Rebekah MacLean's life experiences have her on a path to a career assisting others. "When I was a junior in high school I became more and more interested in psychology. I was in therapy for a number of years and it really inspired me to help others who had been through similar difficulties. I want to help people."
Four decades ago Andrew Schuster came to Onondaga Community College from Philadelphia with a plan. "I was going to stay here for just one year and wound up staying for 39. I met and worked with some of the most wonderful people here."
During his time at OCC, Schuster was an Art professor who specialized in ceramics. He retired two years ago. Now his work is on display in the Gallery beneath Storer Auditorium. The exhibit is titled "Vessels & Other Ideas."
They encourage their teammates to go to class, to get help outside class when they need it, work their hardest during practices and games, and lead by example. They are members of the Lazers' Student Leadership Council.
Each was selected by their head coach. The student-athlete representatives meet regularly and communicate with leaders within the Lazers' Athletics department.
The representatives for the fall sports season are:
When Michael Speach was growing up, life revolved around the family business. He couldn't wait to get as far away from that life as possible. "We didn't enjoy the holidays because those were our busiest times and we were exhausted. My view of life and holidays were very skewed. We didn't take a family vacation until I was 15. I told my parents I didn't want to have anything to do with the business."
Jessica Montena found her second career while helping take care of a family member. Montena had spent 5 years teaching English at Cortland High School when she decided to home school their daughter. During the home schooling period, her husband's grandmother needed to be moved from Rochester to Syracuse.
Low-income student-parents who depend on child care while attending OCC received much needed support from Washington earlier this year when Congress increased the amount of funding to the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program by more than 230 percent, from approximately $15 million to $50 million. CCAMPIS provides additional assistance to student-parents pursuing college degrees. The sole federal program dedicated to assisting student-parents had not seen an increase in funding in a decade-and-a-half.
Professor Gerardo Tonatiuh Cummings Rendon, Ph.D. loves to share his full name with students and inspire them to think about their names. In his case, Gerardo is of European origin and it means "the man with the sword." Tonatiuh comes from Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, and it means "God of the sun." Cummings is his father's last name and Rendon is his mother's last name. "Chapter 3 in the Spanish 101 textbook deals with family. It's very interesting to ask students where their last name comes from and make them realize their identity reflects their dad but not their mom.
Members of the OCC campus community came together to give back as part of the annual "Onondaga Day of Service." Students, faculty, and staff took advantage of opportunities to assist through both on-campus and off-campus projects. A total of 161 students and 35 employee volunteers participated! The list of accomplishments included:
