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BY SANDY ROCHON ALUMNI COORDINATOR Jeff Reynolds is a graduate of North Shore Community College’s business administration program, Class of 1991. He continued his education at Salem State, where he majored in Business and Accounting, areas that he said he took an interest in after being introduced to them at NSCC. After college, he began his career in the business world, eventually entering banking. Jeff is now the Managing Director of Darling Consulting Group (DCG), an industry-leading asset liability management company providing services to the banking industry. He has been with DCG since 1996, pre-
ALUMNI CORNER
JEFF REYNOLDS (CLASS OF ‘91)
viously working there as a Financial Analyst. Jeff said that it is ironic that he ended up in that kind of job, as he was “never a strong math student”, but he found he was drawn to the methodical, logical approach of business accounting. Jeff was recently on campus to talk to me about his career, his fond appreciation for NSCC, and his memories of his time here. He told me that when he started at NSCC, he wasn’t really sure of the career direction he wanted to go in. Here, he found classes that interested him, and set him in the direction of what would become his career. “It amazes me that to this day, the college classes that I still look back on as being the
most helpful later in life, and that have most influenced my career, were Journalism and Public Speaking” Both the Journalism and The Public Speaking courses were taught by his favorite professor, the late Peter Foss. Jeff said that he
cannot say enough about his professors here and Professor Foss in particular. He described him as someone who “had presence- when he entered a room, people paid attention to him and what he had to say, he was greatly respected and admired.” Jeff recalled that he also genuinely cared about his students. He said Professor Foss encouraged his writing, urging him to develop his writing skills by working on the school paper, going as far as personally walking him to the office of the Pennon to ensure that he would. This turned out to be valuable advice, as Jeff recalls that having writing skills and learning to structure a story “was incredibly beneficial later in life. Every time I publish these days, I think
of Pete and all that he did.” Jeff also said he often thinks back to the skills he learned in his Public Speaking class. His job requires travel throughout the country making business presentations, and he said that this often makes him think of Professor Foss and NSCC. He is sure that Professor Foss would have taken great pride in knowing that he was actively applying the skills he’d been taught. Jeff’s advice to current students is to thank your professors; let them know that you appreciate what they do. The things you are being taught now may turn out to be what brings you great success in your career.
The Alumni Corner will be a regular section of the Pennon, featuring alumni profiles and information. If you know of an NSCC graduate who is doing great things, please let me know and they may be featured here or in other NSCC publications! For NSCC Scholarship information and application see www.northshore.edu/giving/foundation/scholarship.html
2013 FED CHALLENGE
On November 6th, NSCC participated in the 2013 New England College Fed Challenge. Under the leadership of Professor Moonsu Han, The NSCC College Fed Team was the only Community College team to compete at the Challenge this year. Below are a list of quotes courtesy of the students and faculty who helped make this happen.
It is my great honor to coach 2013 NSCC College Fed Challenge Team to compete 4 year institutions. NSCC was the only community college to compete at 2013 College Fed Challenge. I’d like to give thanks to NSCC’s strong supports and NSCC College Fed Challenge Team members’ hard work. We learned not only about economics but also the importance of team work and helping each other to improve our team. Also I should share this honor with other faculty who helped and supported College Fed Challenge Team members. Thank you so much. -MOONSU (MOON) HAN. NEWTON, MA PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AND NSCC COLLEGE FED CHALLENGE TEAM ADVISOR
"I enjoyed the Fed Challenge because it allowed me to understand what our country is going through and how to get out of it. The fact that we are the only community college in the nation allowed to compete against 4 year universities is a testament to the hard work that our team and advisor, Moon, put in." -KEVIN HURD. GLOUCESTER, MA
When I was getting out of the Army I never thought I would be fascinated by economics, but North Shore Community College and Professor Moonsu Han instilled the passion for economics in me. It was a privilege having NSCC Fed Challenge Team recognized as a competitive rival against some notable colleges like Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth College, Brown, BC, BU and Bentley etc. Although we did not make it to the final four I believe whenever you can bring a diverse group of students together to share ideas, and learn from (From Left To Right) Prof. Moonsu Han, Erica Reeves, Jacob Landess, Jon Foss, Thomas different perspectives, it's always a win! Alberto, Michael Warren, Jeremy Amero, Sergey Onokhin, Kevin Hurd, and Robert -SERGEY ONOKHIN. EPPING, NH The fed challenge has taught me about persistence, confidence, and team work. Prior to participating in this club, I was uncomfortable with public speaking and presentation. This club taught me how to properly prepare for presentations which makes me more confident. I have made lifelong friends in this club. Late night practicing economics brings people together. If gives me a sense of belonging and purpose. -ERICA REEVES. PEABODY, MA Participating in this year’s Federal Reserve College Fed Challenge has been both exciting, as well as an excellent learning experience for me. I found it very interesting to research the inner workings of our nation’s economy, seeing the many economic decisions that are made during the FOMC meetings, and the outcome each of those decisions produce. I found it especially interesting to learn about the 2009 recession and the unconventional monetary policies that have been used to aid in the recovery. I believe everybody should have a cursory understanding of monetary policy, and fiscal policy. People need to understand how fiscal drag from government policy decisions can slow down economic recovery. Seeing the negative effects of the sequestration, as well as the government shutdown was definitely an eye opener for me. Although this year I was not chosen to present, I still had a wonderful time reading, discussing and learning during the preparation. I made many new friends, and I am anxiously looking forward to participating in next years Fed Challenge! -ROBERT GOREHAM
Goreham
I had a great time preparing a competing in the economics fed challenge! I learned significantly more about economics and met some great people. I feel we not only had an intelligent but fun and enjoyable group. I think the competition went incredibly well at that we did the best that we could. The Federal Reserve is a beautiful building and to compete against some of the top schools there was awesome. You did a tremendous job preparing us and made the experience even more enjoyable than I think any other professor could have. I want to thank you for the opportunity and again I had a great time. oh and did I mention the pineapple/ jalapeno pizza! WOW haha. -MIKE WARREN Joining the NSCC Economics Team and the thought of competing at the fall challenge was an exciting event in my life. Being at NSCC with help from the GI BILL is an opportunity I greatly appreciate. Putting these two things together I am very lucky person! Even more lucky to team up with great young adults, new to the club this year my role was research and support. This young team I joined was not run with military precision or timing, never the less these young people pulled off the David vs. Goliath triumph of a life time! Competing against the top four year schools in New England for Economics excellence is an incredible accomplishment and I am proud to have been a part of it! -JON FOSS.