Nursing major Samantha McLaughlin of Amesbury is NECC’s newly elected student trustee

An Amesbury woman, who works full time and is the single parent to four children, 12 and under, is the new student-elected member of the Northern Essex Community College Board of Trustees.

As the top vote-getter in a field of seven candidates, Samantha McLaughlin will serve on the college’s Board of Trustees for one year, beginning, July 1 of this year.

McLaughlin decided to run for trustee because she thought it would be a great way to get involved with the college. “I want to be the voice and ears for other students,” she says. “I’m so happy to be able to represent the Northern Essex student body.”

A 1999 graduate of Franklin High School, McLaughlin earned a Communications degree from Curry College in 2013. She enrolled at Northern Essex in the fall of 2018 with the intention of pursuing a career in nursing. Since then, she has been taking her nursing prerequisites, gen ed and science courses, earning a 3.72 GPA, and she will begin the two-year nursing program this fall.

McLaughlin has worked in home health care since she was 17, most recently caring full time for a patient while finishing up her nursing prerequisites. She has been interested in pursuing her nursing degree for a long time, and, when her four children, 7, 8, 11, and 12 entered school full time the timing was right.

“I’ve always loved helping people and working in health care,” says McLaughlin. “I had been accepted to a nursing program a few years ago but I couldn’t afford child care and college tuition. I knew now was my opportunity.”

A runner, who has completed five marathons, McLaughlin has an identical twin sister who is a nurse.

This year’s field of seven candidates was exceptionally large, according to Stephanie Haskell, coordinator of student activities for leadership and social justice initiatives. “We typically have one to three candidates each year and this year that more than doubled.”

Haskell attributes the increase to new methods of outreach and she credits Janel D’Agata Lynch, coordinator of civic engagement, service-learning and community resources, for helping with that.

Also running for student trustee were Timothy Dodier, Hampstead, NH, Chemistry, Physics, and Environmental Science; Noelle DiVeglia, East Kingston, NH, Biology; Mebra Lubukha, Derry, NH, General Studies: Health Specialization; Luis Raudales, Lowell, Liberal Arts; Felipe Sencion, Lawrence, Business Transfer; and Alanna Stafford, Haverhill, Criminal Justice.

The NECC Board of Trustees includes nine members who are appointed by the governor of the state to a maximum of two five-year terms as well as an alumni-elected member, who also serves a maximum of ten years, and a student trustee who serves for two semesters. McLaughlin, whose term begins July 1, will serve for 2020-2021.

Northern Essex Community College has campuses in both Haverhill and Lawrence. It offers more than 60 associate degree and certificate programs as well as hundreds of noncredit courses designed for personal enrichment and career growth.  Each year, more than 5,000 students are enrolled in credit associate degree and certificate programs on the Haverhill and Lawrence campuses; and another 2,600 take noncredit workforce development and community education classes on campus, and at businesses and community sites across the Merrimack Valley.  For more information, visit the website at  www.necc.mass.edu or call 978-556-3700.