionals and for helping them build a community in Chattanooga.<\/p>\n

\u201cUTC sets you up for success so that if you have that drive, you are in the driver\u2019s seat,\u201d Izzy said. \u201cIt\u2019s like you have all the tools and resources that you need to be successful. If you just take that and run with it, you will be successful no matter what. I think there are so many resources and opportunities. We were just able to take advantage of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn more<\/h4>\n

Visit UTC<\/a><\/p>\n

How to apply<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Chase and Izzy Barajas transferred to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, they didn\u2019t just find a school; they found their community.<\/p>\n

Continue Reading <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2058,"featured_media":79997,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[64,70,123864,15,59,3,57,122426,12740,661,124930],"tags":[127796,123827,123826,127098,127079,127797,123828,124776,123829,934],"class_list":{"0":"post-79790","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-academics","8":"category-advancement-and-alumni","9":"category-campus","10":"category-college-of-engineering-and-computer-science","11":"category-community","12":"category-college-of-business","13":"category-management","14":"category-mechanical-engineering","15":"category-news","16":"category-students","17":"category-transfer-students","18":"tag-chase-barajas","19":"tag-creating-the-mocs-experience","20":"tag-cultivating-a-culture-of-innovation","21":"tag-goal-1-3-placement-strategic-plan-2030","22":"tag-goal-1-4-alumni-development-and-engagement-strategic-plan-2030","23":"tag-izzy-barajas","24":"tag-leveraging-our-special-place-as-chattanoogas-university","25":"tag-mocs-learn-mocs-do-mocs-lead","26":"tag-operating-with-excellence","27":"tag-trevor-elliott","28":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nTransferring home: How Chase and Izzy Barajas found their community at UTC | UTC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When Chase and Izzy Barajas transferred to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, they didn\u2019t just find a school; 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