{"id":30300,"date":"2013-01-14T14:44:45","date_gmt":"2013-01-14T19:44:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2013\/01\/14\/affordable-education-leads-to-successful-career-in-education\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T17:05:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T21:05:11","slug":"affordable-education-leads-to-successful-career-in-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2013\/01\/14\/affordable-education-leads-to-successful-career-in-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Affordable Education Leads to Successful Career in Education"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Affordable<\/a>

Shalimar Quiles<\/p><\/div>\n

After graduating from Lawrence High School in 2006, Shalimar Quiles was ready to experience someplace new so she enrolled at an out-of-state university. One semester later, financial reality set in, and she decided to return home and attend Northern Essex.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had accumulated thousands of dollars in loans after just one semester in Connecticut,\u201d she explains. \u201cI realized that if I transferred to Northern Essex, I could pay my way with my part-time job.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Northern Essex, Shalimar discovered \u201ca strong sense of community,\u201d something that had been missing at the larger university she attended.<\/p>\n

\u201cI built partnerships with my peers, professors, and college staff,\u201d she says. \u201cFrom career counseling to academic support to internships, I took advantage of just about everything the college offered.\u201d<\/p>\n

After earning an associate degree in liberal arts with journalism\/ communication option and high honors, Shalimar transferred to Simmons College in Boston to continue her studies in art, communications, and Spanish.<\/p>\n

With her bachelor\u2019s degree in hand, she landed a job in community\/parent relations with Unlocking Potential, a nonprofit educational group.<\/p>\n

In 2012, she was recruited back to Lawrence by Jeff Riley, Lawrence Public School System superintendent\/receiver, who hired her as scholarship re-engagement manager, a position in which she\u2019s tasked with keeping students engaged in school.<\/p>\n

Although her job keeps her very busy, Shalimar fully intends to continue her education and would eventually like to earn her master\u2019s in higher education.<\/p>\n

\u201cUrban education is the perfect field for me,\u201d says Shalimar. \u201cNorthern Essex was a critical stepping stone, preparing me academically for my future and allowing me to have experiences that helped me to choose my professional path.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After graduating from Lawrence High School in 2006, Shalimar Quiles was ready to experience someplace new so she enrolled at an out-of-state university. One semester later, financial reality set in, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":137,"featured_media":30302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAffordable Education Leads to Successful Career in Education - 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\/2013\/01\/14\/affordable-education-leads-to-successful-career-in-education\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Affordable Education Leads to Successful Career in Education - NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After graduating from Lawrence High School in 2006, Shalimar Quiles was ready to experience someplace new so she enrolled at an out-of-state university. 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