LEXINGTON, Ky. — Alejandro "Ale" Perez Canedo came to Transylvania University as a tennis player seeking to improve his game, but left with something more valuable: a sense of belonging and a new academic passion that redirected his life.

Perez Canedo, who transferred to Transylvania from Hofstra University in 2022, arrived with singular focus on his athletic performance. Born in Cochabamba, Bolivia, the senior came to the United States as a child and overcame a serious back injury as a teenager that threatened to end his tennis career. At Hofstra, where he played NCAA Division I tennis, he believed another opportunity to compete at a high level awaited him in Lexington.

What he found instead was the close-knit community he didn't know he was seeking, according to a profile published on Transylvania's 1780 blog. "I've felt truly happy here. I found a home," Perez Canedo reflected.

Initially reserved, Perez Canedo resisted attempts by teammates and classmates to include him in campus activities. He was accustomed to solitude, having already navigated the fast-paced environment of New York and a larger university. But at Transylvania, he noticed something different. Professors knew his name. Classmates stopped to chat. The invitations kept coming until he eventually accepted one.

The shift proved transformative. As a sophomore, he earned first-team all-conference honors and racked up 13 singles victories. Beyond the court, he opened himself to friendships that became central to his college experience. Through faculty mentors and peer relationships, Perez Canedo discovered an academic passion that changed the trajectory he had envisioned for himself.

His journey reflects what Transylvania, a liberal arts college in downtown Lexington, offers its transfer students. The university maintains an 11-to-1 student-faculty ratio and average class sizes of 15, creating the kind of personal attention that helped a quiet transfer student find his voice.

"It's difficult to describe," Perez Canedo said of his Transylvania experience. "The joy, the passion … literally living my dreams."