Little did Vickie Sant know, when she began working for Mount Vernon’s First-Knox National Bank in 1976, that in January 2019 she would retire as the bank’s first female president. In fact, her experience at First-Knox was her first exposure to accounting — the field in which she would later earn her degree from COTC.

Inspiration comes from everywhere, which is certainly the case for Mir Arif, adjunct English faculty at Central Ohio Technical College (COTC).

Arif didn’t start his educational journey with sights set on teaching – or even English. His original major at the University of Dhaka was in international relations. “I felt like it didn’t satisfy my inner needs, my desires and passions,” Arif explains. He then switched to journalism, writing for English newspapers while still in Bangladesh. “I realized that I loved writing, and I’ve always loved reading. I felt the passion come back to me.”