stories

Featuring first-person stories of people finding themselves in the middle of a culture that is foreign to them; each week, 22.33 will deliver interesting tales from people who share how they were able to create mutual understanding through cultural exchange. 

Featuring first-person stories of people finding themselves in the middle of a culture that is foreign to them; each week, 22.33 will deliver interesting tales from people who share how they were able to create mutual understanding through cultural exchange. 

Featuring first-person stories of people finding themselves in the middle of a culture that is foreign to them; each week, 22.33 will deliver interesting tales from people who share how they were able to create mutual understanding through cultural exchange. 

You arrive at dusk down a back alley where the tuk tuk dropped you off; the air is thick and hot. “Walk to the lights,” the driver says while waving goodbye. You feel a rush of excitement, knowing that you’ve finally arrived at this annual festival that takes place right in the heart of Chiang Mai, Thailand. 

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.

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.

RyKai Wright graduated from Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) with an Associate of Science degree in Engineering Technology - Mechanical and an additional Associate of Science degree in Mathematics and Science in May 2017. RyKai's main campus was South Campus; however, she also took classes at Allegheny, North, and Boyce campuses to complete honors credits through the Honors Program.

Tyler Kochirka is a 2018 graduate of the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) West Hills Center/North. He received an Associate of Science in General Studies. He recently graduated from Robert Morris University with a Bachelor’s in Organizational Leadership. Currently, he serves as Vice-President on the Sto-Rox School Board.