By Ethan Arter
CCC Journalism Program
Raymond Butler attends Camden County College while delving into several side interests.
Student
Ray is in his second year in Camden County College’s criminal justice program.
“Even since I was younger, I always wanted to have something to do with it, even if it wasn’t being a cop,” he said, ”but once I got older it started to turn into just wanting to make a difference in my community.”
He added he believes the courses that Camden County College offers are geared correctly for students to advance in the field. He described the program as the perfect kickstart as he intends to move on to get a bachelor’s degree to become a state trooper.
Collecting vinyl
One of Ray’s favorite hobbies is to collect vinyl. He said he started to get into the hobby a year or two ago when his girlfriend gave him his first vinyl. After that, he got hooked and bought his first by his favorite artist, Steve Lacey.
He also builds his collection from his grandparents’ huge collection of vinyls. He said they have so many that they let Ray and his brother and cousins take some so they can start their own collections. He also grows his collections by trading with his friends. He recently stated he is trying to “Off the Wall” by Michael Jackson in exchange for “Thriller” by Jackson.
He said his collection has about 10 to 15 records, including selections by Jackson, Al Green, Kendrick Lamar and Roddy Rich, but he wants many more as his vinyls help him explore new music and find artists who he has never heard or whom he never knew made vinyls.
Fixing cars
One of Ray’s top skills is to fix cars. He started to pick up the skill around his sophomore year at Westampton Tech, a vocational high school. There, he had to choose a major, wanted to major in criminal justice but wasn’t picked for it. Instead, he got picked for auto repair. He said he learned a lot from the class.
”The thing about that class is if you don’t pay attention at all, you still learn something because the class is really all hands-on,” he said.
He used the skill not so much to make money but to help friends and relatives when they needed such services as an oil change, head light replacement, tire repair and transmission work.
Basketball
Another one of Ray’s favorite hobbies is basketball. Ray never played high school or travel basketball but often played with his friends on a court outside his house. He noted if he could go back, he would put all his time and effort into playing more competitively.
Coaching
Ray has a ide hustle of coaching a youth baseball team. He got into it because his cousin is the commissioner of the Willingboro youth baseball program and because he played from a youngster to a high school student.
He said his favorite aspect of coaching is ”probably teaching the kids something new and different every day about the game and seeing their learning patterns to the different drills we do at practice.”
He noted having been in the young players’ shoes makes coaching much easier to do.