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Luke Bunner was more than 4,000 miles away from the World Trade Center in New York City when the towers were attacked by terrorists on the morning of September 11, 2001. Like so many, he has vivid memories of the day. Bunner was a member of the United States Army stationed in Anchorage, Alaska when he was awoken by a colleague pounding on his door and telling him 'you have to come see this.' Bunner made his way to a TV and a few seconds later a second airplane hit the World Trade Center. "I went from waking up and being oblivious to everything to being shell shocked.

When Olga Zelenka graduated from Syracuse's Nottingham High School 15 years ago, she had no idea where life would take her. Her future started to come into focus when she decided to enroll at Onondaga Community College. "I thought it was a great option while I decided what I wanted to be when I grew up."

Nya Williams is going to be in charge of something one day. She might be a leader in the world of computers, or she may open her own sneaker store. "I'm a 'sneakerhead.' I buy, sell, and collect exclusive sneakers. My cousin is a sneakerhead too. We really believe we can open up our own business."

Heather Drake-Bianchi wants to make sure students in Onondaga Community College's new Paramedic degree and certificate programs never go through what she experienced when she was a college student. "I was homeless in college for over a year. I couch-surfed with friends and spent a lot of time at the library. You can't be both struggling financially and do well at school. I wanted to eliminate one of the troubles so that someone else can lift themselves up."