National Transfer Week: Hannah Durand's Transfer Story

The week of October 21-25 is National Transfer Student Week. Onondaga Community College will host a Transfer Fair Wednesday, October 23 in the Gordon Student Center Great Room from 11:30am to 1:30pm. Students will have the opportunity to have in-person conversations with representatives of colleges and universities where they are interested in continuing their education. Between now and then, we are sharing stories with you daily of students who earned their associate degrees at OCC and transferred to four-year institutions.

Hannah Durand's hard work coupled with her decision to 'put herself out there' made her one of the most highly decorated students and athletes in Onondaga Community College history. Her list of accomplishments includes:

• Member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and the Lillian Slutzker Honors College.
• Winner of the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence, the highest honor which can be bestowed upon any SUNY student.
• The Student Trustee on OCC's Board of Trustees.
• The Conference Player of the Year and an All-American on the Women's Basketball team. The Lazers made it to the National Tournament both seasons she was on the team.

Two years after coming to OCC from Marcellus High School, Durand completed her Mathematics & Science degree in 2023 and transferred to the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). "My time at OCC truly shaped how I take on my college endeavors. While the courses there were more general, the class environments, the professor, and the programs really taught me how to handle higher-rigor academics. Our class sizes were small enough where you knew enough people to collaborate with, and the professors did their best to get to know you. It made you strive to gain strong relationships with your peers and professors, so that you could learn more in your field and not be afraid to ask for more help if you needed it. That has definitely helped me in my transition to RIT. Getting out of my comfort zone at OCC was also great preparation for me. Joining Student Government and sitting on the Board of Trustees gave me more experience with putting myself out there and not being afraid to be a joiner. Networking and learning from great colleagues was an amazing experience for me. From an athletic standpoint, my coaches built a successful program that was a privilege to be a part of. I learned how to adapt to different teammates, playing styles, and disciplines, and it definitely made me grow on the court and in the classroom."

During her first year at RIT, Durand enrolled in the School of Individualized Study which provides her the opportunity to integrate into multiple degree programs. She's in both Residential Architecture and Marketing Design, taking classes in the School of Architecture and the School of Business. During the summer she interned at Beardsley Architects + Engineers in their marketing department. "I learned so much about design and strategies in marketing, as well as see the 'behind-the-scenes' that goes into an Architecture firm. It was such an incredible opportunity because it combined both concentrations of my major."

She also excelled for the RIT Women's Basketball team, leading them in scoring through the first seven games until she broke her hand and had to miss the remainder of the season. Playing basketball gave her an on-campus community to belong to as she adapted to coursework at a larger institution. "In a lecture hall of 40 to 50 students it took a while for me to grasp that some of my professors wouldn't know my name unless I took the time to ask questions and work with them outside of class. The academic caliber here is definitely something you have to work really hard to maintain, but with the right motivation and resources, it can be very rewarding in the end."

Durand is also in great shape financially thanks to her decision to spend her first two years at OCC. "I entered my junior year with no college debt. I didn't fully comprehend it until I was at RIT, talking with my teammates and classmates. They would share which classes they were taking. It was refreshing to know I took those same classes, with a much better financial deal, and am still caught up with them in terms of academic coursework. I feel like I learned all of the basics at OCC, close to home, for no cost, and now have the opportunity to go to a great institution and focus on classes that are geared towards my exact major."