{"id":27468,"date":"2019-10-09T20:41:51","date_gmt":"2019-10-10T00:41:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2019\/10\/10\/when-jessica-figueroa-discovered-her-passion-for-renewable-energy-her-goals-fell-into-place\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T14:19:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T18:19:30","slug":"when-jessica-figueroa-discovered-her-passion-for-renewable-energy-her-goals-fell-into-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/10\/09\/when-jessica-figueroa-discovered-her-passion-for-renewable-energy-her-goals-fell-into-place\/","title":{"rendered":"NECC’s Tutoring Center and A Supportive Partner have Helped this Engineering Grad Succeed"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jessica<\/a>

Jessica Figueroa<\/p><\/div>\n

Getting a college education has been an 18-year journey for Jessica Figueroa of Haverhill, a 34-year old mother of two.<\/p>\n

Through the years, Figueroa majored in accounting and physical education at three different colleges, and most of the time she was working full time.<\/p>\n

When choosing her first two majors, Figueroa made decisions based on practicalities like the earning power of accountants and the family-friendly work hours of being a gym teacher, but she wasn\u2019t necessarily following her passions.<\/p>\n

A summer trip to a campground that uses natural energy for all of its power is what finally captured her interest and brought it all together for her.\u00a0 \u201cIt fascinated me\u2026I decided I wanted to be an engineer and work in the energy field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Figueroa, who already had an associate degree in General Studies: Movement Science from Northern Essex, switched gears, and dove into her classes, focusing on math, engineering, and chemistry, which she found she \u201cloves\u201d.<\/p>\n

Last spring, she earned an associate degree in engineering<\/a> from Northern Essex, and she is now enrolled at UMass Lowell in the chemical engineering program.\u00a0 This past summer, she also landed a prestigious STEM fellowship with Station 1, a unique science and technology program with a focus on societal perspective and social innovation and impact.\u00a0 Program coursework and an internship with Aphios Corporation, a Woburn biotechnology company developing treatments for cancer, infectious diseases such as HIV, and neurological disorders such as Alzheimer\u2019s disease, multiple sclerosis, and opioid disorder, created an \u201ceye-opening\u201d experience for her.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIt made me realize how important it is to not just find solutions, but to also think about what the consequences are to the solution and also look deeper into what causes the problem,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

While she has found her niche in engineering, Figueroa admits there are still decisions to be made.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAfter I finish my bachelor\u2019s degree, I am torn between continuing school for my PhD or going right into the workforce.\u00a0\u00a0 I feel like I\u2019m still on this journey of figuring out what I want to do ultimately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Figueroa advices other students juggling college, work, and family responsibilities not to get discouraged.\u00a0 She encourages others to be aware of the many resources available, especially the tutoring center<\/a>, her go-to when she needed help in any subject.\u00a0 She also gives a great deal of credit to her partner of 10 years.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for his support and his being there as a father figure to my children, I don\u2019t think I would have made it this far into my education.\u201d<\/p>\n

Northern Essex offers an associate degree in Engineering Science that transfers to colleges and universities like UMass Lowell.\u00a0\u00a0 Students can choose from concentrations including chemical, civil-environmental, electrical\/computer, and mechanical.\u00a0 To learn more, visit the website.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getting a college education has been an 18-year journey for Jessica Figueroa of Haverhill, a 34-year old mother of two.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":27470,"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-27468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNECC's Tutoring Center and A Supportive Partner have Helped this Engineering Grad Succeed - 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\/10\/09\/when-jessica-figueroa-discovered-her-passion-for-renewable-energy-her-goals-fell-into-place\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NECC's Tutoring Center and A Supportive Partner have Helped this Engineering Grad Succeed - 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