Sleep Technology student Jennifer Canfield

When Jennifer Canfield learned she was going to be a mom, she began looking for a career she could train for quickly and earn a decent income. She found it in the Sleep Technology Certificate Program at Northern Essex.

A 2006 graduate of Haverhill High School, Jennifer enrolled at NECC but wasn’t ready to commit to the hard work. After a few years of working low-paying jobs and discovering she was about to become a single mom, she knew education meant self-sufficiency.

Armed with a new determination, she researched programs.

“I knew I wanted to go to Northern Essex because it was affordable and convenient,” she says. “I started researching the different programs NECC had to offer. I found a program I could do at night that I could complete in less than a year.”

She met with a school counselor and the coordinator of the program. She had her questions answered and enrolled in the Sleep Technology Certificate Program.

“From the beginning I loved it,” she says. “One of the best things about the program is that a lot of it was online which made it convenient for someone like me who had a child and worked full time.”

She graduated in May 2013 with both an Associate Degree in General Studies and a Sleep Technology Certificate.

Today, this 25-year-old works as a sleep technologist for the Lakes Region General Hospital in Gilford, NH. She works three 12-hour shifts.

“I love my job,” she says. “You actually see that you are making a difference in people’s lives.”

The certificate program gave her a great academic foundation if she elects to pursue another health care degree. Now she recommends NECC to others. “It’s convenient. It’s affordable, and it’s actually a really good school,” she says.