OCC holds December graduation, nurse-pinning ceremony

ONONDAGA, N.Y. — Onondaga Community College (OCC) awarded associate degrees to about 230 December 2024 graduates during a ceremony held Wednesday evening, Dec. 11. OCC held the ceremony at the SRC Arena on campus at 4585 West Seneca Turnpike. Prior to the graduation ceremony, OCC also held its nurse-pinning ceremony, recognizing 29 students who completed their nursing degrees this semester. The pin they receive “symbolizes their hard work and dedication,” OCC said. Nursing graduates were called up individually and “pinned” by either a professor, a family member, or a friend who is also in the medical profession. The Nurse Honor Guard also participated in the ceremony, welcoming graduating students into the nursing profession. OCC’s December graduation ceremony included remarks from the student speaker, Karar Abed, a graduate of East Syracuse Minoa (ESM) Central High School who moved to the U.S. from Iraq and plans to become a heart surgeon. About the speaker Abed moved to the U.S. in 2016. He learned English and completed several college courses on the way to earning his high school diploma at ESM in June 2023. That fall, he came to OCC where he was part of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, the Lillian Slutzker Honors College, and the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry program. During the summer of 2024, OCC says he participated in a summer research program, Bridges to Baccalaureate, at SUNY Binghamton. During his final semester at OCC, he interned at Upstate Medical University in the biochemistry department where his focus was cancer research. Abed completed his mathematics and science degree at OCC and will transfer to SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry to major in biochemistry. His goal is to become a heart surgeon, OCC said.