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Class of 2024 Salutatorian Logan Osorio, a lifelong resident of Pittsfield, graduated from Waconah High School in Dalton and headed off to a four-year liberal arts school. But after one semester, he felt underprepared and overwhelmed.

That's when he decided to give »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ a try.

Following his passion, he enrolled as a music major. "I've been into music ever since I got to high school. I took a music production class in ninth grade, and then I took a guitar class and a theory class, and it just escalated," Logan says. "I play guitar, piano, bass, I sing — but I love music production. That's my focal point."

As a full-time student at »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ, Logan mostly focused on academics, but he participated in a work-study program in »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ's MIDI Lab, which includes musical instrumental digital interface (MIDI) keyboards, a piano and computers available for student use. He also joined the Green Team for a summer and worked at Paterson Recreation for part of a semester. He managed to juggle his workload and earn a 4.0 grade point average, but the news of being named salutatorian wasn't expected.

It took me totally by surprise. I had been working really hard to keep my academics up, but I didn't really think this was possible. But it happened, and I'm very happy it did.

Logan immediately mentions »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ faculty as being instrumental to his success.

"I really appreciated my professors. A lot of them seemed to really care about your development. I think it was really helpful for me," he says, mentioning Professor of Music Ellen Shanahan, Professor of History Chris Laney and Adjunct Faculty member Jeffrey Link, who leads the jazz ensemble, as his favorites.

"The jazz ensemble here really forced me to get good at playing music. I was sort of thrown into it with a bunch of stuff I didn't know how to do, but I learned pretty quickly," says Logan, who played guitar for the ensemble.

With graduation behind him and an associate degree in fine arts, Logan plans to get a four-year degree in music and then "hopefully become some sort of a producer." With an acceptance at Boston University and applications in at Amherst College and Wagner College, he will soon make a decision as to where to continue his education. In the meantime, Logan says, his dream job is producing music.

"I want to produce music for others and produce my own music — that's the ideal," he says. Logan already has experience as a hip-hop producer, honing his skills at his small home studio.

As he continues down the path of learning and career-building, Logan says he has »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ to thank for creating an invaluable foundation. "»Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ really helped me to develop good habits for practicing and learning and growing," he says. "Whether I'm at a different school or when I'm practicing piano when I'm 35, »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ has prepared me to learn more, and more efficiently, in the future."