By ANNA BROWN

John Crocker says if he had not had the option of attending USC-Union, he likely still would be working in a textile mill and wondering from day to day if he would continue to have a job.

It was late 2003 and Crocker watched as many of his co-workers were being laid off at Carlisle Finishing. He decided to go with the plan he had been considering for some time. He took a voluntary layoff and started college.

He had finished Union High in 1997, but Crocker didn’t let being out of school a few years hinder him in his studies. In four years of college, he never made less than an “A” in any course. This allowed him to graduate summa cum laude. He was named “best all around academic student” in 2006. He was vice president of the Music Club at USC-Union and parliamentarian of the African American Association. He was an SGA member.

At USC-Spartanburg, where he earned a degree in English in December, Crocker was president of Sigma Tau Delta, the English honor society.

Best of all, he met his wife, Amber, while both were attending USC-Union. Amber now is attending Spartanburg Community College in the sign language interpretation program. As for Crocker, he hopes to enter graduate school in the fall and become a college English teacher.

“Not only did USC-Union prepare me academically, but also in the social aspects of college and getting involved,” said Crocker, 29. “The environment here is nurturing . It allowed me to experience a lot of things and figure out what I was really good at.”

Crocker said he thinks Gov. Mark Sanford’s plan to close the school to help balance the state budget is a bad idea.

“I think USC-Union is a very important part of Union County,” he said. “If it weren’t for USC-Union, I probably would never have returned to school and there are plenty of other people like me. My mother-in law (Terri Moore) has returned to school here to get her associate’s degree. She probably wouldn’t have done this either if we didn’t have the school. It’s a local school for people who are working, who have families; it’s just convenient. I think if the school is closed, many people will not have the opportunity to return to school and figure out what they want to do with their life.”