51³Ô¹ÏÍø

When Becky Lehman walked into her first class at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, she was in her 30s, raising kids and working at an embroidery shop in nearby Mogadore, Ohio. Today, she is the health commissioner for the Portage County Health District – a career milestone she credits directly to the degrees she earned close to home at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø. 

When Cameren Hicks graduated from 51³Ô¹ÏÍø in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics and a minor in finance, he knew he wanted to build a career rooted in numbers, problem-solving and analysis. Today, Hicks is a fraud modeling and analytics lead associate at KeyBank, where he helps protect customers and the company against fraudulent credit and debit card activity.

51³Ô¹ÏÍø graduate Emma Sherrie, '09, always had a feeling she would study anthropology, but still she took the time to check out all the other options available before finally settling on her original plan. 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s Exploratory Program, which helps undecided students sample different disciplines before committing to a major, was a key part of Sherrie’s experience, and the main reason she chose 51³Ô¹ÏÍø in the first place.

Solon High School art educator Jennifer Thompson, MA ’03, BA ’95, credits 51³Ô¹ÏÍø with teaching her that art education isn't just about creating — it's about building critical thinking, empathy and self-expression skills that students carry into every career.