{"id":28121,"date":"2018-12-04T14:34:51","date_gmt":"2018-12-04T19:34:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2018\/12\/04\/alexbochman\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T16:27:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T20:27:32","slug":"alexbochman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2018\/12\/04\/alexbochman\/","title":{"rendered":"From Retail Sales to Computer Programming"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Alex<\/a>

Alex Bochman of Methuen, Computer Science Transfer major<\/p><\/div>\n

Alex Bochman started college right after graduating from Methuen High School in 2011, but his heart wasn\u2019t in it.\u00a0 After just two semesters, he dropped out and went to work full time.<\/p>\n

He worked locally for retailers like Sears, Best Buy, and Vans.\u00a0 He even took a year to live in Vermont and work at a ski resort.<\/p>\n

But, after three years away from school, he felt he was missing something.\u00a0 \u201cI wanted to be an educated person, to better myself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Once he realized he was ready for college, Bochman focused on selecting a major.<\/p>\n

Known as the \u201cfamily IT guy\u201d, the one to call when the computer won\u2019t start or the printer isn\u2019t working, Alex knew he was good at computers, so he figured this would be a good place to start.<\/p>\n

In the spring of 2015, he enrolled in the Computer Science<\/a> Transfer program at Northern Essex, signing up for three courses, including programming.<\/p>\n

That semester everything clicked for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cProgramming is really rewarding.\u00a0 Building a program and seeing it work is a great feeling,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Bochman will graduate in the fall of 2019 with high honors and plans to transfer to UMass Lowell<\/a> for a bachelor\u2019s in computer science.<\/p>\n

Best of all, he now has experience in the computer field, thanks to an internship with Parker Hannifin, a global leader in motion and control technologies, which he received through the college.\u00a0 That internship led directly to his current position where he works in IT for Hockmeyer Studios<\/a> in Amesbury.<\/p>\n

His ultimate goal is to be a programmer.<\/p>\n

Bochman is pleased with the direction his life is taking and he has advice for others who are thinking about college.\u00a0 “Take the time to research a major. Start with what you’re interested in, or what you’re good at, and then go from there. In my case, working with computers has always been one of my interests, so I decided to progress that skill.”<\/p>\n

To learn more, visit the website, necc.mass.edu<\/a>, or contact enrollment services, admissions@necc.mass.edu<\/a> or 978 556-3700.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Known as the \u201cfamily IT guy\u201d, the one to call when the computer won\u2019t start or the printer isn\u2019t working, Alex Bochman is now pursuing an associate degree in computer science.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":26838,"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-28121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFrom Retail Sales to Computer Programming - 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\/2018\/12\/04\/alexbochman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From Retail Sales to Computer Programming - NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Known as the \u201cfamily IT guy\u201d, the one to call when the computer won\u2019t start or the printer isn\u2019t working, Alex Bochman is now pursuing an associate degree in computer science.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2018\/12\/04\/alexbochman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-04T19:34:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-14T20:27:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Alex-Bochman.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"801\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ernie Greenslade\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ernie Greenslade\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2018\/12\/04\/alexbochman\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2018\/12\/04\/alexbochman\/\",\"name\":\"From Retail Sales to Computer Programming - NECC News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2018\/12\/04\/alexbochman\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2018\/12\/04\/alexbochman\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Alex-Bochman.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-04T19:34:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-14T20:27:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/6a4640513b41a61d0435b6972d4577c9\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2018\/12\/04\/alexbochman\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2018\/12\/04\/alexbochman\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2018\/12\/04\/alexbochman\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Alex-Bochman.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Alex-Bochman.jpg\",\"width\":801,\"height\":1200},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2018\/12\/04\/alexbochman\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"From Retail Sales to Computer Programming\"}]},{\"@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\/6a4640513b41a61d0435b6972d4577c9\",\"name\":\"Ernie Greenslade\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/75ae84652c63c20fe24eb5858c280eb011192a5104499880542d7f8dfd6ef2c9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/75ae84652c63c20fe24eb5858c280eb011192a5104499880542d7f8dfd6ef2c9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ernie Greenslade\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/egreenslade\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"From Retail Sales to Computer Programming - 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\/2018\/12\/04\/alexbochman\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"From Retail Sales to Computer Programming - NECC News","og_description":"Known as the \u201cfamily IT guy\u201d, the one to call when the computer won\u2019t start or the printer isn\u2019t working, Alex Bochman is now pursuing an associate degree in computer science.","og_url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2018\/12\/04\/alexbochman\/","og_site_name":"NECC News","article_published_time":"2018-12-04T19:34:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-14T20:27:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":801,"height":1200,"url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Alex-Bochman.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ernie Greenslade","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ernie Greenslade","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2018\/12\/04\/alexbochman\/","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2018\/12\/04\/alexbochman\/","name":"From Retail Sales to Computer Programming - NECC News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2018\/12\/04\/alexbochman\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2018\/12\/04\/alexbochman\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Alex-Bochman.jpg","datePublished":"2018-12-04T19:34:51+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-14T20:27:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/6a4640513b41a61d0435b6972d4577c9"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2018\/12\/04\/alexbochman\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2018\/12\/04\/alexbochman\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2018\/12\/04\/alexbochman\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Alex-Bochman.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Alex-Bochman.jpg","width":801,"height":1200},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2018\/12\/04\/alexbochman\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"From Retail Sales to Computer Programming"}]},{"@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\/6a4640513b41a61d0435b6972d4577c9","name":"Ernie Greenslade","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/75ae84652c63c20fe24eb5858c280eb011192a5104499880542d7f8dfd6ef2c9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/75ae84652c63c20fe24eb5858c280eb011192a5104499880542d7f8dfd6ef2c9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ernie Greenslade"},"url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/egreenslade\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28121","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\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28121"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28122,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28121\/revisions\/28122"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}