{"id":27259,"date":"2019-06-20T14:34:52","date_gmt":"2019-06-20T18:34:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2019\/06\/20\/lawrence-man-has-the-right-chemistry-for-lab-science\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T14:15:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T18:15:06","slug":"lawrence-man-has-the-right-chemistry-for-lab-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/06\/20\/lawrence-man-has-the-right-chemistry-for-lab-science\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawrence Man has the Right Chemistry for Lab Science"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Luis<\/a>

Luis Robles earned his associate degree in laboratory science.<\/p><\/div>\n

Luis Robles was just a little boy when he told his parents he wanted to be a scientist. Last May, he moved another step closer to that vision when he accepted his associate degree in laboratory science during Northern Essex\u2019s 57th Commencement Ceremony.<\/p>\n

Admittedly the road to his degree has been circuitous. The 26-year-old Lawrence resident was raised on the U.S. Virgin Island of St. Croix until he was 14 when he moved to Pennsylvania with his mom. After just one year, he returned to the islands, settling in St. Thomas for a year. By the time he reached the 12th grade, he moved to New Jersey with his sister. Although he enrolled in the local community college following high school graduation, a summer trip to visit his dad who was in failing health and subsequently passed away, turned into an indefinite stay.<\/p>\n

Robles was working at a call center when he met his wife. They made the collective decision to move to Lawrence to be near her family and nearer to his dream. In 2015, he was working for a temp agency in a multitude of laborer jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI decided I wanted to better myself through higher education,\u201d he said. \u201cI knew I could find better opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

He approached Northern Essex with the intention of enrolling as a chemistry major.<\/p>\n

\u201cScience was always my favorite subject especially chemistry,\u201d he said. \u201cI was always mixing solutions or playing with electricity. So when the advisors told me about the laboratory science degree, I decided to enroll in the program and I\u2019m happy I did. It excites me when I understand a concept about how something works.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the help of the Pathways to Academic and Career Excellence (PACE) Program, a federally-funded student support services program that helps students succeed, Robles graduated with a 3.95 GPA, the Excellence Award for top student in the laboratory science program, and an invitation to participate in the Station1 10-week summer fellowship program based in Lawrence. Through this nonprofit organization, he will receive a stipend while gaining hands-on experience in a leading science and technology company while being mentored by individuals from a diversity of fields. Luis was selected from many hundreds of students nationwide.<\/p>\n

During his two plus years at Northern Essex, Robles has balanced a full academic schedule with a full-time job at a call center and more recently an automotive center with raising a family that includes a two-year-old and two stepsons.<\/p>\n

With his new degree, Robles expects to begin work after his fellowship. Eventually he hopes to return to higher education for a bachelor\u2019s and possibly a master\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to keep growing my knowledge base and my experience,\u201d he said, \u201cso that one day I can use my career to make a positive contribution to society.\u201d<\/p>\n

He hopes his future educational experiences are as positive as his experience at NECC.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone her has been so supportive,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone has such a positive attitude and very respectful. \u201cI am grateful to my professors for believing in me and motivating me. They inspire me to go above and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cScience was always my favorite subject especially chemistry,\u201d he said. \u201cI was always mixing solutions or playing with electricity. So when the advisors told me about the laboratory science degree, I decided to enroll in the program and I\u2019m happy I did.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"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-27259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLawrence Man has the Right Chemistry for Lab Science - 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\/06\/20\/lawrence-man-has-the-right-chemistry-for-lab-science\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lawrence Man has the Right Chemistry for Lab Science - NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cScience was always my favorite subject especially chemistry,\u201d he said. \u201cI was always mixing solutions or playing with electricity. 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