Student Spotlight: Noah Singh

• Degree program: Business Administration
• High School: Faith Heritage, class of 2019

Noah Singh is determined to educate others about income inequality and the destructive impact it has on our society. That topic is his primary focus in the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) honor society's Honors In Action project. "We had virtual meetings throughout the summer as we began our work. Income inequality is such an important issue. When slavery ended in our country White people were in a better place than Black people. Here in the Syracuse City School District which has a large Black population, so many students come from difficult backgrounds and live in lower income areas. It impacts the way they are raised and their opportunities in life."

Singh has heard stories from his father about how destructive racism can be. His father grew up in South Africa during apartheid and came to the United States with dreams of becoming a professional tennis player. He made it to the highest level of college tennis and today works training and coaching young tennis players.

When it was time for Singh to choose a college, OCC was the logical choice. "It was five minutes from home, I could continue to play baseball here, and it's one of the best community colleges."

Singh and his Lazers teammates were prepared to begin the baseball season last spring when then the pandemic struck. Suddenly all sports were put on hold and all classes went online. "Not playing was a bummer but all of my classes went pretty smooth. The professors I had were very understanding." In the midst of the sudden changes, Singh was rewarded for his outstanding coursework by being inducted into the PTK honor society, and now he's a member of the organization's leadership team. He decided to make the most of everything PTK has to offer after a conversation with his high school assistant basketball coach, Ryan Nellenback, who is an alumnus of OCC and works at the College as the Director of Student Onboarding. "He thought joining PTK would be a good idea for me. PTK challenges me, takes me out of my comfort zone, and provides a great opportunity."

Singh will earn his Business Administration degree next May. He plans to study Finance at a four-year college and hopefully continue his baseball career.