Kori Caughenbaugh made a choice to stand out from the rest. First, she decided to enter the traditionally male-dominated world of architectural engineering. Second, she decided the best way to begin her career was to earn a two-year degree and get started ...

Post - 08/20/2020 - 4:10pm

When Angela Simmons graduated with a nursing technology degree from Central Ohio Technical College (COTC) in 2003, she knew she wanted to help save lives in her community. Simmons didn't realize then that she would help open and manage a medical serv ...

Post - 09/18/2020 - 5:32pm

Central Ohio Technical College (COTC) alumnus Tim Blunn's journey to his career as a computed tomography (CT) technologist began with an accident. Blunn was still living in England when he suffered a soccer injury that significantly dislocated his kn ...

Post - 09/18/2020 - 5:33pm

In 1981, 18-year-old Julio Valladares traveled to Newark, Ohio, with the El Salvador National Baseball Team to compete in the international Babe Ruth World Series. Now he calls Newark home and is doing his part to give back to the town that gave him a new ...

Post - 09/18/2020 - 5:35pm

Before enrolling at COTC, Braden Patchett already had a long work history in the restaurant business. But for the St. Louisville resident, all those years amounted to only one thing—employment that was just a "J.O.B." leaving him "Just Over ...

Post - 09/18/2020 - 5:37pm

Archana Rajendran of Westerville believes she wouldn’t be where she is today without the hands-on training and personal attention she received from the professors at Central Ohio Technical College (COTC). Rajendran participated in a recent photo shoot cel ...

Post - 09/18/2020 - 5:26pm

The day his son graduated from COTC was one of the proudest moments of Jeff Pillow’s life. It may sound cliché, but this wasn’t just another milestone to adulthood. Collin became the third member of the Pillow family to attend COTC. Mom Julie was the firs ...

Post - 09/18/2020 - 5:40pm

Licking County Sheriff Randy Thorp is now serving his fourth term in office, and he believes a great deal of his success can be credited to Central Ohio Technical College (COTC). “Growing up I thought about a career in law enforcement a lot, but I didn’t ...

Post - 09/18/2020 - 5:30pm

Like many teens, Bryanna Stigger was unsure of what career to pursue or what college to attend. COTC was close to home and affordable, so it was a convenient choice. It turned out to be a transformational choice. “COTC was the foundation of my career jour ...

Post - 09/18/2020 - 5:39pm

The president and chief executive officer at the Licking County Chamber of Commerce knows the value of a Central Ohio Technical College (COTC) education from both sides of the table. Jennifer McDonald is a COTC graduate. She received a business management ...

Post - 09/18/2020 - 5:28pm

When Chase Ghiloni graduated from Newark High School in 2001, he didn’t think college was all that important. These days he has a different opinion. Ghiloni is now the vice president of marketing at First Federal Savings in Newark, Ohio, and credits his s ...

Post - 09/18/2020 - 5:29pm

An interaction with a police officer during his youth made Central Ohio Technical College (COTC) alumnus DeLane King want to make the same kind of difference in his community. King is now a Granville police officer after starting his career with the Hebro ...

Post - 04/23/2021 - 6:53am

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 ...

Post - 04/11/2022 - 7:45am

On May 12, 2017, as the nation’s eyes were drawn to the tragic scene of a shooting at Pine Kirk Care Center in Kirkersville, Ohio, three Central Ohio Technical College alumni played instrumental roles in helping to contain the situation and navigate its a ...

Post - 04/26/2022 - 8:25am

A trip to Newark in 1981 with the El Salvador National Baseball Team was 19-year-old Julio Valladares’ first experience in the place he would later call home. While his native country was in the midst of a civil war, Valladares felt a sense of peace and w ...

Post - 04/26/2022 - 10:22am

Jennifer McDonald and Brittany Misner may have earned their business management degrees a couple decades apart, but they brought their business acumen to the same table in 2016 and have teamed up since then to propel the Licking County Chamber of Commerce ...

Post - 04/26/2022 - 10:25am

As an energy delivery system operator associate for American Electric Power (AEP), Braden Feick is one of many “hands on deck” when a power outage sweeps through the area. Thanks to his extensive training at COTC — which dovetailed into an immersive inter ...

Post - 02/26/2024 - 2:38pm

From a young age, Jennifer Ellis-Brunn understood the importance of hard work and the value of education. “I was working in banking while in high school, and I wanted to continue gaining career experience while getting the education I needed to advance,” ...

Post - 02/26/2024 - 2:46pm

As a transplant to the Buckeye State from Colorado Springs, Heather Prince used to drive past the Pataskala campus of COTC and wonder what went on there. Prince was in her 30s at the time and, as it happened, seeking a new career direction. Turns out, she ...

Post - 02/27/2024 - 6:31am

Like many Central Ohio Technical College (COTC) students, Tina Gibson came back to the classroom as an adult learner, hoping to switch to a more rewarding and fulfilling career. In 2019, Gibson graduated from COTC with an associate degree in nursing (ADN) ...

Post - 09/16/2024 - 1:33pm

As Ohio public affairs manager for Intel Corporation, 2016 COTC graduate Toby Starr has a front-row seat to the exciting changes that are taking place as Licking County settles into its place at the center of the Silicon Heartland. Building on the skills ...

Post - 04/22/2024 - 10:53am

Young graduated in 1990. A few years later, one of his former professors asked him to sit on the board for the nascent Licking/Knox Goodwill Industries. He sat on the board from 1995 to 2008 and is now the company’s president and CEO, a position he accept ...

Post - 02/11/2025 - 11:45am

Sophia Tosi was a distance runner until she decided to focus on sprinting through her education. As a high school senior, four years into the College Credit Plus (CCP) program, she discontinued extracurriculars to finish her associate degree in business m ...

Post - 10/08/2025 - 8:26am

Whether it was with her family to new homes, with fellow missionaries to an underserved country or with her COTC nursing cohort to different clinical sites, Becca Saxton has always been on the move. When it comes to her career, her first move was always c ...

Post - 10/31/2025 - 11:56am

Upon returning to civilian life — at that point a trained combat lifesaver — McCombs chose to pursue a nursing career. She enrolled at COTC’s Coshocton campus because she “loved the idea of staying local. Plus, the classes were smaller and more personable ...

Post - 11/12/2025 - 1:19pm

Mike Johnson had a motto: Always do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do. Perhaps that is why all of his children pursued careers protecting and caring for others. And they all began at COTC. ...

News - 04/20/2021 - 4:29am

Mara Weber began a traditional four-year degree at The Ohio State University at Newark but realized it wasn't the right path for her. She wanted to get a degree quicker allowing her to get into the healthcare setting and begin making a difference. Be ...

News - 10/28/2020 - 3:14am

For Brittany Klinkert, life keeps her on her toes. The Central Ohio Technical College (COTC) alumna is not only a mother of three, but she also recently opened a Newark-based childcare center that brings an additional 20 children into her care. ...

News - 11/29/2022 - 6:52am

Central Ohio Technical College (COTC) presented three alumni awards to graduates who demonstrated remarkable achievements in their careers with exceptional dedication to the populations they serve. ...

News - 12/09/2022 - 7:25am

Sherry Engle, of Pataskala, treasures the generous cache of memories she stored up during her nursing years — a career’s worth of interactions that collectively illustrate the “human touch” that she knows is vital to patients’ well-being. ...

News - 01/09/2023 - 6:16am