Student Spotlight: Ben Fechtner

Ben Fechtner always had an idea what he wanted to do, but it wasn't until he arrived at Onondaga Community College that his dreams came into focus. "I never really felt I fit into traditional education systems. I thought I could come to OCC and dip my toe in college a little bit."

Fechtner's road to finding success at OCC was a long one. He attended high school in New Jersey and Connecticut before moving to Central New York with his family. At his first high school he was introduced to computer-aided design (CAD) software which is used to increase productivity and the quality of design, improve communication through documentation, and create a database for manufacturing. He enjoyed working with CAD but when he changed high schools, his new school was not equipped to teach courses in that area.

When Fechtner arrived in Central New York he took drafting courses at BOCES. "I got fully certified in a year but couldn't find work because I didn't have a college degree." That led him to OCC where the School of Computing & Applied Technologies has 12 certificate and degree programs, each of which can lead to either immediate employment or transfer opportunities.

Fechtner enrolled in time for the fall 2020 semester. He intended to take just one class but wound up taking a full course load in the Mechanical Technology degree program and loved his experience. "The facilities are great, the staff is awesome, and everyone is so supportive and knowledgeable. And I was reminded again how much I really love drafting." Drafting is the drawing of objects to scale for architectural or engineering purposes. "Getting to interact with CAD helped me want to take all of this great knowledge and experience I'm getting here and use it. My real passion would be to go into engineering. I always loved engineering but not succeeding at lower levels of education made me think I wasn't a fit."

Fechtner is now mapping out his education and career plan. He's working with his advisor and success coaches to figure out the future. He'll earn his degree in May 2022 and believes he can accomplish anything. "I never really thought college would be a possibility and never looked to deep into further education. Now I want to keep going and become an engineer."