{"id":22457,"date":"2025-04-08T14:18:49","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T18:18:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2025\/04\/08\/student-spotlight-finding-community-at-necc\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T13:31:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T17:31:24","slug":"student-spotlight-finding-community-at-necc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/04\/08\/student-spotlight-finding-community-at-necc\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Spotlight: Finding Community at NECC"},"content":{"rendered":"

For many students, the decision on where to pursue higher education can be a daunting one. However, for one Northern Essex Community College student, the choice was clear.<\/p>\n

Growing up in the Lawrence and Methuen area, Mary Hopwood expressed how fortunate she felt to have a community college near her. \u201cWe\u2019re lucky to have such a good institution so close to home\u201d, she shared.<\/p>\n

After spending a few years in Texas and taking a step back from school, Hopwood returned to the Merrimack Valley. Recalling everything her family, friends, and neighbors have said about NECC, she chose the school as the natural next step in her educational journey.<\/p>\n

What really drew her in was NECC\u2019s strong ties to the community and its focus on making an impact beyond just academics.<\/p>\n

\"Mary<\/a>

Mary Hopwood<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt feels like NECC cares about the community they\u2019re a part of,\u201d Hopwood said, adding \u201cthat makes it a special place for students and locals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Determining a college major can often be a difficult process, but for Hopwood, it felt like a natural process. \u201cI think I am naturally inclined to listen to people talk about their problems,\u201d Hopwood joked.<\/p>\n

Drawing from her past experiences in the restaurant industry where her primary role often involved slinging elaborate drinks and advice, Hopwood felt affirmed that she wanted to pursue a career in psychology<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best part about working in restaurants was connecting with people who needed someone to talk to,\u201d she reflected.<\/p>\n

Hopwood\u2019s planned focus will be on abnormal and criminal psychology, particularly counseling within and after the criminal justice system. This desire stems from a genuine passion for helping individuals facing significant challenges, and also recognizing that this field can often go overlooked.<\/p>\n

Hopwood\u2019s time at NECC has also been marked by her active involvement in the Student Affairs Committee where she has been an advocate for student voices.<\/p>\n

A memorable experience for her was participating in an open forum for the committee, \u201cIt is so important to me that the student voice is heard beyond just my own,\u201d she said. Hopwood sought to create a space where students could feel empowered to share their perspectives on issues that directly impacted them.<\/p>\n

One of the projects she\u2019s particularly proud of is her work on addressing food insecurity on campus. As a part of the committee, she helped tackle this issue, working on re-establishing grants. Through these initiatives, the food insecurity programs were able to reach more students in need.<\/p>\n

As she nears the completion of her studies at NECC, Hopwood\u2019s experiences have shaped her vision for the future. She plans on applying to four-year institutions, hoping to attend UMass Lowell and continue her journey in the field of psychology. Ultimately, Hopwood hopes to become a Doctor of Psychology, contributing her skills to both the mental health field and criminal justice system.<\/p>\n

For those just starting their educational journey, Hopwood offers some advice: \u201cGive yourself the time to learn your wants and needs.\u201d Hopwood, having taken a break from school after high school, emphasizes the importance of working on your own timeline in order to truly understand what you want out of your education.<\/p>\n

She shared, \u201ccollege is not just about finishing a degree. It\u2019s about knowing what you expect out of your experience and becoming the person you want to become.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For many students, the decision on where to pursue higher education can be a daunting one. However, for one Northern Essex Community College student, the choice was clear. Growing up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":164,"featured_media":26496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[11,18,19,20],"tags":[521,570],"class_list":["post-22457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-spotlight","category-stories","category-students","tag-psychology","tag-student"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStudent Spotlight: Finding Community at NECC - NECC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/04\/08\/student-spotlight-finding-community-at-necc\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Student Spotlight: Finding Community at NECC - NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For many students, the decision on where to pursue higher education can be a daunting one. However, for one Northern Essex Community College student, the choice was clear. Growing up […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/04\/08\/student-spotlight-finding-community-at-necc\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-08T18:18:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-14T17:31:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/marypic1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"review\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"review\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/04\/08\/student-spotlight-finding-community-at-necc\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/04\/08\/student-spotlight-finding-community-at-necc\/\",\"name\":\"Student Spotlight: Finding Community at NECC - NECC News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/04\/08\/student-spotlight-finding-community-at-necc\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/04\/08\/student-spotlight-finding-community-at-necc\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/marypic1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-08T18:18:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-14T17:31:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/9aa7f809aecda73fcfd75e3ba52a044f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/04\/08\/student-spotlight-finding-community-at-necc\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/04\/08\/student-spotlight-finding-community-at-necc\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/04\/08\/student-spotlight-finding-community-at-necc\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/marypic1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/marypic1.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1920},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/04\/08\/student-spotlight-finding-community-at-necc\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Student Spotlight: Finding Community at NECC\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/\",\"name\":\"NECC News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/9aa7f809aecda73fcfd75e3ba52a044f\",\"name\":\"review\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e574a5100d09afa7a07544531b1843473af5135d8e0f78bd847bdc9c9a7d451?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e574a5100d09afa7a07544531b1843473af5135d8e0f78bd847bdc9c9a7d451?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"review\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/review\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Student Spotlight: Finding Community at NECC - NECC News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/04\/08\/student-spotlight-finding-community-at-necc\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Student Spotlight: Finding Community at NECC - NECC News","og_description":"For many students, the decision on where to pursue higher education can be a daunting one. However, for one Northern Essex Community College student, the choice was clear. Growing up […]","og_url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/04\/08\/student-spotlight-finding-community-at-necc\/","og_site_name":"NECC News","article_published_time":"2025-04-08T18:18:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-14T17:31:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1920,"url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/marypic1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"review","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"review","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/04\/08\/student-spotlight-finding-community-at-necc\/","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/04\/08\/student-spotlight-finding-community-at-necc\/","name":"Student Spotlight: Finding Community at NECC - NECC News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/04\/08\/student-spotlight-finding-community-at-necc\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/04\/08\/student-spotlight-finding-community-at-necc\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/marypic1.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-08T18:18:49+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-14T17:31:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/9aa7f809aecda73fcfd75e3ba52a044f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/04\/08\/student-spotlight-finding-community-at-necc\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/04\/08\/student-spotlight-finding-community-at-necc\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/04\/08\/student-spotlight-finding-community-at-necc\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/marypic1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/marypic1.jpg","width":1080,"height":1920},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/04\/08\/student-spotlight-finding-community-at-necc\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Student Spotlight: Finding Community at NECC"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/","name":"NECC News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/9aa7f809aecda73fcfd75e3ba52a044f","name":"review","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e574a5100d09afa7a07544531b1843473af5135d8e0f78bd847bdc9c9a7d451?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e574a5100d09afa7a07544531b1843473af5135d8e0f78bd847bdc9c9a7d451?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"review"},"url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/review\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/164"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22457"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34020,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22457\/revisions\/34020"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}