There’s no shortage of workplaces where you’ll find New Brunswick Community College (NBCC) alumni. Look around New Brunswick’s offices, hospitals, engineering firms, auto shops and construction sites and you’ll see proud NBCC graduates, contributing to the province’s socio-economic success.
But there’s an even more obvious place to find NBCC alumni on the job – at NBCC itself.
At NBCC Woodstock, four members of the Business/Information Technology faculty are NBCC alumni. Tobi Doucette-Corey, Toby Grant, Jason Brown and Jeff Clowes have all found their way back to NBCC – this time, at the front of the classroom.
Clowes graduated from the Business Technology: IT Management program at the Moncton campus in 1997. He’s appreciative for the education he received and wants today’s students to have the same opportunity to learn.
“I had good instructors in Moncton,” he said. “I took a Bachelor of Arts first, then I got to NBCC and saw a totally different style of teaching. It was what I was looking for.”
For Doucette-Corey, a 1992 graduate of Woodstock’s Accounting Clerk program, a return to NBCC was only natural.
“I’ve never stopped being a student,” she said. “I’m always taking courses. My students can see that this is just the first step of learning and building their lives. Their learning doesn’t stop here.
“My English teacher from high school sent me a note saying, ‘You finally got around to the career you were meant to do.’”
Grant is 2001 alumnus of the St. Andrews campus’ Computer Systems Support program. He spent the first part of his career working for a big corporation before deciding he wanted to share his expertise with others.
“I worked in the private sector for years, and I had a strong urge to give back to the community,” said Grant. “To work solely for a paycheque gets old after a while.”
Brown studied Desktop Support at the Woodstock campus, graduating in 2009. He finds fulfillment in his students’ successes.
“When you go out into industries and you see them succeeding in their field, that’s pretty rewarding,” he said.
All four agree that one of the main advantages of a NBCC education is the opportunity to learn while doing.
“We’re bringing back our experience from years of doing, and our understanding of the industry,” said Doucette-Corey. “We bring that to the classroom along with textbook theory.”
“A lot of what they learn in theory, they get to put into practice,” said Grant.
With over 90 programs and six campuses across New Brunswick, New Brunswick Community College (NBCC) is a provincially recognized post-secondary institution renowned for producing skilled, knowledgeable college graduates. NBCC offers students full-time concentrated study periods in one- and two-year certificate and diploma programs. For more information, visit: www.nbcc.ca.
