{"id":27008,"date":"2019-01-08T18:02:09","date_gmt":"2019-01-08T23:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2019\/01\/08\/preparing-for-takeoff-a-nursing-grad-shares-his-path-to-success\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T14:09:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T18:09:53","slug":"preparing-for-takeoff-a-nursing-grad-shares-his-path-to-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/01\/08\/preparing-for-takeoff-a-nursing-grad-shares-his-path-to-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Preparing for Takeoff: A Nursing Grad Shares His Path to Success"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Shaun<\/a>

Shaun Voss ’13 stands beside Hawaii Life Flight plane.<\/p><\/div>\n

Each time Hawaii resident Shaun Voss \u201813 boards a plane, prepared for his next inter-island medical evacuation mission, it is with the confidence that Northern Essex Community College<\/a> instilled in him long ago.<\/p>\n

Once a student in NECC\u2019s nursing program, Voss has, over the span of just one decade, earned nearly ten certifications and three degrees, becoming a registered nurse and taking his knowledge from one coast to another all the while. But his journey to success did not come so easily.<\/p>\n

Back in 2008 Voss was a high school graduate with limited options. Amid the height of the economic recession, his working class family, living in Rochester, NH, existed without the means to provide for higher education or to assist him in obtaining a viable career. Still \u2013 Voss kept college at the forefront of his mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not have a lot of resources or experience on how to obtain a higher education,\u201d he says, \u201cbut I always knew I was destined to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was while working as a nursing assistant and part-time EMT that he found his passion \u2013 and his way forward. Scouring the internet for affordable healthcare degrees, he learned about Northern Essex\u2019s top-ranking nursing program<\/a> through a Google search and was immediately sold.<\/p>\n

\u201c[NECC] had everything I needed in one location. The advisers gave me the guidance I needed to get started, making it a smooth experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

By 2010, Voss had completed his pre-requisite nursing courses and was accepted into NECC\u2019s Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) certificate program<\/a>. Despite some bumps in the road along the way, including difficulty balancing a full-time course load with a full-time night job, Voss made it through to graduation, eventually pursuing and receiving his associate of science degree in nursing<\/a> and obtaining registered nursing (RN) status. He credits the many faculty members and advisers who encouraged him to continue pushing forward for making his dreams possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was truly the most superior program I have encountered to date,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was challenging, it was exhausting, but the expectations of excellence from the faculty kept us motivated to perform well.\u201d<\/p>\n

His educational pursuits did not end here, he says. Following his graduation from NECC in 2013, Voss obtained an acute care inpatient hospital job at St. Peter\u2019s Hospital in Albany, NY and received the qualifications needed to work in an ER setting, all while earning his bachelor\u2019s degree in nursing from Granite State College and obtaining clinical-based certifications in pediatric advanced life support, trauma care nursing, emergency room nursing, neonatal resuscitation, and more.<\/p>\n

And now, more eager than ever to expand his knowledge and apply it to those in need, Voss has taken his talents all the way to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he divides his time between Queen\u2019s Medical Center: West Oahu and medical evacuation fixed-wing aircraft flights. But even soaring far above the land, he does not lose sight of where he first took off.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been extremely fortunate to have had the experiences I have been given in my relatively short career,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I\u2019m proud to say it all started with Northern Essex Community College.\u201d<\/p>\n

Northern Essex offers associate degrees in Nursing (ADN)<\/a> and Nursing Advanced Placement: LPN to ADN<\/a>, in addition to a variety of health care degrees and certificates that prepare students for work in the field. For a complete list of offerings, please visit NECC\u2019s health programs page<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Each time Hawaii resident Shaun Voss \u201813 boards a plane, prepared for his next inter-island medical evacuation mission, it is with the confidence that Northern Essex Community College instilled in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":27010,"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-27008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPreparing for Takeoff: A Nursing Grad Shares His Path to Success - 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\/2019\/01\/08\/preparing-for-takeoff-a-nursing-grad-shares-his-path-to-success\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Preparing for Takeoff: A Nursing Grad Shares His Path to Success - NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Each time Hawaii resident Shaun Voss \u201813 boards a plane, prepared for his next inter-island medical evacuation mission, it is with the confidence that Northern Essex Community College instilled in […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/01\/08\/preparing-for-takeoff-a-nursing-grad-shares-his-path-to-success\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-08T23:02:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-14T18:09:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Feature-1-Shaun-Voss-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"scomiskey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"scomiskey\" \/>\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\/2019\/01\/08\/preparing-for-takeoff-a-nursing-grad-shares-his-path-to-success\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/01\/08\/preparing-for-takeoff-a-nursing-grad-shares-his-path-to-success\/\",\"name\":\"Preparing for Takeoff: A Nursing Grad Shares His Path to Success - NECC News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/01\/08\/preparing-for-takeoff-a-nursing-grad-shares-his-path-to-success\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/01\/08\/preparing-for-takeoff-a-nursing-grad-shares-his-path-to-success\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Feature-1-Shaun-Voss-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-08T23:02:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-14T18:09:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/a71ddaa7fa066d1402b0639a36648517\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/01\/08\/preparing-for-takeoff-a-nursing-grad-shares-his-path-to-success\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/01\/08\/preparing-for-takeoff-a-nursing-grad-shares-his-path-to-success\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/01\/08\/preparing-for-takeoff-a-nursing-grad-shares-his-path-to-success\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Feature-1-Shaun-Voss-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Feature-1-Shaun-Voss-2.jpg\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":1200},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/01\/08\/preparing-for-takeoff-a-nursing-grad-shares-his-path-to-success\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Preparing for Takeoff: A Nursing Grad Shares His Path to Success\"}]},{\"@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\/a71ddaa7fa066d1402b0639a36648517\",\"name\":\"scomiskey\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/799f7c337ba493511d194f2f2083ce3e2cd1d6b3b9ca6e21546ba5001fd27884?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/799f7c337ba493511d194f2f2083ce3e2cd1d6b3b9ca6e21546ba5001fd27884?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"scomiskey\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/scomiskey\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Preparing for Takeoff: A Nursing Grad Shares His Path to Success - 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\/2019\/01\/08\/preparing-for-takeoff-a-nursing-grad-shares-his-path-to-success\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Preparing for Takeoff: A Nursing Grad Shares His Path to Success - NECC News","og_description":"Each time Hawaii resident Shaun Voss \u201813 boards a plane, prepared for his next inter-island medical evacuation mission, it is with the confidence that Northern Essex Community College instilled in […]","og_url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/01\/08\/preparing-for-takeoff-a-nursing-grad-shares-his-path-to-success\/","og_site_name":"NECC News","article_published_time":"2019-01-08T23:02:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-14T18:09:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":1200,"url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Feature-1-Shaun-Voss-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"scomiskey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"scomiskey","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/01\/08\/preparing-for-takeoff-a-nursing-grad-shares-his-path-to-success\/","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/01\/08\/preparing-for-takeoff-a-nursing-grad-shares-his-path-to-success\/","name":"Preparing for Takeoff: A Nursing Grad Shares His Path to Success - NECC News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/01\/08\/preparing-for-takeoff-a-nursing-grad-shares-his-path-to-success\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/01\/08\/preparing-for-takeoff-a-nursing-grad-shares-his-path-to-success\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Feature-1-Shaun-Voss-2.jpg","datePublished":"2019-01-08T23:02:09+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-14T18:09:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/a71ddaa7fa066d1402b0639a36648517"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/01\/08\/preparing-for-takeoff-a-nursing-grad-shares-his-path-to-success\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/01\/08\/preparing-for-takeoff-a-nursing-grad-shares-his-path-to-success\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/01\/08\/preparing-for-takeoff-a-nursing-grad-shares-his-path-to-success\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Feature-1-Shaun-Voss-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Feature-1-Shaun-Voss-2.jpg","width":1600,"height":1200},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/01\/08\/preparing-for-takeoff-a-nursing-grad-shares-his-path-to-success\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Preparing for Takeoff: A Nursing Grad Shares His Path to Success"}]},{"@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\/a71ddaa7fa066d1402b0639a36648517","name":"scomiskey","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/799f7c337ba493511d194f2f2083ce3e2cd1d6b3b9ca6e21546ba5001fd27884?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/799f7c337ba493511d194f2f2083ce3e2cd1d6b3b9ca6e21546ba5001fd27884?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"scomiskey"},"url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/scomiskey\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27008","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\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27008"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27009,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27008\/revisions\/27009"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}