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Onondaga Community College turned out to be a great place for Fernando "Nando" Guzman to figure out what career he wanted to pursue. Guzman graduated from Jordan-Elbridge High School in 2023 and enrolled at OCC that fall. He started in the Nursing degree program, switched to Mathematics & Science, and discovered he enjoyed math. That led him to an Engineering elective which he also liked. "I learned about Biomedical Engineering and how you could make pacemakers, prosthetic limbs, and things like that.

Wegmans today presented a check totaling $25,007 to the Food Bank of Central New York during a brief ceremony on the Onondaga Community College campus. Half of that money will be used to supply nutritious food to the food pantry on campus to assist OCC students in need. The other half will support the Food Bank’s weekend backpack program in cooperation with the Syracuse City School District.

Onondaga Community College students who spent their summer doing paid internships at Micron Technology shared their experiences with the campus community during a panel discussion September 4 in the Gordon Student Center Great Room. The conversation was moderated by Professor Mike Grieb who is one of the instructors in the Micron-related Electromechanical Technology degree program. "Everybody is going to be successful who comes out of this program. There will be a lot of opportunities locally, nationally, and globally in the long term."

If you were just an average student in high school, it's possible to become an excellent student in college. That's what happened to Ralph Smith. When he came to Onondaga Community College one year ago after graduating from Cicero-North Syracuse High School, he committed to being better. "I made a promise to myself to keep pushing myself to do things. The more I got involved in different things, the more I cared about how well I was doing here. Being self-motivated gave me confidence."

In August of 1974 Onondaga Community College hired Nancy Hazzard to be its first Coordinator of Veterans Affairs. On August 30, 2024, she returned to campus as the Office of Veterans and Military Services celebrated 50 years of serving Student Veterans. Leading the office now is Steve White. In recent years the office has repeatedly been nationally recognized as "Military Friendly" and "Best for Vets." "It's easy to be military friendly when you have the support we have on this campus," said White.

When Cassie Raymond '06 learned that Onondaga Community College was planning to transform the space where it teaches students in its School of Health, Wellness & Human Services, she needed to be part of the team that would help design the learning space of the future. "When this opportunity came along I wasn't originally scheduled to work on it. I said 'I want this project. This is my school.' We moved things around and I was able to join the team. I'm so excited to be working and creating change on this campus all of these years later."

Onondaga Community College's student body will have an outstanding group of representatives during the fall semester.

The new Student Government Officers are:

Magedah Abed comes to Onondaga Community College carrying the dreams of her entire family. She's a first-generation college student who is showing her five younger siblings what their path to a better life will be. "My mother says I have to go to college and keep going. I'm setting an example for the rest of my family."