Engineering technology learners are understudied group that comprise the "T" of the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines. Attrition from engineering technology majors is a profound and complex challenge, as substantially less than half of students who begin an engineering technology major persist through the first year. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and document the authentic lived experiences of retained freshman engineering technology students at a Midwestern urban university in order to explore the factors associated with first-year persistence in the discipline, with particular emphasis on the student's relationship with the institution. Using NVivo 10, seven themes emerged from the interviews of successful first-year learners including personal goals, classmate collaboration, faculty relationships, uneasy beginning, work effort, adaptability, and campus involvement. The study results suggested that social activities outside the classroom may not play a specific role in learner persistence and that engineering technology students possessed strong goal clarity and degree commitment.