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It's only 6-and-a-half miles from Nottingham High School to Onondaga Community College, but Chance Davis had to leave home before discovering the place where he belonged was in his backyard. After receiving his diploma from Nottingham in June of 2019, Davis departed Syracuse for another community college. After one semester away he decided to come home and give OCC a try. "I realized I was a city person and liked diversity. I had never been to the OCC campus. Once I came here, everything felt amazing. I knew I would like it and I do!"

On the latest edition of our podcast, "Chatting About College," we're discussing Onondaga Community College's recent designation as a Military Friendly School.

Carolyn Hastings took a chance on finding her passion at Onondaga Community College and that chance paid off. Today she is the Assistant Vice President for Health Information Management and Coding at Albany Medical Center, and is President-elect of the New York Health Information Management Association. "I've come a long way and have had the ability to work in several reputable health care facilities throughout the U.S. in upper-level management positions. I am blessed to have OCC as my beginning!"

Austin Schouten remembers the first time he heard about the P-TECH program like it was yesterday. "I was in 8th grade. We had a meeting in the Atrium area at our school with P-TECH people. I thought it was amazing because I always wanted to do something with drafting or electronics. It was the perfect opportunity and college would be free."

When the students who make up Onondaga Community College's Unity Day committee began a dialogue about which prizes would be best to giveaway during this semesters' festivities, they had no way of knowing the conversation would lead to a campus-wide effort to provide residence hall students with the basics. Committee member Lyla Hua (Henninger High School) who lives in the residence halls pushed the conversation in that direction and began a movement. "Instead of giving residents what they want, let's give them what they need!

Abdull Alharbi has finally found a learning environment where he's comfortable and flourishing. "I really like it here. It's a great college."

Alharbi came to the United States from Yemen in 2014, landing in Texas where his father was working as a petroleum engineer. "It was a hard time. I didn't know the language or anyone outside my home." He would complete grades 8 through 12 in the Dallas area before his family moved to Central New York.

A 64-year-old vehicle has brought a new sense of energy to OCC's Automotive Technology program. "This is a cool project. I like taking old stuff and making it new again," said Auto Tech student Brandon Jones (Whitesboro HS). "I've been enjoying working on it. I'm looking forward to getting it up and running and in shape," added Auto Tech student Sabrina Sovocool (Tully HS).