When Kierra Yager opened the letter telling her she had been selected for a statewide award, she was overwhelmed.
“I couldn’t believe it. I cried,” she said. “Growing up, education wasn’t something that was a priority, especially going off to college. In high school, I didn’t get the best grades. When I came here, I finally felt like what I was doing meant something."
Yager has been chosen to receive the prestigious Norman R. McConney, Jr. Award for EOP Student Excellence, which honors outstanding students in New York’s Educational Opportunity Program. McConney devoted his life to expanding access to higher education for underserved populations and helped author the original legislation that established EOP across New York State.
Yager’s journey reflects that mission. A member of the Onondaga Nation’s Beaver Clan, she left high school before later earning her GED in 2021. College had rarely been discussed at home, but she decided to take a chance on herself.
In summer 2024, she enrolled in Onondaga Community College’s EOP Residential Pre-Freshman Summer Institute. For five and a half weeks, she lived on campus, took classes, shared meals in the dining hall, and experienced the rhythm of college life before the fall semester began.
The program proved transformational. “It was fundamental to everything I did,” Yager said. “I came in very shy. EOP helped me break out of my bubble. I didn’t know anything about college - how to make a schedule, how to communicate with a professor. It really helped me step out of my comfort zone.”
With that foundation, Yager flourished. Now pursuing a degree in Humanities & Social Sciences, she became an engaged and confident presence in the classroom. “College turned out to be so much different from high school,” she said. “Here, it’s okay to speak up and participate. I get kind of chatty in class, and it actually helps me retain the information better.”
Her impact extends well beyond academics. Yager has worked at the Counseling & Community Care Hub, served as a resident assistant in the residence hall, and led the Native Club as president. She also values the College’s opening of the Indigenous Student Center in Mawhinney Hall. “I felt distant from my heritage for a long time,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to know more about who I am and where I come from.”
This May, Yager will become the first member of her family to earn a college degree. It's an achievement she views not as a finish line, but as a beginning. Her long-term goal is to earn a Ph.D. and become a pediatric clinical psychologist.
Before that milestone, however, she will be honored March 9 at a statewide ceremony in Troy, where she will officially receive the McConney Award. For Yager, the recognition represents more than personal achievement. It affirms resilience, growth, and the courage to pursue a path once thought out of reach. "I've been trying really hard here. That letter reminded me that all of the hard work matters.”
