Alumni Spotlights

"BCC fueled my motivation to finish my degree. I felt like everyone was sitting at the table with me,” says Amalio Jusino, who graduated in May. With more than 25 years of professional experience, Amalio earned life experience credits. While his initial college focus was on business, he decided to pursue a degree in criminal justice.

"What I'm attempting to do is resuscitate the great American musical," says John, who is mostly a self-taught composer. A straight-A student at BCC, he studied liberal arts with an emphasis in theater and voice before completing his bachelor's degree in theatre from Russell Sage College.At BCC, John found his voice and music theory classes to be particularly influential to his future career path.

From the start, James Hitchings says, BCC made him feel welcome. "I felt like the teachers really wanted to get to know me, and the class size at BCC is small," he says. With guidance from faculty and disability services staff, James began to adjust to college life. Eventually, he thrived, completing an associate degree in May.

Grammy-nominated musician Matt Cusson ('98) was recently helping clean out his parents' house when he unearthed his high school yearbook. There, in print, was his prediction of where he'd be in 20 years: "On tour with Brian McKnight." That dream came true faster than predicted. Matt toured with the R&B performer for about 10 years.

"I'm first-generation associates, bachelor's and master's. None of the women in my family had anything," says 2012 graduate Rania Markham. She now considers it her life mission to encourage women to achieve their dreams. "Keep going. Take that step, take the class. It's just one step closer, even if it's one class at a time ..."