{"id":26578,"date":"2020-01-17T15:26:47","date_gmt":"2020-01-17T20:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2020\/01\/17\/22081\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T09:46:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T13:46:29","slug":"22081","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/01\/17\/22081\/","title":{"rendered":"Early College & Promise Programs Lead to Degree"},"content":{"rendered":"

He may have only been in the 4th grade when a teacher noticed and encouraged his artistic talent, but right then Kelvin Sabando decided what he wanted to be when he grew up \u2013 an artist.<\/p>\n

\"Kelvin<\/a>

South Lawrence resident Kelvin Sabando received encouragement to pursue art at a young age. NECC’s Early College and Promise Programs have helped him achieve his goal of earning an art degree.<\/p><\/div>\n

He didn\u2019t know it then, but Northern Essex would help him get there.<\/p>\n

Now, at 19 years-old Sabando is an artist and come May, he will graduate with his associate degree in General Studies: Art & Design.<\/p>\n

Sabando remembers his teacher telling him, \u201cProject your art to as many people as you can. You have a gift that I would love to see blossom.\u201d Those were words for Sabando to live by.<\/p>\n

Years later as a sophomore at Lawrence High School an Accuplacer Test identified him as a candidate for Northern Essex\u2019s Early College Program<\/a>, which allows high school students, as early as sophomore year, to enroll in college classes. After completing Early College, Sabando was eligible to continue at NECC through the Promise Program, which funds Early College students to complete the degrees they started.<\/p>\n

When Sabando told his mom that his NECC degree would be funded through the Promise Program, she \u201cburst into tears\u201d and told him what he already knew \u2013 that he would be saving thousands of dollars while earning an associate degree.<\/p>\n

By the fall of 2020, the South Lawrence resident, whose current medium of choice is water colors, hopes to be enrolled in a bachelor\u2019s program. While he initially thought he would apply to Wentworth Institute or Massachusetts College of Art, he now says he has developed the confidence to dream bigger and apply to schools in New York City.<\/p>\n

An unexpected yet positive consequence of participating in the Early College and Promise Programs is that he is now exploring participating in NECC\u2019s International Study Abroad<\/a> short-course program to Italy this spring. During the three-week program, he will attend NECC classes in the morning and take classes at the Florence University of the Arts in the afternoon.<\/p>\n

What has he learned as a result of his experiences?<\/p>\n

\u201cYou definitely have to stay on your game when you take classes through Early College. Don\u2019t over stress if you are feeling overwhelmed. Take a break, but then get right back at it.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Kelvin isn\u2019t in class or studying, he can be found at Salvatore\u2019s Restaurant where he works 20 hours a week. In addition, he was just hired at Marshall\u2019s working no less than 18 hours a week.<\/p>\n

In his free time he hopes the train to Boston and explores the city\u2019s museums.<\/p>\n

One day Sabando hopes to channel his creativity working as an interior designer.<\/p>\n

Northern Essex Department of Art & Design offers many courses in fine art and design leading to an\u00a0Associate Degree in General Studies: Art & Design.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Lawrence resident Kelvin Sabando will graduate with an associate in general studies: art & design thanks to the help of NECC’s Early College and Promise Programs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":26580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEarly College & Promise Programs Lead to Degree - 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\/2020\/01\/17\/22081\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Early College & Promise Programs Lead to Degree - 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