Student Spotlight: Tricia Buttiglieri

• Major: Early Childhood
• High School: Dunkirk, class of 1994

Tricia Buttiglieri's road to a college degree began in the summer of 2018 when her husband was driving to work and spotted a billboard advertising OCC's new Weekend College. "He called me, told me about it, and said I should check it out. That night when I got home from work, I went to the OCC website, applied, and it started the ball rolling right away."

In between working full time and raising two children, Buttiglieri had considered college for some time. Weekend College provided the opportunity she was looking for. "I had been wanting to go for many years but it wasn't convenient in my life, or at least I didn't think it was."

By August she was a member of OCC's first class of Weekend College students, majoring in Early Childhood. She loved her first year, earned a perfect 4.0 grade point average, and became a leader among her fellow students. When year two of Weekend College began, Buttiglieri was asked to speak with incoming students. "I told them you really need to look at each day of your week. Find where there are times in your life schedule you can dedicate to your schoolwork and hold yourself accountable. It's been so important for me. I stay organized. When things are done, I check them off in my planner. That's how I stay on track."

One year after deciding to try college, Buttiglieri made another significant life change. She walked away from Enterprise Rent-A-Car where she had worked for 20 years and took a full-time job as a Coordinating Preschool Teacher at OCC's Children's Learning Center. "This is a Shangri-la for children. They are so lucky to have this. Our belief is that children learn their best through play and in a supportive and loving environment."

The Children's Learning Center has been a wonderful place for Buttiglieri as well. She brings her 3-year-old son with her every day and has completed her first level of student teaching. She'll earn her degree next May and plans to pursue a bachelor's degree and ultimately become a teacher. "I always loved kids and always had an interest in how people develop, how we grow through life and who we become. It's all impacted by our experiences from the earliest of age. It felt like a natural progression to study that. I feel like I can contribute to positive change in our society to grow young minds and be positive and reassuring in their lives."