“There are students who can’t juggle a full-time job and school, so we wanted to find employees who could offer both,” said Shaquana Deans-Thorne, ECC recruiter and career services counselor.

ECC students and the general public are invited to attend the event, where they will have the opportunity to learn more about the various companies on site, and potentially obtain an interview or job offer.

There will also be a College Central Corner where students and employers can obtain additional information about registering on ECC’s Online Job Board. The College Central Network is a platform providing technology to connect employers with qualified candidates. The CCN app features opportunities for internships, part-time jobs and full-time employment.

The Dress for Success Mobile Boutique bus will be outside of the CFI. According to their website, the mobile unit is “packed with a curated selection of apparel designed to empower women as they enter the job market.”

Current students, alumni and community members are encouraged to attend the free Part-Time Job Fair and to bring copies of their resume. Deans-Thorne says participants should dress professionally and prepare a one-minute intro about who they are and the type of job they are seeking.

The current list of registered employers expected at ECC’s 2025 Part-Time Job Fair include:

• Creative Arts Marketplace (Cams Cafe)
• DeLoatch & Hinton, PLLC Law Firm
• Dress for Success Mobile Boutique
• Eastern Petroleum Corp. dba EP Mart
• Edgecombe County Emergency Services
• Edgecombe County Public Schools
• Edgecombe Health Center
• Food Lion
• Meherrin Agricultural & Chemical Company
• NC Department of Adult Correction
• Pollard CPA PLLC
• Recovery Journey Services
• Rocky Mount Fire Department
• The Cheesecake Factory
• Town of Tarboro
• US Army

According to Deans-Thorne, employers are continuously being added. For an updated list, continue to check the ECC website at www.edgecombe.edu. For more information about the Part-Time Job Fair, contact Deans-Thorne at deanss@edgecombe.edu, or call 252-618-6537.

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Viola Harris

Volunteerism is not merely a pastime for Viola Harris. It’s ingrained in the life of this ECC employee, 24-year Edgecombe County commissioner and “woman of many hats.” It started when the Leggett native was just nine years old, and since that time, Harris has unceasingly pursued a life for the betterment of her community. That’s why she recently received the 2025 President’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Signed by former President Joe Biden, the award honors individuals whose service positively impacts communities in every corner of the nation and inspires those around them to also take action.

Harris’ first action of volunteerism was in elementary school when she sat with an older lady. “Her husband worked at the school all day,” recalls Harris. On Friday and Saturday, he cut hair in the town of Speed. He had no one to sit with his wife, Mrs. Victoria. My mom said that I would do it, and I did.”

While her mom’s directives and benevolent attitude led to her daughter’s first volunteer efforts, this soon blossomed into Harris’ own pathway for service. After seeing her mother volunteer in the church and visit seniors in the nursing home, Harris has done the same and more.

For 55 years, the ECC graduate attended Salem Chapel Missionary Baptist Church. Now, she is a member of Leggett Chapel Missionary Baptist Church where her husband serves as the pastor.  For 24 years, Harris has been involved with the Ebonette Club of Tarboro. The club works to provide scholarships for high school seniors, with participants volunteering in schools and serving as mentors.

Harris has been a part of the Boys and Girls Club of the Tar River Region for 16 years, taught Sunday school for 35 years, and has worked with ECC for 14 years. Additionally, she volunteers with the North Edgecombe Alumni Association, reads at a different elementary school approximately four times a year, and serves on nine committees as an Edgecombe County commissioner.

However, Harris says her most impactful volunteer experience has been her time with the organization, Sisters with a Vision. Better known as SWAV, the group is comprised of 51 ladies from 15 different churches. They all found a way for Harris and others to continue their interests during COVID.

“We still met. We put chairs in the yard and formed a circle,” says Harris. “That helped me through the pandemic because throughout those years, we stayed active, keeping each other encouraged and still trying to do the work of the Lord.”

God is exactly who the first lady thanked when she received the 2025 President’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Awardees must have completed more than 4,000 hours of service within a 12-month period. Harris surpassed that with 4,500 hours. Recipients must also complete their service through a certifying organization. For Harris, that was the American Martial Arts Alliance Foundation.

In addition to maintaining a full-time job, the wife, mother of three and grandmother of three understands that life can get hectic, but volunteering is worth it. She adds that your family can be a part of that too.

“It (volunteering) will light up your soul,” says a smiling Harris. “Start your children young. Do anything that you can do to help somebody, even an encouraging word. “

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Carole White, Edgecombe County clerk of court, delivers the oath of office to
(l-r) Trey Lewis, Carl Warren and William “Kenny” Parker.

91ӣ����Ƶ pride runs deep for Trey Lewis and his family. On Thursday, Aug. 29, the Macclesfield resident was appointed to a four-year term on the 91ӣ����Ƶ Board of Trustees. Lewis obtained an associate in arts degree from ECC. His wife, Danielle, also received an associate in arts from ECC. Paula, Trey’s mom, is a proud graduate of the college, where she gained an associate’s degree in applied science.

“I am thrilled to join the 91ӣ����Ƶ Board of Trustees,” said Lewis. “As a graduate of ECC, I know how important the college is to both the county and region.”

Lewis is currently a Northeast regional representative for U.S. Senator Thom Tillis, but he is no stranger to attaining prominent positions.

ECC board member, Trey Lewis

After graduating from SouthWest Edgecombe High School in Pinetops and ECC, the 32-year-old graduated from East Carolina University with a bachelor of science in political science and a master of public administration degree. He worked as a veterinary assistant at Riverside Veterinary Hospital while attending college. In 2015, he interned in the Washington, DC office of U.S. Senator Richard Burr and was later hired as a staff assistant.

Most notably, Lewis served as the mayor of Macclesfield from December 2015 to May 2018. A 23-year-old first-time candidate at the time, he was recognized as one of the youngest officials ever elected in North Carolina, and one of the youngest mayors in the country.

“Time and time again, Mr. Lewis has demonstrated his capabilities and his love for Edgecombe County,” said Rev. Jerry W. Spruell, chair of the ECC Board of Trustees. “His strong work ethic, ties to the community and to the state, as well as his varied experiences, will be extremely beneficial to our board and to the college.”

Lewis is also an elder at Macclesfield Presbyterian Church.

In addition to the appointment of Lewis, William “Kenny” Parker and Carl Warren were reappointed to the ECC Board of Trustees for four-year terms. Warren is a retired senior manager with Superior Essex. He currently works with Warren Accounting Group in Pinetops. Parker is pastor of St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church in Oak City. Parker retired from Consolidated Diesel in 2008 as operational business manager.

“I appreciate Mr. Gus Tulloss and former ECC trustee and staffer for Senator Burr, Mrs. Betty Jo Shepheard, for encouraging me to pursue this opportunity. I would also like to thank Speaker Tim Moore for appointing me to the position,” said Lewis.

The ECC Board of Trustees has 12 voting members, each serving a four-year term. The Student Government Association President also serves on the board as an ex-officio member, along with the college president.

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Montrell Staton, a success coach at 91ӣ����Ƶ, left a troubled youth behind and pursued higher education to create a better life for him and his family. He completed a master’s degree in May and serves as a shining example to the students he advises at ECC.

When he looks at the students he mentors, Montrell Staton sees his past – and their future.

For two years, Staton, 34, has been a success coach in 91ӣ����Ƶ’s Academic Success Center on the Tarboro campus. He works in its PAAMES program, which stands for “Providing African American Males the Edge to Succeed.”

“African American male students are at the bottom [statistically] when it comes to retention and graduation,” he explains. Staton is part of the solution, working with at-risk young men to help them along the often-rocky path of academic study.

At the beginning of each spring and fall semester, he gets a list of about 15-20 students he’ll be working with. “My job is to reach out to the students and build rapport with them, and let them know what resources they have available to them and how I will assist them throughout their journey here at Edgecombe,” he says.

“For instance, I’ll call a student and introduce myself to him and say, ‘Hey, this is Montrell, success coach over at Edgecombe. I’ll be working with you this semester,’ ” he says. “I’ll be checking in with you twice a month to make sure everything is going well in your classes, checking in with your instructor twice a month.”

The idea is “just to keep him on top of things, getting a copy of his syllabus, helping him keep track of tests and quizzes, stuff that has major weight as far as grades or GPA,” Staton says.

Born in Tarboro and raised in Rocky Mount, Staton’s interest in his young charges, and belief in the power of education to improve lives, is more than academic, it’s personal. His life was once at the same critical juncture they face, and he readily admits he almost squandered it.

“I was terrible growing up,” he says. “I was always in trouble, couldn’t stay in school.”

He attended Nash Central High School but fell into gang activity. “I was kicked out of Nash Central for inciting a riot” between rival gang factions, “Rocky Mount against Nash County,” he says. “We were all arrested and sent to jail. … After I got out, I ran into more trouble, more gang activity.”

Ultimately, he was wounded in a shooting during a gang dispute at the RM Wilson Gym in Rocky Mount.

He credits his turnaround in part to “strong black men” he met in academics and while enrolled in the ncIMPACT program for troubled teens, men who “helped guide me, steer me on the right path,” he says. “They would just pull me aside into the office and have conversations with me and just assure me that I was going to be something good, I was going to do something great, even though at the time I couldn’t see it, I couldn’t believe it.”

He began attending ECC in pursuit of a GED but admits his transformation wasn’t instantaneous. Earning it took him “seven or eight years,” he says.

“I was playing around,” Staton explains. “I would leave campus, I would go and hang out with the guys down the street, we would do stuff, everything we thought we were big enough to do.” He was temporarily booted from the program once after getting into “some trouble” on campus, he says, and at one point, left entirely “to join the workforce.”

One day, while he was at work at McDonald’s, his future wife dropped off a document she’d just gotten from the Health Department, informing him that she was pregnant with their first child (they now have three).

“I believe my first son was the reason I got on track,” he says. “That’s when I really got serious about education, and I knew I needed it to create a better lifestyle for myself, in order to create a better lifestyle for him.”

After earning his GED, Staton graduated from ECC with an associate degree in criminal justice. He then transferred to Fayetteville State, where he earned his bachelor’s degree, also in criminal justice, and then graduated from ECC’s Basic Law Enforcement Training program in 2021.

This past May, the onetime gang member, too long on a dead-end path, capped his inspirational climb by earning a master’s degree in sociology.

He got his position at ECC after being encouraged by a cousin who saw a job application online. “He thought it was something I should apply for,” Staton says. “My intention was to go into criminal justice and work with at-risk students … so when that didn’t work out, this fell right in line.”

He said he draws on his troubled past to build rapport. “I see glimpses of myself in some of the students I work with,” he says. “And I’m able to share those lived experiences with guys and let them know that ‘Hey man, I was once in your shoes and I did this or did that,’ and I try to give them advice, and hopefully they’ll take it and not have to go through the same barriers or obstacles that I faced.”

As rewarding as the work is, it comes with disappointments, he notes. Attrition is high. “Most times I start out with anywhere from 15 to 20 students and I end up with maybe five,” he says. “And they fade out for different reasons, transportation … I had a couple leave who were in car accidents and didn’t come back. Work life … different reasons.”

Those who remain often credit him for his work – and his persistence. He spoke of one student who “always tells me how thankful he is for me calling him and keeping him abreast of his assignments.”

However, on a few occasions, the student failed to respond to Staton’s texts, emails, and phone calls. When that happens, “I show up outside of his classroom,” Staton says. “And he comes out, and he’ll look up and his eyes get real big, and he’ll say ‘I knew you were coming.’ So I tell him, ‘Man, if you don’t respond back you’ll see me outside class.’ ”

Staton says he has his sights set on continuing to build his future, and others’, at ECC.

“I think this is where I might retire, in education,” he says. “Helping give back to the community, just helping guys like myself see that anything is possible, that the sky’s the limit, and whatever you set your mind to, you definitely can achieve – no matter what circumstances or obstacles are in your way.”

“I never saw myself getting this far,” he adds. “I always felt like I was meant to do something special, but I didn’t know what exactly, and just being back here where I started, being at ground zero, is just unbelievable. Being able to come back with the same population … and help them reach higher heights, that’s my path.”

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Krystal Christopher and Oscar Lin, recent graduates of 91ӣ����Ƶ and Edgecombe Early College High School, will head to universities soon. Christopher will attend UNC-Chapel Hill on a prestigious Morehead-Cain scholarship, and Lin will attend Yale University.

Lessons learned at 91ӣ����Ƶ and Edgecombe Early College High School are helping two exceptional student leaders pursue a glowing future on a foundation built at home in Edgecombe County.

Krystal Christopher and Zhi “Oscar” Lin received associate in science degrees from ECC on May 10 and graduated from the Early College on May 23.

Christopher, 19, will attend UNC-Chapel Hill this fall on a Morehead-Cain scholarship, majoring in health care administration with a minor in accounting. She was one of only 75 recipients this year of the prestigious Morehead-Cain scholarship, out of 2,000 applicants, and is the first from Edgecombe County Public Schools in a quarter century. She’s also only the second female recipient from Edgecombe.

Lin, 19, of Macclesfield, will attend Yale University. He’ll major jointly in computer science and mathematics at the Ivy League bastion in New Haven, Conn. He carried the divisional flag during the ECC graduate march in May, representing the Division of Arts and Sciences. The honor goes to the graduate with the highest grade-point average from each of the program’s three academic divisions: Arts and Sciences; Health Sciences; and Business, Industry, and Technologies.

The Edgecombe Early College High School is a comprehensive five-year public high school located on ECC’s Tarboro campus. The school enrolls about 200 students, beginning in 9th grade and extending through a “super-senior” 13th grade.

The Early College is part of Edgecombe County Public Schools and accepts about 40 9th-grade applicants per year. It aims to improve the college attendance rate in the community by exposing students to a rigorous curriculum, including honors courses and college courses. Students graduate with a high school diploma and a two-year ECC degree simultaneously.

An Early College called EDGE Academy of Health Sciences is located on ECC’s Rocky Mount campus. The EDGE Academy of Health Sciences combines academics and health sciences related fields to provide students opportunities to acquire credentials and certifications in pursuit of an associate in applied science degree from ECC.

Lin noted how college classes at ECC boosted his academic development. “Attending ECC allowed me to branch out and explore subjects of interest, while providing me with rigorous academic opportunities to prepare me for the next adventure after graduation,” he says. “The Early College program provided me with the necessary tools and support that will continue to be invaluable to me in the future. It is forever a home where amazing faculty members and peers can be found.”

Looking back warmly, and whimsically, on his time at the Early College, Lin recalls “the simple moments at school: hanging out with friends, chatting with teachers, preaching the greatness of pancakes, and learning how to bowl at the cost of injuring my kneecap.”

“I had a fulfilling high school life,” Lin assures. “I have no regrets.”

He said he hasn’t solidified his career goals yet but looks forward to exploring Yale’s “serendipitous opportunities that will make me reflect on my future plans.”

Christopher, 19, a California native who lived in Tarboro before a recent move to Wilson, recounts what ECC and the Early College did for her. “Attending college classes at ECC helped me develop as a student because I had to learn how to manage my time well, set priorities, and learn how to communicate properly with my instructors. These are skills that I will take with me to college and beyond.”

Post-graduation from UNC, she plans to pursue a master’s degree, and perhaps medical school after that. She said she hopes one day to become an administrator for a women’s hospital and to “further advocate for women who experience misogyny within our healthcare system.”

“Krystal Christopher and Oscar Lin are exceptional in their drive and commitment to academic achievement,” says ECC President Dr. Greg McLeod. “They represent the finest qualities that we seek to nurture in all of our students. I know they will continue to excel in their studies and in college life at UNC and Yale. We look forward to hearing more great things from these bright young stars.”

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MC Belk Pilon, president and board chair of the John M. Belk Endowment, gave the keynote address during Commencement exercises held May 10 at 91ӣ����Ƶ.

MC Belk Pilon, president and board chair of the John M. Belk Endowment, told 91ӣ����Ƶ graduates to “keep pounding” during Commencement exercises at ECC.

Crystal Gray was honored as the 2024 Dallas Herring Achievement Award nominee from ECC.

Pilon gave the keynote address during the ceremony held May 10 in Keihin Auditorium. She and her team at the Belk Endowment are committed to increasing access to and completion of postsecondary education in order to give all North Carolinians the chance at long-term, family-sustaining careers.

ECC’s Class of 2024 comprises 365 students who received 443 degrees, diplomas, and certificates. Thirty-six of these students were recognized for completing Adult High School Equivalency and Adult High School diplomas.

Pilon said in her keynote address, “As you stand on the precipice of the future, I encourage you to embrace the challenges and opportunities that come your way with the same determination and resilience you’ve shown during your time here.

“For those of you who are Carolina Panthers fans like me, you know that our traditional chant is ‘Keep Pounding,’ which is led by the team at the start of each home game. The chant originated in 2004 when the late, great Panthers player and coach Sam Mills gave a pregame speech to the team about commitment, dedication, and effort.”

She continued, “So, as you face this next chapter in your lives . . . I say to you, Keep Pounding! You are strong, you are smart, and you are prepared.”

Camden Johnson was recognized as the North Carolina Community College Academic Excellence Award recipient from the college.

Pilon advised graduates to be lifelong learners. “In the journey ahead, I urge you to remain lifelong learners. The landscape of our world is constantly changing, and continuous learning is the key to adapting and thriving. Whether through formal education, professional experiences, or personal explorations, every experience is an opportunity to grow and learn.”

Graduate Crystal Gray was honored as the 2024 Dallas Herring Achievement Award nominee from ECC. A non-traditional student in her late 40s and a single mother with a full-time job, she excelled in the surgical technology program and was one of four students nationwide selected last summer for a surgical technology internship at the prestigious Mayo Clinic.

She received an associate degree in surgical technology and is now working in the neurosurgery department at the Mayo Clinic. She also has begun online classes for a bachelor’s in health science degree.

Camden Johnson was recognized as the North Carolina Community College Academic Excellence Award recipient from ECC. A member of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society, he has participated in Adopt-A-Highway cleanups and other chapter events.

Johnson received an associate in arts degree. He plans to transfer to UNC-Chapel Hill in 2025.

Tiffiny Wolf was honored as the Governor Robert W. Scott Student Leadership Award nominee from ECC.

Tiffiny Wolf was honored as the Governor Robert W. Scott Student Leadership Award nominee from the college. At ECC, she has been an active member of the Phi Theta Kappa student honor society. Among other contributions, this year she chaired a committee that developed a memory card game for people affected by dementia to encourage communication between caregivers and individuals with dementia.

Also participating in the graduation were ECC trustees Jerry Spruell and June Cherry, and college leaders Dr. Greg McLeod, Samanthia Phillips, Dr. Bruce Panneton, Christine Nicodemus, Michael Starling, Nacole Everette, and Dr. LaShawnda Washington.

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Congratulations to 2023 graduates of the 91ӣ����Ƶ Associate Degree Nursing program, who scored 97 percent on the national licensure exam for registered nurses. The national pass rate is 87 percent.

May 2023 graduates of 91ӣ����Ƶ’s Associate Degree Nursing program scored 97 percent on the national licensure exam for registered nurses, besting the national pass rate by 10 percent.

According to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) pass rate for 2023 is 87 percent.

The NCLEX-RN measures the competencies needed to perform safely and effectively as an entry-level nurse. ECC’s Associate Degree Nursing Class of 2023 was a large class of 39 members. All 39 members have taken the NCLEX, and 38 passed on their first attempt.

According to Ami Denton, director of nursing programs at ECC, “A new model of the NCLEX launched this year called the Next Generation NCLEX (NGN). The NGN better measures a nurse’s ability to think critically and make the right decisions.

“Our faculty have been preparing for the change through professional development focused on student preparation. They also implemented creative strategies in the classroom and clinical settings to strengthen students’ critical thinking skills.

“We are very proud of our outstanding students and instructors,” she adds.

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Nina White, a 2014 graduate of 91ӣ����Ƶ and owner of M&D Accounting in Rocky Mount, says she still keeps in touch with her former ECC classmates and instructor.

When Nina White was a kid in Philadelphia, her mother bombarded her with math.

“My mother drilled numbers into me,” White says. “She’d call out multiplication tables at the dinner table, and she’d never let me count on my fingers. She always drilled math into me.”

It is no surprise that White grew up to earn an accounting degree in the early 2000s from Temple University and then open her own accounting firm in 2020 in Rocky Mount.

What might be surprising, though, is what she did in between.

She lived in Michigan, earning degrees in business and medical billing. She moved to Rocky Mount and started a family. She then earned degrees in criminal justice at 91ӣ����Ƶ and criminology at Barton University.

Oh, and she survived cancer three times.

Rick Basile, retired criminal justice chair at ECC, was White’s first instructor when she began classes at the community college. And now, nearly a decade later, Basile and White have turned that student-teacher connection into more of a father-daughter relationship.

“She’s the daughter I never had, and she calls me Pops,” Basile says. “She’s such a great person – a real go-getter.

“She was a great student. She really is an amazing person.”

White had already beaten cancer twice before she started her coursework at 91ӣ����Ƶ, but cancer returned while she was a student. She would receive her chemo treatment and then immediately head to class.

“I’d sit in the back, and I was very weak,” she says. “I had a trashcan nearby in case I got sick.”

Basile says he instructed her to leave, but White refused, telling him that she didn’t want to miss anything. “I pushed myself,” she says. “I pushed myself through everything, and I hope it inspired others.”

She received her associate degree from ECC in May 2014. She was the 2014 NC Community College Academic Excellence Award recipient from ECC. That same year, she was president of Phi Theta Kappa, the college’s student honor society. She also helped to establish and served as the first president of the college’s Criminal Justice Club.

Her most recent accolades have come from the Rocky Mount Area Chamber of Commerce. Last year her firm M&D Accounting was named People’s Choice Favorite Minority Owned Business. In January, she received the “President’s Award” from David Farris, president of the Rocky Mount Chamber. Also, she was February’s Small Business of the Month.

White calls herself an overachiever, and she has accomplished a great deal in her 43 years. And though she’s earned college degrees at five different schools, she says ECC provided the best experience and is her favorite of the five schools.

“The teachers are phenomenal, and I greatly enjoyed being there,” she says. “It was an amazing experience. The college opened a lot of doors for me.

“To this day I keep up with my former ECC classmates, and I can’t say that about any of the other schools I’ve attended.”

After graduating in 2014, Basile asked her to return to campus to speak to his class, and she says she always encourages students to get involved.

“I speak at a lot of colleges now,” White says. “I tell students that they might major in one subject and work in another area.

“They might work in many fields before they find the right fit, but every experience along the way may lead to something better. There might be a lot of detours, but I tell students to keep moving forward. Don’t get discouraged.”

White is a testament to her own advice. Recently, her daughter found White’s high school senior memory book. In it, White wrote that she wanted to be an accountant after college.

“I do not remember writing that,” White laughs. “But for me it always comes back to numbers.”

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Tarboro native Gerard Gaskin finished his first two years of college at 91ӣ����Ƶ then transferred to NC State University, where he is a senior in the Technology, Engineering, and Design Education program.

Growing up in the early 2010s, Gerard Gaskin was like most kids his age. He played video games.

“My friends and I all worked in the same video game world, building houses and games,” says the Tarboro native. “I liked playing games and building things in my free time.”

When it came time to plan his future, he set his sights on engineering school at NC State University. But his grades at Tarboro High School weren’t enough to gain entrance into the competitive program.

“My high school advisor told me to go to a community college and get my grades up,” he says. Determined, Gaskin turned to 91ӣ����Ƶ.

Johanna Owens, an English and communications instructor at ECC, taught Gaskin in several classes, remembering him as a “bright, attentive student” who asked a lot of questions.

“He wanted to do well,” she says. “He was very motivated.”

Gaskin enrolled in the College Transfer program at ECC, and in 2022, he graduated with an associate degree in science. Instead of applying to NC State’s engineering program, he discovered a different path that focused more on hands-on engineering.

“He called State and found another avenue,” Owens says. “He didn’t sit back and let it happen. He was invested in making things happen.”

In the fall of 2022, Gaskin transferred to NC State as a junior and enrolled in the Technology, Engineering, and Design Education program.

“He’s on a different path that he originally envisioned, but he’s so excited to be where he is right now,” Owens says. “I’m thrilled that it’s working out for him. I want him to be successful. We built a connection while he was here.”

Gaskin, 21, is making the most of his time at NC State. He likes his professors, he joined a technology and engineering club and is its treasurer, and he’s competing in national competitions against other schools.

Last year, East Coast colleges competed at the Technology and Engineering Education Collegiate Association Eastern Regional Conference in Delaware. NC State took home five awards from the conference in different categories.

“There were a lot of paths you could compete in,” Gaskin explains. “Mine was problem-solving.”

Gaskin and his teammates were tasked with replicating the scene at the end of “Toy Story” in which Buzz Lightyear and Woody jumped a vehicle into a moving truck. The team could only use items supplied by the association organizers.

“Our team didn’t win,” he says, “but I learned a lot about teamwork and collaboration.”

Gaskin is currently seeking an internship with a company that designs floor plans. When he graduates in 2024, he says a job at an architecture firm might be in his future.

He is thriving at a large university thanks to lessons learned at ECC, he says. “I liked learning there. At 91ӣ����Ƶ, you feel like you have a bond with your teachers. The classes are smaller, which for me was a better environment for learning. In large classes, you just don’t get that one-on-one time with professors.

“I learned so much at ECC, like how to be a leader, how to write papers, and how to study. I’m so glad I started there.”

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