For many students, education is a priority in idea but not in practice. This problem is magnified at many community colleges because students spend so little time engaged with the campus as a physical setting. This presentation will focus on the philosophy and results of the Transitional Year Program at Middlesex Community College (CT), a program that provides a cohort of "at risk" students (students who place below college level English), with an immersive, rigorous, and community based education that helps them prioritize their education in the context of their other responsibilities. Guiding the cohort from the safety of its learning community into the broader college as a whole, TYP offers students a safe opportunity to learn how to "play school" in a post-secondary environment while developing the mindset of "education as practice."