Nancy Sabin shares a moment with Paul Bevilacqua, former NECC Vice President of Academic Affairs, during her retirement party in December.

When Nancy Sabin walked on to the campus of Northern Essex in 1968 as a student little did she know she was beginning an educational and career journey that would span 43 years.

Her journey slowed when she retired from enrollment and veteran services in December, but it didn’t end – she will continue to teach computer and transition to college classes this spring.

Sabin came to NECC as a student in the accounting program. This led to a work study position in the registrar’s office. In 1969 she moved to the “computer room”. In 1970 she earned an associate degree in accounting – the first of three associate degrees she would earn during her time here. She also earned degrees in administration assistant and business management with a data processing option. By 1976 she was back working in the registrar’s office and in 1995 moved to financial aid. She has held the titles of junior clerk typist, junior clerk stenographer, EDP 1, 2, 3, and system analyst, assistant director and later associate director of financial aid, director of financial aid, and assistant dean of enrollment
and veterans’ services.

Along the way, she managed to complete her bachelor’s in computer science from New Hampshire College (now Southern New Hampshire University), and an MBA from Plymouth State.

During her years at Northern Essex she became a wife, mother, and widow. Whatever the year and whatever the title, Sabin says her job was always about helping the students. “I loved working with the students and seeing them go on and make something of themselves,” she says. “Many have come back and tell me what they are doing now. Or they will call and ask me to help their friends or their children.”