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Mark Tryniski is passionate about the time he spent at Onondaga Community College, how it impacted his life, and how it continues to impact the lives of thousands of people just like him. “I believe in OCC very deeply, the quality of the education, the affordability, the accessibility, and the breadth of different programs that are relevant to further education and career opportunities.”

Tryniski came to OCC from Fulton's G. Ray Bodley High School with what he admits was an atypical amount of enthusiasm for a teenager.

When Adam Corey was a student at Cortland High School he discovered what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. “My junior year I took a course in our video production program and loved it. A student who was a year ahead of me in the program, Mike Kaminski, decided to attend OCC and got me interested in it. I came up to OCC, checked it out and the rest is history!”

In the fall of 1989 Corey enrolled in OCC’s Radio and TV major.

Rick Shirtz has climbed to the top of his profession. He’s a Regional President at NBT Bank overseeing commercial banking for 20 branches in Oswego, Onondaga and Madison counties. NBT, an $8 billion dollar institution, is headquartered in Norwich and has branches in six states. “I’m very fortunate to be where I am. I’ve had opportunities to go elsewhere but am very happy here,” said Shirtz.

Shirtz was the youngest of six children.

Tony Melfi came to OCC with out-of-this-world dreams.  “When I was 12 years old I decided I wanted to be an astronomer and the first professional still photographer on the moon.” Melfi never made it to the moon, but his experience at OCC helped him climb to the top of his profession as a videographer.

Melfi graduated from Syracuse’s Henninger High School in 1987 and enrolled at OCC. He started taking astronomy courses but figured out quickly his childhood dream was never going to happen.

London Ladd brings words to life. He’s an illustrator who creates the visuals that help tell the stories of some our nation’s most historic figures. Ladd credits Onondaga Community College with putting him on the path to success. “The decision to go to OCC was basically the turning point in my life. Once I got into OCC and applied myself it built up my confidence and laid my foundation."

Ladd grew up in Syracuse and fell in love with art at a young age. “I was fascinated with comic books, cartoons and some animated movies.

On a chilly December afternoon former OCC student Ben Mauro heated up the campus with hot guitar riffs and good advice for current students. Mauro is a former OCC music major and highly sought-after live guitar player who has spent the last 15 years touring with Lionel Richie. Mauro came to campus in May and held a question-and-answer session with students in Academic II's spectacular Instrument and Choral Rehearsal room.

This time Mauro met with students in Storer Auditorium and he brought his guitar with him.

OCC has always been much more than a college to James Williams II. It’s been a significant part of his life for as long as he can remember. His mother Eunice Williams started working at OCC in 1996. Today she is the College’s Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer. When her son graduated from East Syracuse Minoa High School in 2000 there was little question where he would go to college, and it turned out to be one of the best decisions of his life.

The most popular freshman on campus isn’t a star athlete or someone with movie star good looks. It’s the Learning Center, the new home for OCC’s tutoring services. The Learning Center is located in the Gordon Student Center next to the cafeteria. It’s filled with spaces for students and tutors to work either one-on-one or in groups.

The upcoming semester break will provide OCC's nursing students with an opportunity to learn the power of helping others. Students will be going to Guatemala to teach residents about community health topics such as oral hygiene, lice prevention, reproductive health and prevention and treatment of malnutrition, pneumonia and other respiratory diseases.

The service learning trip costs approximately $2,000 per student. Nursing students make ends meet through numerous fundraisers.

Cody Jamieson, ‘08 is considered by many to be the greatest lacrosse player in the world. He believes much of what he’s accomplished is the result of his two years at OCC. “I loved my time here. When I look back on where I started and where I am today, I realize it’s the place where I grew up,” he said.

Jamieson was born and raised in Six Nations in Ontario, Canada where he started playing lacrosse at age three. “I have a brother who’s two years older than me. We started playing at the same time and our father was our coach.