The week of October 21-25 is National Transfer Student Week. Onondaga Community College will host a Transfer Fair this Wednesday 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.
Joshua Newman believes he may have been a successful college student had he gone directly from high school to the University of Buffalo (UB), but with the benefit of hindsight he's sure coming to Onondaga Community College first was the right decision. "My time at OCC set the foundation for me to make mistakes on a smaller scale, get a feel for college life, allow me to grow, develop, and evolve, and come to UB with a new and developed mindset that made my time there more prosperous."
Newman graduated from Queens Technical High School in 2020 and, at his father's urging, left the New York City area for college. He found OCC through an internet search, liked what he saw online, and decided to enroll.
His focus of study in high school was Graphic Art. It led him to start in OCC's Computer Science degree program, then switch to General Studies with a focus on completing all of his four-year prerequisites.
Outside class, he became immersed in campus life as a member of the Extraordinary Men of Distinction Advisory Board, the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Council, and the Unity Day Advisory Board. He shared his extraordinary graphic arts skills with the campus community by designing posters for Unity Day celebrations.
He completed his degree in December 2022 and transferred to UB where he became one of the top students in the Digital Media major. He earned A's in every class except one, and several of his projects were used as examples for fellow students to learn from. "It felt amazing knowing I did what I needed to do and stood out from the crowd. I went from questioning myself to seeing how far I could push myself."
His newfound confidence led him to courses that challenged him. One of those was an Animation class which he excelled in. With his professor's encouragement, he submitted one of his films in to UB's Department of Media Study Film Show and won Best Undergraduate Animated Film. "Unburdened by the thought of failing and now more willing to push myself, I continue to develop this mindset as I move to forward my education. I've learned to have faith, trust the process, and that we all can learn to fly."
Newman will complete his degree next May. He plans to begin his career at a media and marketing company and create his own company one day. "I want to do what I like to do and know that my work matters."
