One good thing about this pandemic: we have more time to read. This is a silver lining, and let me tell you all about a book that you MUST read: This Faithful Book: A Diary from World War Two in the Netherlands, by Madzy Brender à Brandis, translated and edited by an author we just love: her daughter, Marianne Brandis.

My name is Tartela Tabassum and I am an international student from Bangladesh. After high school, I had to sacrifice my education and get married so that I could remove some financial burden from my family. After marriage, I moved to the USA and started over. After a year, I was able to begin my college education, but I had to battle stereotypes, for many people thought that a community college is not a good school to get into and it is not possible to be a success by going to the community college.

One of our favorite writers, Patricia Leavy, is back with a novel that is one of the most important books you’ll ever read. Shooting Stars is one of those books that, once you start, you cannot put down (yes, 4am bedtime, but happy!). 

Sara Hnatiw majored in both Early Education Child Development and Children with Special Needs. She graduated from the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC)—South Campus with her Children with Special Needs certificate in Spring 2018 and Early Education Child Development Associate’s Degree in Spring 2020. She has intentions to transfer to Carlow University or LaRoche College in Fall 2021 to begin her Bachelor’s Degree. Once she earns her Bachelor’s Degree, she would like to become a disability services director or a student success coach.

My name is Eric Leif Peters (which is an anagram of "fertile recipes" and "fierce reptiles", so my friends know me as the “Culinary Herpetologist”). I attended CCAC at the Dawn of Time, when dinosaurs walked the Earth (Fall 1977-May 1979). I may have earned an Associate Degree, but I honestly don't remember. I DO know that my credits (at least for the courses I passed) all successfully transferred to the University of Pittsburgh (from which I earned my B.S. in Biology in the Fall 1982 semester). I then went on to earn a M.S.

Natalie Hoover started attending the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC)—North Campus, in the fall of 2014 as a dual enrollment student since she was still in high school at the time. She studied nursing while she was at CCAC North Campus, and then transferred to CCAC Boyce Campus, which is where she finished her nursing degree and graduated in December 2017. While she was at CCAC, she was an Honor’s student and Honor’s Ambassador for North campus.