Earlier in the series: SUNY Oswego student commuter moves from Stertling to Oswego

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

Wrapping up his junior year at SUNY Oswego, Jacob Alexander said last fall that time management sometimes challenged him. It’s little wonder, as he was pretty busy.

He rented a house off-campus with three other technology major students, meaning more responsibility for household chores and cooking.

“They’re all tech heads, too,” Alexander said. “We have most of the same classes. It’s a lot of fun.”

He also served as president for Team Mini, which clears the ice and promotes school spirit during Oswego hockey games. Team Mini tosses T-shirts to members of the audience using a robot.

Alexander also leads the Oswego Technology Student Association, which is in charge of planning the annual trip to the Technology and Engineering Education Collegiate Association’s technology competition and job fair in Virginia Beach, Va.

But practice is apparently making perfect for the Sterling native.

“It’s a lot easier,” Alexander said. “I got used to going to clubs, making the meetings and organizing the whole thing. It’s always easier the second time around.”

Instead of commuting from the home of his parents, Ron and Patti Alexander, living in the same city as his school spared Alexander 40 minutes’ commuting time a day, which helped him better keep up with studies and activities.

“The semester was good,” Alexander said. “I had full classes and we went to Rehoboth Beach, Del., for multiple tech competitions and went to a job fair.”

Though he enjoyed the networking experience, he wasn’t concerned about making connections in the industry, as he hopes to settle and teach within about an hour’s drive of Sterling, perhaps in Syracuse or a smaller town.

“Classes went well and I passed everything, which is good,” Alexander said. “I’ll try to do the same for spring. I might join another club.”

He said he really enjoyed classes led by Judith Belt, Richard Bush and Daniel Tryon.

He advises other students to get involved on campus. “Go to clubs,” he said. “There’s an involvement fair at the beginning of any semester. Join a few and if you don’t like it, you don’t have to stay.”

He has found that it also helps to “make friends within your class if you need help studying or you need someone to work with.”

While getting a job can help with tuition, it’s also important to figure out the whole school routine.

“First semester, just get used to your class semester and then next semester get a job,” Alexander said.

Once you feel like you’re getting the swing of things, he thinks it’s a good idea to find work, both for the income and also to meet new people.