Hunter Yessick has struggled with homelessness and drug addiction. In two months he'll walk across the stage in the SRC Arena and receive his college degree. "My grades have gotten better every semester. I'm 32 but I'm far from having everything figured out. Finally it feels like I'm driving. I'm not just in the back seat."
Yessick is a native of Birmingham, Alabama who had never been north of Tennessee when a relationship brought him to Central New York. "This girl has been with me every step of the way. She's the best partner I could ever have. She's a soldier. I'm blessed."
Leaving the South didn't mean leaving his problems behind. His battle with drugs continued as he went through treatment, and he lived at the Rescue Mission for a time. He has vivid memories of everything he experienced and witnessed. "I held mom's hands while they buried their sons, I watched friends deteriorate emotionally, physically, and spiritually. I learned there's hope for everyone. Everybody with a heartbeat has something to offer."
As he worked to improve his life, he also struggled for a greater purpose. Eventually he decided he wanted to become a civil engineer. "I find the most peace in what I'm doing if, at the end of the day, I can say this bridge I helped build will be here helping people, or this building I helped build will be a place where people can go and work and put food on their table and take care of their kids. I feel like that's the way I can give back and be part of something."
Yessick enrolled in OCC's Engineering Science program and found it to be a perfect fit. Last summer he interned with the City of Syracuse's Water Department. "They gave me an ID. It was the first thing I had gotten from Syracuse with my name and face on it. In the picture I looked healthy and happy. I wasn't just a shell of myself anymore. I carried that ID like a trophy."
During his final semester, he was selected to participate in the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars program, which will culminate with a trip to NASA in Langley, Virginia. When he was growing up in Alabama, he would often ride past NASA's U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville. It has a full-scale restored Saturn V Rocket standing near the entrance. "I never thought something like NASA was attainable for me. I've put as much attention and focus into this as I can."
Yessick says a huge part of his success here at OCC can be attributed to all of those around him; his professors, the staff in the Community & Counseling Care Hub, his advisor and student navigator, the staff at the Learning Center, and in the Testing Center. "I've been able to relight a fire and a hope inside of me I was scared I had snuffed out forever. I can't explain to you how freeing it is. As long as I stay humble, stay praying, and stay in my routine, the people here who support me have given me a chance to recapture the direction of my life. That's something I thought was gone forever."
On May 17, Yessick will walk across the stage at the SRC Arena, receive his degree, and walk into a full-time job with the City of Syracuse Water Department. "My time at OCC helped me restore faith in my routine and myself. It's tough to establish self-care and self-appreciation when you are an addict. To have confidence in who I am and where I'm going and what I can do makes me emotional. I'm blessed."
