Onondaga Community College will celebrate its 58th commencement with three socially distanced ceremonies on Saturday, May 15. Graduating students from Henninger High School, Liverpool High School, and a native of Brooklyn are this year's student speakers:
Cristian Pompey will speak at the 9am ceremony. He's a Brooklyn native who earned a degree in Mathematics & Science. During his time on campus he served as an RA in the residence hall, a member of the Unity Day committee, vice president of the Makerspace Club, a student ambassador for Extraordinary Men of Distinction, worked in the office of the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program, and was supported by the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation. He plans to transfer to the University of Buffalo and major in Computer Engineering.
Si Po Ra will speak at the 1 p.m. ceremony. She immigrated to the United States from Burma, graduated from Henninger High School in 2019, and enrolled at OCC where she earned a degree in Humanities & Social Sciences. SUNY named her one of just 45 students statewide to receive the Norman R. McConney Jr. Award for Student Excellence. The award highlights outstanding students in the Educational Opportunity Program for their academic excellence and strength in overcoming significant personal obstacles through their lives. Si Po is transferring to Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs where she will major in International Relations.
Hunter Scholl will speak at the 5 p.m. ceremony. He is a 2019 graduate of Liverpool High School who is receiving a degree in Communication Studies. He is a member of the College's chapter of international honor society Phi Theta Kappa which was recently named top ten in the world for the third year in a row. Scholl will transfer to SUNY Geneseo and pursue a bachelor's degree in Communications. Because he was born in Russia and adopted when he was 13 months old, Scholl plans to one day work with adoption agencies and help orphans.
All three students are our guests on this edition of our podcast, "Chatting About College." You can listen to our conversations by clicking on this link. You can also download and subscribe to "Chatting About College" at iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you download podcasts from.
