The Rooted & Resilience Retreat is a collaborative, daylong experience designed to help students ground themselves in their strengths and grow through connection, reflection, and skill-building. Hosted by NC State’s Transfer Connections Village (TCV) and THRIVE Living-Learning Village in partnership with UNC–Chapel Hill’s First Gens and Transfers United, the retreat invites participants to reframe deficit-based narratives and cultivate academic, personal, and professional resilience. Through identity-based discussions, hands-on workshops, and reflective activities, students explore who they are, what sustains them, and how to continue growing forward in their college journey. The retreat blended structured learning (goal setting, time management, coping strategies) with creative and community-building activities (vision boards, affirmation planting) that make growth tangible and meaningful.