Meet Members of the Class of 2022!

If you ask Robyn Bartlett, it hasn’t been a crazy year. “It’s been a crazy, crazy, crazy year,” she said.

Before coming to MCC in fall 2021 to pursue an optical systems technology certificate, Robyn was a stay-at-home mom and part-time grocery clerk. After her husband, Tyler, graduated from MCC in 2019 and landed a job in the precision machining industry, she began to consider the merits of returning to college as well. Tyler encouraged her to explore optics.

Robyn, who already has a bachelor’s degree in psychology, met with Professor Alexis Vogt and quickly discovered the optics field was the right fit for her. Once Robyn began her MCC studies, balancing college work and the responsibilities of 6-year-old twins Amelia and Evelyn and 3-year-old Jonathan emerged as her biggest challenge. “Trying not to feel too much mom guilt was tough sometimes,” she said. Then Jonathan was diagnosed with leukemia. She thought about dropping out but decided instead to take things one step at a time. Fortunately, the type of cancer he has is treatable and Jonathan is doing well.

“I’m finally starting to think about a brighter time for us. We were doing OK financially before I went back to school ─ but just OK,” said Robyn. “We couldn’t think about a nicer home. We couldn’t go on vacation. I’m proud that we’ve both worked so hard to create more opportunities for our family’s future.”

In February, Robyn was hired by IDEX Health and Science ─ three months before she officially earns her certificate. At some point in the future, her husband may return to college. Or she may decide to pursue a degree. For now, Robyn is looking forward to a far less crazy year. “Don’t ever count yourself out,” she said. “I’m 32. I’ve got three kids and I could have told myself that I couldn’t make this happen. But I did. I tried for something better.”

“I have a lot of friends who are moms like me and are looking to return to the workforce. I wish they would give more thought to the optics field.”

After Michael “Mike” Burt moved from the Caribbean to Rochester, he earned his GED, received an internship, and worked at both the Rochester Museum and Science Center and DePaul Community Services. At DePaul, he said, his job didn’t just provide him with an income, it gave him a new perspective on life.

“To do a good job had always meant to work at the fastest pace possible,” the Ogden resident said. “But at DePaul, I learned how to interact with all kinds of people ─ people with different capabilities and perspectives. That’s where I began to understand that speed isn’t everything ─ and realized the importance of developing good interactions with people and great customer service skills.”

In spring 2019, the husband and father of two boys, David and Jacob, did something he never thought he’d do. He started college while working full time as a special projects supervisor in housing operations at Rochester Institute of Technology. But the college experience wasn’t what he’d anticipated. Mike thought he’d be on his own. He thought everything would be pretty much up to the individual student. That was before he started classes to earn a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) certificate.

“It’s almost like a family,” he said. “The professors are down-to-earth and approachable. They really want you to succeed.” Mike didn’t just survive college ─ he thrived at MCC, earning a HVAC certificate with distinction last December. He has even hired a few fellow students to work with him at RIT. “I’m proud of myself,” he said. “I’ve proved the doubters wrong. And my kids? They want to be like me when they grow up.”

“If I’ve learned anything, it’s that you should never stop learning because life never stops teaching. MCC showed me that.”

When Landon Debes looks out over Lake Ontario from Durand Eastman Park, he envisions a lake that’s clean. He pictures an expanded area created to better enjoy the beautiful, waterfront view. For Landon, a strong connection exists between his life, higher education, and a more sustainable future.

A graduate of the Rochester City School District’s School of the Arts, he first attended MCC in 2013 to study psychology. However, after his first semester, he moved west.

Family ties eventually brought him back to Rochester. A love of learning and expanded remote learning options resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic brought him back to MCC.

“Online learning was not as bad as I thought it would be,” Landon said. “I learned to enjoy the challenge and earned straight As for three semesters.”

At first, Landon didn’t consider himself a scholar. He does now. Over the past two years, he looked for ways to engage in campus life and share what he knew about the college with other students. As a peer navigator, he was one of the first to welcome students and families to MCC. Landon also played a pivotal role in helping the college transition back to safely serving more students in person. He assured students that “there is no better place than MCC. If you live in Rochester, it’s your best option.”

MCC Transfer Counselor Rebecca Mack encouraged Landon to follow his personal vision and unique career goals—leading to the positive impact he wants to make on the world. After earning an MCC associate of science degree in liberal arts and sciences on June 2, Landon plans to transfer to SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) on his way to a career in environmental studies.

“I value my MCC degree; it’s negotiating power,” Landon said. “It’s good to have studied a diverse range of topics and use them in combination.”

“I want to have a positive impact and leave something for the world.”

An accomplished artist whose clients include the Landmark Society of Western New York, 59-year-old Army veteran Mark T. Payton has gained local and national recognition for his drawings. His commissioned drawing of a Navy armored cruiser, the USS Rochester, is part of a permanent exhibit currently on display at the Military History Society of Rochester.

Mark has been drawing all his life, his earliest art reflecting a childhood spent in Argentina, Puerto Rico and Mexico where his missionary parents were assigned. In 1985, he enlisted in the Army after studying fine arts at Kentucky’s Asbury University. Upon completing several years of military service, Mark held sales and tech jobs.

When he was laid off in 2019, he became eligible for assistance from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Trade Readjustment Allowances, a national job retraining program that provides job retraining funds. The following year, he began at MCC.

Since then, members of the MCC community, including Visual and Performing Arts faculty Marj Crum and Hilary Toothe, have become his posse of encouragement.

In his final semester toward completing his MCC degree in graphic design, Mark took one in-person and two online MCC classes. He also attended biweekly chemotherapy sessions. “I’m sleeping 10 to 12 hours most days, but quitting is not an option,” he said in fall 2021.

When chemo treatments made public transportation from home to campus unwise, Mark said, MCC’s Veterans Club and local Vets Driving Vets program stepped in. “All of my professors have bent over backwards to help me deal with the cancer,” he said.

After working with Urban Sketchers, a nonprofit global community of artists who draw on location, Mark now aspires to become an urban sketcher and illustrator at Disney World. “I’ve been sharing my ideas about Disney with Marj Crum, and Hilary Toothe is helping me develop a portfolio and resume,” he said. “I’ll keep my friendships with professors long after I leave.”

“I’ll keep my friendships with professors long after I leave. There are always going to be people who don’t support you. If you want to succeed, look for those who do.”

Come June 2, Rochester resident Jackson Simeone will achieve his fourth college credential.

Jackson earned his first MCC degree in physical education and exercise science with distinction in 2014. Two years later, he earned a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from SUNY Brockport. But Jackson couldn’t find a job in his chosen field. The full-time EMT earned an emergency medical services (EMS) certificate three years ago and in fall 2021 returned to MCC once again to pursue a second associate degree ─ this time, an A.A.S. in MCC’s paramedic program offered at the Public Safety Training Facility.

Jackson is no stranger to a full and abundant life. An avid reader and hiker, he is the stepparent of two daughters, ages 8 and 10 ─ an individual whose chosen career demands high energy as well as complex knowledge and skill. Despite the inherent challenges of juggling work, family and college, Jackson opted to tackle the rigors of earning a degree during COVID-19. But he balks at the notion that a pandemic would get in his way. “I just did what I had to do,” he said. “COVID? I just kept on ─ just got through it.”

Now, armed with a degree, he intends to keep on helping people when they need it the most. “A good shift could mean an unusual call ─ something different, something you don’t see every day,” he said. “It could mean enjoying a good rapport with your partner, an appreciative patient, knowing you’ve done your best ─ you’ve made a difference. Sometimes, it’s the crazy experiences. Other times, it’s the little things. Every day, I just want to try and be the best in what I do.”

“Once you figure out what you want, you’ve got to dig in and go after it yourself. There are no shortcuts. You’ve just got to do the work.”

Mary M. Taylor has many talents and one significant strength. “I know how to juggle,” she said.

For this Seneca Falls resident and busy mother of two, staying on top of things has been essential to successfully completing her criminal justice police degree. It’s a dream she’s had since leaving MCC in 2012. However, like so many others, the responsibilities of parenthood don’t leave Taylor much spare time.

Fortunately, she discovered the many options MCC provides for students who can’t or don’t want to take their courses on campus. “The hybrid course I took was great,” she said. “I really enjoyed the in-classroom, face-to-face instruction but because we did most of our assignments remotely, I wasn’t commuting all the time. It was a good balance for me; it was just enough.”

When not studying or working as a Walmart cashier, Taylor enjoys playing basketball, softball and spending time with her kids. She credits the sister who helped raise her for having the biggest impact on her life and for believing in her ability to complete the dream she came close to abandoning ─ the dream of earning her criminal justice police degree.

For now, Taylor is taking a security job with hopes of eventually entering the county system. “I’ve worked hard to come this far,” she said. “I’m ready to begin a better future.”

“College requires self-motivation. You’ve got to be willing to go after your dream with everything you can.”