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Grace Cordone thought she everything figured out. During her final year of homeschooling in Cato, she was going to come to the Onondaga Community College campus to take two very challenging Anatomy & Physiology courses she would as she worked toward her Physical Therapist Assistant degree. She hoped to spend two years at OCC before going directly into the workforce. Her relationship with Professor Elizabeth Hamilton changed everything. "I was really shy. She introduced me to how Biology works and how to teach it. I decided 'I want to teach this.'"

Onondaga Community College's Learning Center is about to become one of the most popular places on campus. As the end of the semester approaches, more and more students will go there for help. The Learning Center offers free tutoring to anyone taking an OCC class. Its located on the second floor of the Gordon Student Center right next to the cafeteria.

Ralph Kazmirski, '18 knows the power of addiction. He also know the joy that comes from sobriety. After decades of heavy alcohol use and a lengthy prison sentence, he's living his best life working seven days a week and helping convince those experiencing difficult times there's a better way. "I love my life today. It's alcohol free. People ask if I can have fun without alcohol and I tell them I have a blast every day."

Grant Williams knew P-TECH was for him when he listened to a presentation about it while in the 8th grade at Mexico Middle School. "I was taking an Intro to Engineering type of class at the time and I really enjoyed it. The P-TECH program sounded like something I would be interested in doing."

P-TECH stands for Pathways in Technology Early College High School. It's a program that provides high school students the opportunity to work toward their high school diploma and associate degree simultaneously, and provide them a pathway to an in-demand job.

Onondaga Community College's highly decorated chapter of international honor society Phi Theta Kappa held its spring induction ceremony Tuesday night. It was the third consecutive induction ceremony held virtually due to the pandemic.

PTK President Gina Segreti started the event by welcoming everyone, then introduced fellow student Nova Kowalski who sang the National Anthem.

Ben Fechtner always had an idea what he wanted to do, but it wasn't until he arrived at Onondaga Community College that his dreams came into focus. "I never really felt I fit into traditional education systems. I thought I could come to OCC and dip my toe in college a little bit."

Social media has become one of the biggest, if not the biggest way, to send out messages to large audiences and communicate with them. Onondaga Community College has five social media channels; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tok Tok, and You Tube. Knowing how to use each platform properly requires an in-depth understanding of how they work and their specific audiences.

The P-TECH program has given Christian McKay a head start on his career. He's already working as a Mechanical Technician at Carrier while attending Onondaga Community College. "I was always interested in technology. I thought this would be a great pathway to start and get into the field. Now I'm ahead of everyone else. I'm looking around and seeing kids who are still going to college and I'm getting ready to go to work."

At the March 23, 2021, OCC Board of Trustees meeting, OCC Student Trustee and Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Vice President for Service Eleanor Petrucco ‘21  and PTK Chapter President  Gina Segreti ’21 gave a special presentation on behalf of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society to OCC Executive Director of Communications Roger Mirabito.  

It's easy to see Moise Laub's polished appearance, hear about his recent acceptance into a top-ranked graduate school program, and not realize what it took for him to get to this point. "Without OCC I wouldn't have the confidence and the experience I have. I know I wouldn't have these chances and these opportunities. I've grown a lot because of OCC. OCC is where everything started for me."