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Onondaga Community College Architectural Technology Alumni spanning six decades came together earlier this month to reminisce about their time on campus, their careers, and where life has taken them since they were students on Onondaga Hill. "There were 5 or 6 here from my class. It was a nice turnout," said Ivan Hanson '15. "OCC is the reason I'm in architecture. The instructors and professors we had were great. They put me on the path to where I am now."

A large group of students in OCC's Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (C-STEP) and Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (L-SAMP) program are busy wrapping up the fall semester and preparing for research opportunities over the semester break.

When Joshua Newman graduated from Queens Technical High School two years ago, he hoped to attend college somewhere in the New York City area. But his father wanted him to experience life away from home and encouraged him to find a college that could give him the total on-campus experience. He began researching options on the internet and found Onondaga Community College. "There was something about OCC. I was looking at the website, the videos, and the reviews and it just jumped out at me. When I got here I said, 'this is actually pretty cool. It's pretty nice.'" 

When Salih Kaleel and Noor Noor decided to be part of the first group of Onondaga Community College students participating in the Meg O'Connell Social Justice Scholars Program, they had no idea how much they would get out of helping others. "The great part of our experience came from putting ourselves out in the community and applying what we had learned in the classroom," said Noor. "Service learning was a great way to do that."

Buffy Quinn just received an early Christmas present. Onondaga Community College's Assistant Dean of Natural and Applied Sciences was named to the initial group of Community College Presidents Initiative STEM (CCPI-STEM) Fellows. The program is designed to recognize and support community college faculty, administrators, and other individuals who aspire to provide leadership or support to community colleges to prepare a workforce educated in STEM-related technologies and skills. The number of jobs requiring STEM-related expertise has risen 34 percent over the last decade.

Derek Sweeney has been playing esports for as long as he can remember. During his senior year at West Genesee High School, the Wildcats started an esports team and Sweeney joined it. "Our Smash Bros team won the entire championship. I really like playing video games. It's my main pasttime."

Sweeney, who is a freshman in Onondaga Community College's Cybersecurity degree program, decided to join the new esports team on campus which is also in its first semester. And he continued his dominance in the Smash Bros game, compiling a perfect 11-0 record and finishing 1st in the nation.

Every year on September 26, Jasenko Mondom and his family quietly celebrate the anniversary of one of the most important days in their lives. It was on that date in 1997 they completed their journey from war-torn Bosnia and arrived in the United States. "That date represents our new year and new life. We've been gone so long now that we've actually been outside of Bosnia longer than we were in Bosnia."

Istarlin Dafe didn't have the luxury of growing up in a home where she could learn from others who had gone to college. So when she heard about a writing workshop being offered on campus, she decided to take advantage of the opportunity. "I really learned a lot here. Now I will be able to teach my younger siblings how to send an email and be perfect and very detailed."

Cathy Jarrett had been considering returning to college for years. The 47-year-old mother of two had gone to college earlier in life but never finished, and then marriage and  parenting took over. But when she saw the success story of a 40-something mom and friend, Anne Pandian, on the OCC website, she knew it was time. "After I read the story I called her and told her she was doing great, and going to school was in the back of my mind. She said 'you should totally do it!