Onondaga Community College will be well represented at a prestigious summer learning program at SUNY Binghamton. A school record 8 students have been selected to participate in the Bridges to the Baccalaureate Summer Research Internship Program. It's an 8-week paid internship during which students work as a Research Assistant on a faculty-designed research project.
Why were so many OCC students selected? Colleen Stevens, the Director of OCC's Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP), teamed up with Professors Justin Fiene, Peter Kraai, Elisabeth Hamilton, and Melissa Hicks who also coordinates the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Partnerships (LSAMP) program, to continuously reach out to students and let them know about the opportunity. "I think our personal invitations made a big difference. We have so many students who are good candidates. We just needed to make them aware of this," Stevens said.
The eight students selected to participate in Bridges to the Baccalaureate are:
- Addelis Agosto
- Lamar Brown
- Ariana Cruz Harris
- Silmari Figueroa
- Kiylee Lecenski
- Everine Mukeshimana
- Yesha Patel
- Andrew Waldon
One of the eight students, Ariana Cruz Harris, has a second summer learning opportunity through LSAMP she is considering. She's been accepted into the University at Albany's Summer Research Program which is also a paid internship. She'll have to choose which program she wants to participate in soon. "I've made a mental list. My main concern is doing the sort of research that is going to propel me further toward what I want to do. My goal is to go to med school. I'm really interested in gaining entry into the biomedical field of sciences."
Cruz Harris graduated from Port Charles High School in Florida two years ago and began taking classes at OCC in January 2020. She will earn her Mathematics & Science degree next month. Her husband is in the United States Army and is stationed at Fort Drum. Later this year he will be assigned to an Army base in Louisiana and she plans to continue her education down there.
During her three semesters at OCC, Cruz Harris says CSTEP and LSAMP have had a huge impact on her learning experience. "They were life-changing. I never imagined myself doing a research internship. I always thought no one would pick me. CSTEP and LSAMP gave me the encouragement and the confidence I needed. It lit a fire under me and gave me access to opportunities."
She's also grateful for her time spent at OCC which gave her an experience far greater than what she was expecting. "There's often a stigma around a community college. You can still achieve what you want here. You can still get an incredible internship, you can still find a really wonderful mentor and make good friends, and you can still get into a really great four-year school. OCC has been a really good stepping stone."
