Student Spotlight: Don Ariola

Each Monday we highlight a successful student on our website. This Monday, which is also Veterans Day, we shine the Student Spotlight on one of our outstanding Student Veterans. We thank all Veterans on the Onondaga Community College campus for their service to our country.

Don Ariola is a survivor. The attacks of September 11 inspired him and his brother Brad to enlist in the United States Marine Corps on the same day. While serving overseas, he was exposed to combat. And before his final deployment in 2007, his father was killed in a car accident at age 47.

By the time he was discharged four and a half years after enlisting, he was in the middle of an enormous personal struggle. The Oswego County native returned home and experienced a lengthy downward spiral. "I was raised in a Christian family. When I went in the military, the stuff I went through and saw and lost buddies, plus what happened to my father, I straight up hated God."

When he hit bottom, he called his brother and asked for help. "I was into drugs and alcohol and I didn't like myself. I told my brother I was done with this and he needed to take me to the V-A  (Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Syracuse.)" That phone call began several months of care, including alcohol and substance abuse rehabilitation, and time in a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder program. "After going to rehab, I started giving myself credit when I never used to before."

Ariola was better, but still had issues to deal with. Shortly after Covid, he began going to the gym and working out every morning at 3 a.m. "I wanted to get discipline back in my life and thought this was the way to do it." It was during one of those early morning commutes, while dealing with internal struggles, that he found his Christianity again. "I was always running from doing the hard work to fix myself. I learned to take care of the hard stuff right away. I don't run from things anymore. I confront everything."

In the fall of 2023 at age 41, Ariola decided to give college a try and came to Onondaga Community College. "At first I was scared. Now I love the place. All of the teachers are more than willing to help. This office has helped me out, especially Steve who's helped me tremendously." The "Steve" he referred to is Steve White who runs the Office of Veterans and Military Services. Last week the office was named "Best For Vets" by Military Times magazine for its service to Student Veterans and their families. The Office of Veterans and Military Services is located on the 2nd floor of Coulter Hall at the top of the main staircase.

Now in his third semester, Ariola is working toward a degree in Physical Education & Fitness Studies program. He plans to transfer to SUNY Cortland and pursue his dream of becoming a nutritionist and kinesiologist, a healthcare professional who helps people improve their health and physical fitness.

While continuing to better himself as a person and a student, he has one more meaningful project he hopes to complete soon. "I have a letter I've been writing to my mother for two years and it's about 10 pages long. My father was my and my brother's hero. When he died in a car accident, our mother was always the pillar of strength we could rely on. She was always there for me through my drug addiction and my drinking. It blows me away that someone can love someone the way she loves me and my brother. I don't think I would be here if it wasn't for her."