(Verona, NY – Jan. 9, 2013) The New York Association of Continuing/Community Education (NYACCE) has selected a student from the BOCES Consortium of Continuing Education (BCCE) as one of its 2013 Students of the Year.
Rodger Yem, of Utica, is one of 23 adult 
students from across the state to receive the honor. He will be recognized at an awards ceremony on March 5 in Albany.
This is the second consecutive year that a BCCE student has been selected for a Student of the Year award from NYACCE. Last year, Jean Carlos Sevilla, also of Utica, was among the honorees.
Yem, an immigrant from Cambodia who grew up in Philadelphia before moving to Utica, said he is “humbly honored” to be recognized for his efforts. After moving to Utica, he found work and enrolled part-time in a GED class at the BCCE’s Utica ACCESS Site. He simultaneously studied for his U.S. citizenship test and passed both exams within a month of each other.
He is now studying part-time at Mohawk Valley Community College in the Human Services/Chemical Dependency program.
“My ultimate goal in life is to help others,” Yem said. “I hope my story will touch someone personally and give them that push to strive to achieve and be better.”