At age 28, John More never expected to be back in a classroom, let alone love the experience. A decade ago, he set foot on the Onondaga Community College campus with no clear plan. He hoped going to college might lead him somewhere, but wasn't passionate about it. "I didn't know what the heck I wanted to do," he said laughing. "All I wanted was to play drums, skateboard, and snowboard. I still had a kid mentality."
He came to OCC in 2014 after graduating from Liverpool High School, but left after a year. Over the next decade, he cycled through a handful of jobs, including several in civil engineering and CAD drafting. He learned real-world skills and was getting by. But when he was laid off in May, it felt like he’d hit a wall.
“I got home, got all my Ps and Qs in order, and just started scrolling through Facebook,” he said. That’s when he saw something that seemed too good to be true, called SUNY Reconnect. It's a new, free community college program for prospective students between the ages of 25 and 55 who have not yet earned a college degree. SUNY Reconnect covers the cost of tuition, fees, books, and supplies after all other financial aid is applied. When New York State Governor Kathy Hochul was rallying support for the program, she came to the Onondaga Community College campus in January 2025. OCC student Josh Barr shared his story - and how much such a program would help him. SUNY Reconnect was approved by the New York State Legislature a few months later.
“It gave me something to think about. Do I keep job hunting, or do I take this chance to go back to school? I had experience in CAD and civil engineering, so I thought architecture might be the closest thing to what I already knew."
He took the leap and this fall returned to OCC for the Architectural Design Studies degree program, and has had a much better experience than his first time in college. "I like what I'm learning about, enjoy looking at what everyone else is doing in class, and talking to them. I've also been going down to the math lab for help, and there are people in there older than me. We bond by saying, 'Are you in the Reconnect program?' We share our life stories. It's cool to hear where everyone is from, why they're here, and build off that."
When he's not focused on his studies, More can usually be found in downtown Syracuse, where he and two friends own and operate Flower Skate Shop at 121 Walton Street in Armory Square. "It's more of a passion project. We're not making millions of dollars selling skateboards. I remember my senior year of high school when they asked us what we wanted to do. I wanted to open my own sneaker shop or skate shop, because those were the things I was super interested in growing up. It's cool to say I accomplished one of them."
