Endicott Leads to Worldwide Opportunities
Megan Nugent had a rough idea of what she wanted to do after her senior year of high school, but a four-year commitment to an undergraduate program wasn’t it.
She searched for community colleges on the North Shore and was alerted to Endicott Gloucester by her guidance counselor. She chose Endicott Gloucester to pursue an Associate in Science in Business, which led to opportunities throughout the world.
The oceanfront Endicott Gloucester site provided Nugent with small classes and personal advising, with the added perk of having access to the main Beverly campus.
“My experience was awesome. I fell in love with my program,” Nugent said. “In the first semester, I definitely knew I was in the right place. I became very close with my professors. They always let us know that we had complete access to all of the resources on the main campus.”
Before Nugent graduated with her associate’s degree in 2016, she joined a faculty-led trip to Switzerland. She visited Les Roches, a world-renowned hospitality school, as part of the trip, and she returned there in Spring 2017 for a semester abroad after transferring to the Beverly campus to pursue a Bachelor of Science in International Business.
“That definitely allowed me to steer in the direction I wanted to go,” Nugent said of going abroad.
She was introduced to the United Nation’s World Food Programme while attending an international career fair in Switzerland. She felt an instant connection, leading her to pursue internships at nonprofits and organizations that work on the ground.
She knew the competition would be fierce, so she pursued other internship opportunities as well, landing a position with the Kerry Hotel in Hong Kong to gain more international experience and connections. Then fate intervened.
“I had my visa, I had everything all squared away and ready to go, but I was still a little torn, because I really wanted to get experience with a nonprofit,” Nugent said. “I wanted to get fieldwork experience, because the World Food Group also does a lot of ground work in the field.
“Two weeks before I was leaving for Hong Kong, my internship coordinator at the Beverly campus sent me information on a position in Peru with Alliance for a Sustainable Amazon,” Nugent said. “I immediately decided to apply and was accepted.“
She notes that she has gained invaluable experience in fieldwork, organic agriculture, and conservation in Peru, due in part to her time spent at Endicott Gloucester.
"Megan was one of our first associate’s program students and was a real trailblazer, taking advantage of everything Endicott College’s Van Loan School has to offer,” Endicott Gloucester Director Richard Weissman said. “Her aspirations and enthusiasm kept us on our toes. Many of the policies and procedures of how students from Endicott College Gloucester interact with the greater College community were refined to support Megan's educational journey."