Shayne Jacobian is a perfect example of the OTC slogan of “Start Here, Go Anywhere” and could put his talents to work adding a tune to the college’s catchy phrase.
An accomplished musician, Shayne graduated from OTC in 2012 and is now in Nashville attending Belmont University, studying English and music business.
Shayne dreamt of heading to Nashville for some time.
“I chose Belmont a long time ago – early on in high school – because of their music business program, which I was really interested in,” the Logan-Rogersville graduate said.
OTC was the gateway for Shayne to fulfill that dream.
“My time at OTC was great. I went on the Missouri A+ scholarship in order to offset some of the cost of Belmont,” he said.
While at OTC, Shayne worked in the Carol Jones Writing Center and was a member of Phi Theta Kappa and the honors program where he served as vice president for community involvement.
“Working at the Carol Jones Writing Center under Dave Ball, along with a lot of other English majors, really taught me a lot about writing and working with other people and constantly motivated me to improve,” he said.
“The honors program put me in smaller, more challenging classes, and having a couple of those per semester really kept me on my toes.”
While at OTC, he decided he wanted to major in English but still head to Belmont.
“Given that the most popular degree program at Belmont is music business and the school is located in Nashville, the school is full of really great musicians and creative types, which as a musician I really like,” he said.
“I joined the Belmont University Songwriters Association so I can meet lyricists and work with them. I’m focusing on practicing and writing new material for the most part. I’ve played at a few open mics and writers’ nights here.”
Shayne said he drew educational inspiration from the faculty and students at OTC.
“OTC really taught me the value of education. The diversity of the students was a major part of that. My time at OTC was spent attending classes with non-traditional students, a lot of whom were in their 30s or 40s, had families and worked full time,” he said.
“That really motivated me to do as much as I could with my time at OTC. After all, they were able to do it, and they had far more responsibilities than I did.”
Having attended OTC helped Shayne in his overall educational experience and left an indelible mark on him that he took to Nashville.
“I’m not around as many non-traditional students at Belmont as I was at OTC,” he said. “I’d say that by not going to a community college for part of your education, you’re missing out on the company of a really diverse crowd of great, hard-working people.”
Steve Koehler is coordinator of media relations at Ozarks Technical Community College.