Graduate Appreciates Instructor’s Efforts in Keeping his Interest; Helps Him Rebound From Bad Start in College

Find the teacher that best suites you,” is the advice Mark Graham gives to college students. 

Graham is graduating from LCCC this May with an associate degree in networking administration and wouldn’t have been able to do it without teachers like Don Huffman that helped keep him determined to finish. 

“It was rocky with placing low in the assessment test, but only because I did not care,” he admits. “However, I felt it was a benefit for me to go forward with my classes.”

Graham said that getting the right teacher without knowing much about them is a tough thing to do. “Some teachers did not work for me and I would have to withdraw and retake the class,” he said. 

But when he found the teacher he clicked with, there was no stopping him. “The part I loved the most about LCCC was going into the CISS classes. Mr. Huffman kept my interest the whole way through and in turn I had learned a lot more than I would have with a teacher that just lectures all day.”

The biggest reason, he said, was Huffman’s unique teaching style.

“He gives you instructions in a way that you can understand, he doesn’t just  ‘hand’ the information to you and have you copy it onto whatever test machine needed to be done,” Graham said. “He also has a sense of humor that he implements into his class and that’s what really made it interesting to me.” 

Another reason why Graham appreciated Huffman so much is his connections with those in the industry. Huffman helped Mark find a job with city of Lorain working as a network technician for most of his college career.  

“It is a nice job and I really like it. The benefits are great and the retirement system is great,” Graham said. 

He currently takes care of about 500 computers and 50 mobile laptops. “For the most part, everyone comes to me when they have issues with an application or when their computer does not work,“ Graham said. “ I have used some of my Cisco course knowledge in my time with the city and I am absorbing more information and using a lot of the things I learned in class.” 

He plans to continue his education with additional Cisco training and by earning a bachelor’s degree in networking.