If one thing is clear in the community college world, it is that access to higher education--while critically important--is no longer enough. Unless followed by persistence and meaningful "attainment," access can become an empty promise. Understanding the importance of postsecondary education, both to individuals and to the society, people are turning their attention to the attainment issue. On campuses and in capitol buildings, in committee rooms and conferences, the search is on for ways to improve student persistence and promote higher levels of student success. All too frequently, however, the voices that are missing from discussions about retention and success are the most important voices--those of the students themselves. This article, the first in a two-part series, focuses on the student voice. It describes the MetLife Foundation Initiative on Student Success, which was created to recognize and reward community colleges that demonstrate exemplary performance in student retention, to work with those colleges to capture and share proven best practices, and most importantly, to elicit and amplify the often unheard voices of students. A special feature of the initiative has been a series of student focus groups conducted by project staff, in close collaboration with the colleges. Excerpts from the 24 focus groups conducted at eight of the award-winning colleges are presented.