{"id":23503,"date":"2022-05-23T15:49:18","date_gmt":"2022-05-23T19:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2022\/05\/23\/this-cis-grad-loved-neccs-online-courses\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T15:32:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:32:54","slug":"this-cis-grad-loved-neccs-online-courses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/05\/23\/this-cis-grad-loved-neccs-online-courses\/","title":{"rendered":"This CIS Grad Loved NECC\u2019s Online Courses"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_25307\" style=\"width: 210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Wilson.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-25307\" class=\"wp-image-25307 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Wilson.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-25307\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wilson McCormack graduated with his associate degree in computer science and high honors.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Wilson McCormack attended college after graduating from Chelmsford High School in 2016, but it just wasn\u2019t clicking.<\/p>\n<p>Unsure about what he wanted to major in, he lacked focus and purpose, and dropped out after a few semesters to work full time.<\/p>\n<p>In the fall of 2020, he was ready to go back; this time with a plan.<\/p>\n<p>Always interested in computers\u2014he liked to build his own\u2014he started taking computer courses at Northern Essex.<\/p>\n<p>This time it all came together.<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday, May 14, McCormack graduated from Northern Essex Community College with high honors, a degree in <a href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/learn\/credit-programs\/computer-information-science\/computer-and-information-sciences-networking-and-security\/\">Computer Information Science: Networking and Security<\/a>, and plans to transfer to UMass Lowell where he will continue his studies in computer science.<\/p>\n<p>McCormack claims his success this time around was in large part due to the support of his professors Jay Termini and Adrianna Holden-Gouveia, who helped with his academic goals and his career path, and his <a href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/succeed\/academic-support-services\/academic-coaching\/\">academic coach<\/a>, who shared skills that will lead to academic success.<\/p>\n<p>In March of his first year at Northern Essex, courses transitioned to online delivery in response to the pandemic, which became a positive for McCormack, who found that he appreciated the flexibility of online courses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI could do my work any time I wanted, even late at night,\u201d said McCormack, who used discussion boards and online study groups available through <a href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/current-students\/student-resources\/navigate\/\">Navigate<\/a>, the college\u2019s student app and website, to keep connected.<\/p>\n<p>McCormack actually found that he preferred <a href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/learn\/online-programs-courses\/\">online courses<\/a> to face-to-face courses, and, rather than finding them isolating, he was engaged with both his professors and other students.<\/p>\n<p>McCormack isn\u2019t sure in what specific career direction his degree will lead him, but he knows he\u2019s on the right track and he\u2019s looking forward to exploring his options at UMass Lowell.<\/p>\n<p>All his courses transferred there, so he will save significantly on his bachelor\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost of my time at Northern Essex was spent in the midst of a pandemic. Despite that, it was a great experience. I learned a lot about by myself and I feel like I\u2019m on a great path.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To learn more about studying computer science at Northern Essex, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/learn\/credit-programs\/computer-information-science\/\">the website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wilson McCormack, a 2022 CIS grad, found focus and purpose at NECC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":25354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[14,20],"tags":[55,144,160,585],"class_list":["post-23503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-students","tag-alumni","tag-cis","tag-commencement-2022","tag-students"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>This CIS Grad Loved NECC\u2019s Online Courses - 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