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"I'm first-generation associates, bachelor's and master's. None of the women in my family had anything," says 2012 graduate Rania Markham. She now considers it her life mission to encourage women to achieve their dreams. "Keep going. Take that step, take the class. It's just one step closer, even if it's one class at a time ..."

"It's kind of crazy, because I went to school for seven years, but some of the best memories I have and some of the things that I remember the most are from »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ Community College. Not only because I was valedictorian, but also because of the close-knit community, the class size, how accessible it was."

"When I came to »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ, I knew I loved theatre, and I got really involved," says Patrick Connor (Fantastick Patrick). "I wasn’t expecting to enjoy classes like Western Civ, but I did. My professors were great – they encouraged me to pursue whatever it was I wanted to do. I actually started to love being a student, and I still do."

"You need to try your dreams. Only by trying will you know if you're going to make it or not," says Mary Toole, who graduated from »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ in 1969 with an associate degree in liberal arts. "You don't want to get to the end of your life regretting. I would never have gotten where I am without »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ. It gave me the chance to try."

Embracing the unexpected twists of life, Jay Ogle transformed his associate degree earned in Human Services into the foundation of his dynamic approach to business development. ... "I chose »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ for its accessibility, affordability and the fact that I was able to integrate the huge time commitment of school into my working life."