Onondaga Community College provided Tiffany Williams the support system she needed to be a successful college student. "It's been such a different experience here. People have listened to me and helped me. It's really been great."
Williams spent five years in the Army National Guard before deciding to pursue a college education. She started at another community college, but a health episode left her with memory issues. Without the proper support services around her she walked away from college.
In 2018 she she decided to try college again, applied to OCC, and was accepted. As the deadline to enroll approached she was having second thoughts. That's when she began hearing from one of the people who would become part of her support system here. "I remember I was having a bad day at work and my cell phone rang. I didn't answer it but I listened to the voice mail and returned the call." Her return call was to Steve White who runs OCC's Student Veterans' office which was recently named Military Friendly for the 2021-2020 academic year. "He kept calling and working with me and all of a sudden I had a class schedule and everything I needed to start."
Williams became a full-time student at OCC in the spring of 2019 and the Student Veterans' office was one of her homes on campus. "I go there once a week to take a class and I check in with Steve every-other week. Sometimes we talk about how things are going. Sometimes we joke around. Sometimes we just chit chat."
Another important place for her was the Office of Accessibility Resources (OAR) which works to ensure that students with disabilities have an equal opportunity in all aspects of the educational environment. Williams would receive assistance there with her memory issues. Her go to person was Jay Harrison, Assistant Director of the office. "Whenever I had a problem anywhere on campus, he was always willing to help."
The third person who is part of Williams' support network is Professor Carolyn Bice. "She's helped me through so many things the last couple of years. I've reached out to her a lot about personal things and she's always been there. She's talked me through a lot."
This summer Williams will complete work toward her Liberal Arts degree. "I'm finally almost there. There have been some challenging moments. I've grown so much through this journey. OCC was the right route."
She plans to continue her education and focus on Psychology. "I'm interested in the brain and how we react to things, human emotions, different aspects of our lives and how it effects out reactions and what we do. Every cause has an effect."
