Adult Student Celebration

Adult students bring life experiences and knowledge to learning. SUNY Oswego celebrates these students in what we like to call our "Adult Student Celebration Week." A celebration that includes lunch and a wall of faces poster project displayed at both our main and Syracuse campuses. Interested in learning more? Contact the Division of Extended Learning [email protected].

We understand the complexity of being an adult student and want to say, “thank you” for your hard work and dedication to your education. SUNY Oswego is proud of our growing adult student population and want
you to join us and other adult learners to network with one another. Career services will also be present for any questions you have about your career goals and how they can help support you!
Lunches are inclusive of dietary restrictions and available for grab-and-go if you’re on the run, but we hope you can stay and make some meaningful connections.

Amy Steckel

Earning a degree was an aspiration that Amy had for many years but wasn’t sure it was possible for her to accomplish. Higher education was not something that was encouraged in her youth, but she took it upon herself to take some classes at Onondaga Community College after high school and into adulthood. She followed the lead of her older siblings and began working full-time, getting married, and having children. In her mid-thirties, Amy found herself in the face of some life changes, including divorce. She decided to go to massage therapy school and has enjoyed that career for the past 12 years. About two years ago, Amy decided to shift her focus and work towards a career that was more attuned to her problem-solving skills and less physically demanding.
Prior to this transition, Amy sadly lost both of her parents. Her daughter was getting older and in her Junior year of High School, allowing her to dive into this new phase of her life. She felt it was the right time to take on the challenge of earning her degree and beginning a new career in accounting. Amy transferred to SUNY Oswego in fall 2021 and has enjoyed the courses and academic rigor more than she could have imagined. She is so much more focused and eager to learn as an adult student and was even inspired to take on the MBA program.
Amy is planning to take the Certified Public Accountant exam when she qualifies and is taking advantage of internship opportunities this spring and summer. She is “exceedingly grateful” to SUNY Oswego, her professors, classmates, and her daughter and brother for the support and encouragement to strive for more than she dared to dream of. She knows her parents would be proud.

Cali Eddy

Cali is an Online Wellness Management major, returning to school after earning her associate's degree in Massage Therapy 17 years ago. She is a 37-year-old mother of four and decided to return to school in order to start a career in a health-related field after being primarily, a homemaker for almost two decades. She and her kids live in South Carolina but originally are from Mexico, NY, a small town a few miles from the SUNY Oswego main campus.
Her kids are 16, 13, 11, and 3, and all four of them have been diagnosed with developmental disabilities. Cali has learned to juggle their busy school and extracurricular schedules, plus therapy and Doctor appointments. Additionally, she manages the household and has learned to fit in her own assignments and make school a priority. She doesn’t have a lot of free time but tries to make time for herself and visit with local friends and family when they are in town.
Cali loves the flexibility of the online program and the ability to connect with people from all over the country. In spite of all she has to balance, she has managed to earn all A’s so far and she is only a few semesters away from graduating. Overall, she has had a “great experience” and is amazed at all she has been able to accomplish through this program.

Casey Stewart

Casey is a Business Administration major at SUNY Oswego’s Syracuse Campus. She decided to go back to school after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and finishing treatment in 2019. Her experience with M.S. changed her whole outlook on life and made her realize not to take things for granted. She had always wanted to get her degree, so after her husband finished his Master’s degree for teaching, she began her journey toward completing her bachelor’s degree.
Casey is thrilled to announce that she and her husband started their family and welcomed their son, Jacob in December 2021. She was motivated to better herself in her career and realized the opportunity to take night classes at the Syracuse Campus was a game changer. She works as a Supervisor in Community Solutions for Spectrum, handling accounts nationwide. While she enjoys what she does, she knew that completing a degree could only help her advance and set herself apart.
Class sizes at the Syracuse campus are “perfect” and have helped her transition to taking more classes online. She is very excited to graduate this coming May, 2023.

Elaine Talbott-Serrano

Elaine is an Online Wellness Management student here at SUNY Oswego, getting ready to graduate! She describes her time here as a “challenging journey,” but she realizes that the outcome will all be worth it in the end.
She was born and raised in New York City and now lives in Yonkers. She raised two girls as a single mom and praises them as her “biggest supporters and inspiration.” Her oldest is a successful and gifted artist and her youngest just finished her first semester of college, where she received a full tuition scholarship. She couldn’t be more proud.
Elaine made the decision to pursue a degree in wellness management during the pandemic when she witnessed the decline of health in her community. At the age of 48, she changed her career completely, going from accounting to wellness, finding wellness to be a much more rewarding career. She did not think she would be able to accomplish this at first, with work, family, and life throwing her unexpected curve balls. As the world was at its worst, she found herself becoming more passionate about making positive changes. She was observing how the isolation of 2020 led to unhealthy habits in so many, and she was determined to help others lead better lifestyles. Returning to school taught her to practice self-care and self-love, something she previously didn’t know how to do. She is excited to start a new chapter in life and plans to help others lead energetic, positive, and healthy lives after graduation.

Elke-Osayuware Guobadia

Elke-Osayuware is an Online Business Administration student, better known as Yowi (Yo-vee) to her friends and professional network. She currently lives in Brooklyn, NY with her 20-year-old daughter, Sasha, who also attends a State University of New York, majoring in Illustration. She is originally from Berlin, Germany but was passing through NYC after returning home from a trip to Maui and it quickly became her favorite city in the world; moving there 25 years ago.
During her time in New York, she has worked in fashion, the travel industry, and more, never having the chance to complete her degree in business. She had taken online classes before and credits the flexibility of this program at SUNY Oswego to her ability to pursue her degree. Balancing the demands of full-time work and being a single parent, in addition to all of life’s “extras,” she knows her capacity to take on more is limited.
Elke praises SUNY Oswego as a great school and is grateful for the opportunity to have landed here. She already feels connected to fellow students due to the group project work in various classes and she was “blown away” by some of the content learned so far, motivating her to do better in everyday work and life. She definitely feels the pressure during the semester, but is looking forward to the next one!

Hayley Carmona

Hayley is a self-described “non-traditional, first-generation college student” studying Business Administration. She is also a busy mother of two, working in a night-shift position. She has been in her current profession for fifteen years but realized it was time for a career change. She credits SUNY Oswego’s offering of flexible options to attend, scholarships, and online support as the reasoning behind her ability to return to school.
Her personal goal is to graduate as a first-generation college student so that her children will not have to. Her education has been a “great teaching and learning opportunity” for her to experience her education right beside her children. She has found great pride in telling her children about being selected for scholarships, academic achievements, and being inducted into an Honor Society.
She looks forward to walking the stage at graduation this coming May, with her children in the audience. They have been on her educational journey with her and there for her every step of the way.

Xin Hao

Xin is a veteran of the United States Navy who honorably completed her time in active duty in 2021. She was born and raised in Hebei, China and is fluent in reading, writing, and speaking Mandarin. Her entire family is still in China and she lives here in Oswego with her fiance.
She and her brother are first generation college students in her family, which is something she takes great pride in, considering neither of her parents were given the opportunity to complete high school. Xin decided to pursue this degree to help transition from military life to the civilian sector. Transitioning has been difficult for her because the job she had in the military was not what she wanted out of a career. She wants to get her bachelor's degree in Human Resource Management and then complete a master’s degree in Education. Her goal is to one day become a professor of Mandarin Chinese at SUNY Oswego.

Elizabeth Burdette-Allen

Beth is an Online Public Relations major from Tonawanda, New York - a suburb of Buffalo. Her teenage children, husband, and two lab mix dogs keep her busy, with her eldest getting ready for college in the fall! SUNY Oswego is in the running for choices and Beth has plenty of advice to give, as she made the decision to return to school last year. Beth met her husband, Joe five years ago and credits his encouragement as the reason for going back to school. Her past year has been an “eye-opening” and “enriching journey in academia” at SUNY Oswego.
Beth is looking forward to three more semesters to learn and grow and she hopes to be an excellent example for her teens as they approach their college years. She wants to thank her professors at SUNY Oswego for leading and helping her and her fellow students in every way, and her husband for being a major support.