When Larry Roundtree thinks about his future, he thinks about his sister - Sharonda Price. She became his second mother when he moved in with her in North Carolina. He thinks about her kindness, her compassion, the way she cared for him, and the promise he made her.
On Valentine's Day 2019, Roundtree wrote Price a letter that read, “I’m going to be a doctor, and I’m going to save you for all of the loving and caring you have done not only for me, but for the family.” Sharonda, who was 14 years older than Larry, had sickle cell disease.
As he watched her navigate her illness, he also looked around at the adults in his life and saw what he believed was missing. “Nobody was educated, went to college, finished high school, or wanted to help,” he said. “So I said, ‘I will help.’” That determination would become the driving force behind an extraordinary educational journey.
Today, Roundtree is a senior at the Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central (ITC), where he is studying biotechnology. He is also a college student at Onondaga Community College, taking advantage of OCC's SMART Scholars program, which allows high school seniors in any pathway to take college courses on campus and earn college credit while completing their high school education.
This semester, Larry is taking three classes at OCC and four additional college-level courses at ITC through Syracuse University's Project Advance. "My mission was to graduate high school with 50 college credits. With Smart Scholars, I'm going to graduate with 65. It's a lot, but I can handle it."
His ascension to academic excellence started when he was living with his sister. As he entered sixth grade, he began reading high school textbooks. When he didn't understand something, he turned to YouTube and learned on his own. “I taught myself a lot of math and scientific information that led me to excel later on.”
But his ambitions have always been about more than academic achievement. His sister died during the COVID-19 pandemic. “It was a hard experience, but it changed how I look at life and how I look at other people. Before, my interest was in helping one person, and now my interest is in helping more people. I couldn’t help the person I loved, so I’m going to help you and extend her love to you.”
Price remains at the center of how he sees the world. “She’s a big part of who I am today. I see her in everybody I meet - every bit of kindness I see or compassion I have for people or how I look at education or how I look at people who have differences from me. She inspired me to look at people past our differences, disagreements, race, and just see ourselves as on this earth. She is in every part of my world.”
That perspective has helped shape what he wants to do next. After graduating from ITC, he hopes to attend Columbia University or New York University, continuing his pursuit of a career in medicine. And OCC is helping him get there sooner.
Roundtree moved to Syracuse in the summer of 2022 and entered eighth grade that fall. Three years later, he found himself on the OCC campus for the first time as a participant in the college's Pre-College Summer Semiconductor Program. That five-week experience left a lasting impression. “The program was very important for me in my development. For those five weeks I was here, I felt like I had a family. I think everyone should have an experience like that.”
Now, he is back on the OCC campus as a high school student taking college classes, and he is far from alone. During the 2025-2026 academic year, 444 high school students participated in on-campus programs at OCC, including P-TECH, Early OCC, Spartan Academy and SMART Scholars. Of those students, 66 earned associate degrees, including 46 who graduated from high school and college at the same time.
