Art inspired

Oberlin man will graduate from college decades after initially enrolling

Decades after first enrolling at Lorain County Community College, Martin Buck will graduate in August with an associate degree in the arts.

Buck, 66, an Oberlin resident began taking classes at LCCC in 1975, but had to pause his studies a few times.

“Nowadays, a lot of kids graduate from high school with associate degrees,” he said. “It has taken me awhile, but I will have it soon.

“I really consider myself a lifelong learner, and I have a love for all things. The degree is partially for my own sense of self worth. That’s really why I wanted to continue.”

Buck said he does not plan to end things with just an associate degree.

“I am enrolling in the University of Toledo through the University Partnerships for liberal studies because I don’t really have a specific area to focus on,” he said.

Buck said he was inspired to get the degree after his wife passed in 2018.

“(Colette) was an art teacher in Lorain City Schools,” he said. “She was a proponent of higher education.

“So, I’ve been working on self-improvement with going to school and tasks like learning how to weave with a loom as a way to learn new life skills.”

The Navy

Buck began his time at LCCC after serving in the U.S. Navy.

“I went to nuclear power school in the Navy,” he said. “I learned physics and higher math which really prepared me for going to college.

“I spent time on the Woodrow Wilson submarine. It’s a boomer or a ballistic missile submarine. I then was out in 1975 and went to school.”

Buck said he left LCCC to get a job at General Motors.

“I was able to afford college with the GI Bill,” Buck said. “When I was hired at the (now-closed) General Motors Fisher Body plant in Elyria, I paused my education and eventually was working in the Oklahoma City GM assembly plant.

“I regretted not finishing my education. If I had the option for online classes in 1976, I probably would have continued.”

Buck said he has loved being back in class.

“I enjoy in-person classes, but I’m always the oldest person,” he said. “It does give me the opportunity to talk about my experiences which is fun.

“This is especially true for art and architect history. I do feel comfortable with the younger guys. The biggest thing for me to relearn was the note taking; I was really out of practice.”

Later, while working at the GM assembly plant in Oklahoma City, Buck took courses at Rose State College before moving back to Ohio and transferring again in 1996 to LCCC, which provided him with the skills needed to move up in his career.

Buck moved from the assembly line to becoming a support professional leading a group of welders in the body shop.

“I was required to track the quality of the welds in my area leaning on courses in writing and math,” he said. “In 1996, I became a metallurgical and quality control technician at Rhenium Alloys in North Ridgeville relying on courses I took at LCCC in quality assurance and composition.”

Before he retired, Buck said he was a self-employed computer/network technician and web designer/administrator for his business, Techies, from 2003 to 2018.

After his marriage in 1997, Buck again paused formal education until his wife’s death two years ago.

Enjoying the courses

Buck said he was happy to see that what he learned at LCCC helped him advance his career, but he also enjoyed courses that focused on the arts.

While dating his wife in the 1980s, they had built memories experiencing artwork together, he said.

The two visited art museums, saw works of architecture and historic sites, particularly the homes of presidents, Buck said.

“After touring many art museums and works of architecture throughout the eastern half of the U.S. and Berlin, Germany, I truly enjoyed art history and history of architecture taught by Mary McGill at LCCC,” he said. “I was able to get a glimpse from my wife’s perspective, with her knowledge and background, into the works of art we saw together.”

Buck has made the Dean’s List multiple times.

“LCCC provides a great education at good value,” he said. “I like the flexibility of online classes now as it enables me to travel while continuing classes.

“I would like to thank my advisor, Julie Ford, for being the right advisor for me at this period of my life.”

Buck said LCCC certainly is the number one community college in the state.

“It lives up to that,” he said. “I’ve actually gotten to see how the college has grown since 1975, and it just keeps expanding its resources.

“I would, and my wife was the same way, encourage kids to go to college and study abroad because it broadens their horizons. You learn how to access information; which is so important in the 21st century.

“People should go to college so they can learn what they want to learn and be who they want to be.”

SUBMITTED Inspired by his late wife, Colette, an art teacher at Lorain City Schools, Martin Buck finished an associates degree at LCCC.