2024 Commencement Student Speaker

Melissa Duran will be the Student Speaker at Onondaga Community College's Commencement ceremony. "Being selected doesn't feel real! I keep having imposter syndrome. OCC has been the piece of the puzzle I was missing."

Duran immigrated to the United States 11 years ago with the dream of becoming a surgeon. She settled in New York City with her sister where she worked full-time and went to school full-time. She earned Biology degrees from CUNY two-year and four-year schools. Her grades were good, but not good enough for medical school. Her dreams of becoming a surgeon were on hold.

When her sister returned to Ecuador, Duran decided to move upstate. She discovered OCC and decided to enroll for the fall 2023 semester. She chose the Surgical Technology degree program. "It put me in the operating room so I could get experience there. And I also began retaking old classes so I could improve my GPA (grade point average)."

Duran excelled in her coursework at OCC and improved her cumulative GPA from 2.9 to 3.8. She earned membership in the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Honor Society, and was also a Meg O'Connell Scholar. She shared her knowledge at the Learning Center where she tutored fellow students in Medical Terminology, Anatomy and Physiology 1, and Spanish 1 and 2.

When she wasn't in class, tutoring, or doing clinicals at one of the area hospitals, Duran could often be found on the 2nd floor of Coulter Hall where the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (C-STEP), other opportunity programs, and PTK are headquartered. "The advisors here were amazing. They were always staying in touch and giving you all of the things you needed to succeed. "C-STEP, PTK, Trio, and all of the programs help you connect to go other places. You experience things you will never experience if you are by yourself."

Duran is not by herself in the Syracuse area either. Her mother lives here along with her sister and niece. They'll be attending OCC's Commencement ceremony May 18 at 11 a.m. in the SRC Arena. Duran has about a week-and-a-half to figure out the exact words she will say when she speaks to fellow class of 2024 members, but already has a good idea what the theme of her message will be. "I want what I say to sound from the heart. I want people to know that if I can do it, anyone can do it. I faced so many struggles... racism, epilepsy, the language barrier. Here I am so happy. OCC was the perfect college for me."

The day after commencement Duran will celebrate her 29th birthday. And in the fall she will continue her education at SUNY Upstate Medical University where she will pursue a master's degree in MedPrep Enhancement. The program will give her the opportunity to continue to improve previous grades in preparation for medical school.