Shawn Pinette ’23 (right) with Monastic Scotland students. (Photo source: University of St. Andrews)

Occupation: 

Senior Teller, Brookline Bank; Germanic Philology Graduate Student, Signum University

What initially inspired you to attend NECC? 

I had dropped out of college the first time around and decided to go back after over 10 years out of school. I had been working a dead-end job for many years and was ready for a change. I decided to go to NECC because I wanted to test the waters and see if I was still up to the challenge of going to college, and the fact that it was so affordable helped.

In what ways has NECC aided in your success?

NECC was great for where I was in life. I was out of school for over a decade and going back while working full-time on top of the other responsibilities of adult life was a daunting thought. NECC was used to students from a variety of non-traditional education situations. Adults returning after many years away, single parents working and raising their kids, people right out of high school who didn’t do so well, and  people who don’t speak English as their first language, to name a few. NECC was well equipped to deal with my individual non-traditional situation and to help give me the tools and support needed to succeed. The professors were excellent and were well suited to working with students in these different situations.

The option to complete my degree online was also an essential part of why NECC worked so well for me. It allowed me to do my classes anytime and anywhere, on my lunch break at work, at home at 2am, on weekends, when traveling, etc. Coming back to school in my mid-30s, I also felt that I was behind where I should be. In my mind, I should have finished school years ago. I had two professors who shared their academic journey with me and they, like me, had had non-traditional and late academic paths. This was good encouragement for me that I, too, could do it.

Please describe your post-NECC journey. What led you to your current studies?

I graduated high school in 2007 and immediately went to college at Salem State University. I started as a history major simply because I like history, but I had no long-term or career goals with it. My time in college the first time around wasn’t the most successful and I didn’t complete my degree, dropping out after three years. I changed my major multiple times and didn’t have much motivation with the lack of long-term goals and vision.

Right out of high school, I also started a job working at a bank, where I still am today. I had decided I wanted to start working on transitioning out of the banking field and following my true passion of history, but still was quite hesitant to go back to school. With the help of my professors and support from the SOAR program, I went from questioning whether or not I’d even be able to pass a class to graduating from NECC cum laude.

After graduating from NECC, I was accepted to Westfield State University’s online history BA completion program. I focused on medieval history and, as part of an online degree, was able to take several extra online medieval courses at other universities. The highlight of my bachelor’s program was doing a month abroad at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. While there, I studied medieval Scottish monastic history and took part in an archaeological excavation at Lindores Abbey, a ruined medieval monastery. While at Westfield State, I was inducted into two honors societies, Phi Alpha Theta for history, and Tau Sigma for transfer students. I graduated summa cum laude this past December and received the Michael A. Anciello award for excellence in the field of history.

I am currently enrolled in a graduate diploma program in Germanic philology where I focus on Old Norse language and literature and plan to study comparative Germanic philology, as well, getting some exposure to Old English, Old Saxon, other early Germanic languages. My hope is to then get my master’s degree in Viking Studies at the University of the Highlands and Islands in Scotland, studying on their campus in the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland. I have applied, been interviewed and, if accepted, will start in September 2026.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

In my current job, what I enjoy most is the interactions I have with my customers. I have worked here for 18 years and have really gotten to know many of my customers well, seen children grow into adults, and have created good relationships with them. In my future work, I hope to find a job where I can continue to work with people and create good relationships while getting to share my passion for history.

Anything else you’d like our audiences to know about you?

In my spare time, I have found a way to be around fellow Viking history lovers and share that passion with the public. I joined a Viking Age reenacting group based in Boston. We have members who do a variety of different things from Viking Age combat to clothes making, blacksmithing, and woodworking. I have taken on the tasks of Viking Age cooking and story telling within my group.

I also founded an online monthly lecture series called Hallfred’s Hall. Each month, we have a guest speaker who gives a presentation on Viking Age and related topics and we’ve had presentations, so far, on runology, the conversion of Iceland, Norse-Gaelic linguistic contact, Vikings in Yorkshire, and the roots of the word “Viking”. Being a mostly online student, I wanted to create a community to bring together other online students, traditional students, and those who have graduated and no longer have an academic community to be a part of at their university.

Each month, the NECC Alumni Office shares interviews with our accomplished graduate population through its alumni newsletter. If you have a story to share and would like to be considered for a future edition, please fill in an Alumni Update Form or email alumni@necc.mass.edu.