{"id":31051,"date":"2011-07-19T14:48:58","date_gmt":"2011-07-19T18:48:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2011\/07\/19\/haverhill-high-grad-finds-balance-at-necc\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T22:34:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T02:34:24","slug":"haverhill-high-grad-finds-balance-at-necc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/07\/19\/haverhill-high-grad-finds-balance-at-necc\/","title":{"rendered":"Haverhill High Grad Finds Balance at NECC"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_1225\" style=\"width: 260px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1225\" class=\"wp-image-1225 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/media-old\/2011\/07\/Noelia-Figuerero.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"375\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1225\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Noelia Figuereo<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Noelia Figuereo came to Northern Essex expecting to further her education. What this gifted athlete didn\u2019t expect was to find a renewed interest in track which\u00a0brought a balance to her very full life.<\/p>\n<p>When the Haverhill resident graduated from Haverhill High School in 2009 she left with average grades and an above-average talent for track \u2013 a talent she didn\u2019t nurture because she found it difficult to balance studies and athletics. She found that balance at Northern Essex.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was really lost,\u201d she says. \u201cI wanted to pick myself up and come here and start my college education.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Coming from a close-knit family where she helps care for her ailing grandmother, Noelia was happy NECC was just a few miles from her home. \u201cShe used to take care of me, so it is important to me that I give back to her,\u201d she says.<br \/>\nNoelia was happier still that it offered track. Her first year, she won a national title for the 200 meter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was the best thing for me to come here and work with someone who made me challenge myself on the track,\u201d she says. More importantly, she adds, \u201cI found self-motivation and learned how to balance my class schedule with my track schedule and home obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Spending time with her grandmother, she says, served as inspiration for her to pursue a nursing degree. She is currently taking her prerequisite classes in the hopes of entering a nursing program in the fall of 2013.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe thing about NECC is there are so many ways to explore what you like. There are endless ways to learn here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Noelia Figuereo came to Northern Essex expecting to further her education. What this gifted athlete didn\u2019t expect was to find a renewed interest in track which\u00a0brought a balance to her [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":137,"featured_media":31053,"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-31051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Haverhill High Grad Finds Balance at NECC - 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\/2011\/07\/19\/haverhill-high-grad-finds-balance-at-necc\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Haverhill High Grad Finds Balance at NECC - NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Noelia Figuereo came to Northern Essex expecting to further her education. 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