Samantha Seufer

Mechanics of Success

Steadfast self-reliance enabled one NCC automotive technology graduate to manage inner turmoil and find the courage to start a new career when the rest of the world struggled during a global pandemic. Samantha Seufer ‘22, originally waited tables and tended bar after leaving a four-year college where she majored in environmental biology.

She has battled with severe anxiety for much of her life. Yet, Seufer has learned to manage her condition thanks to weekly therapist visits, anti-anxiety medicine and cognitive-behavioral techniques that have helped her take control of the fear and apprehension that are part of anxiety.

“Before the pandemic, if you would have told me I was going to be working as a mechanic let alone going back to college for automotive technology, I wouldn’t have believed you,” she said.

Seufer started at Northampton Community College in August 2020. After earning her degree in automotive technology in spring of ’22, she began pursuing a welding certificate at NCC to chase her dreams of owning a business collecting antique cars.

She prizes her own tenacity and hopes to inspire other women to persist in achieving their professional goals by overcoming their obstacles. Due to her diminutive size, she initially felt nervous about entering a profession that sometimes requires considerable arm strength.

Standing 5’1” and weighing 120 pounds, Seufer worried about loosening heavy bolts while working on cars, but her persistence paid off and she can now do so with ease. Working as an auto technician allows her to capitalize on her natural intellectual strengths. “She has a quick, keen grasp of spatial and mechanical relationships,” her father Rich said, “I’m really excited to see what she’s going to do with her life.”

Rebecca Ashdot

Digging The Past

Ashdot’s love of the past is inspiring her future as she pursues her passion in archaeology.

Fictional archaeologist Evelyn Carnahan sparked Rebecca Ashdot’s love of unearthing history. Watching the character read hieroglyphs in the 1999 Stephen Sommers movie The Mummy captivated the then 10-year-old Ashdot so much that she discovered a passion to become an archaeologist.

A spring 2022 NCC graduate, she is currently attending Gettysburg College where she is majoring in anthropology with a focus in archaeology. But the Brooklyn native learned to persevere to attain her goals from her mother who emigrated from Kazakhstan to the U.S. without knowing English. Her mother’s determination and fierceness in advocating for Ashdot’s non-verbal, autistic brother inspired Rebecca to be ambitious and stay motivated in her journey.

Ashdot majored in general studies at NCC’s Monroe campus and received the ESSA Bank and Trust Foundation Annual Scholarship in 2020 and 2021. She served as president of the Beta Beta Chi chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Honor Society and earned an All-PA Academic Team Scholarship.

When not volunteering as an archaeologist for the National Park Service in the Delaware Water Gap, Ashdot has helped excavate the site of the 19th century Kittatinny Hotel.

Through volunteering, she met her role model, 84-yearold amateur archaeologist Don Kline, who excavated the Shawnee-Minisink Archaeological Site in East Stroudsburg during the 1970s. The site contains evidence of Native American life dating back 13,000 years.

Kiondre Kenner

Recipe For Success

Kenner’s work at a local high-end restaurant is giving him hands-on experience in what it takes to operate a food service business.

Overcoming adversity and tackling seemingly insurmountable challenges are nothing new to Kiondre Kenner. A spring 2022 NCC graduate, Kenner grew up in a single-parent home in Brooklyn, N.Y., where his mother’s hard work, commitment to family and continued perseverance were among the only things that allowed his family to get by.

“The best support system I had was the line-up of aunts and uncles that were close by,” said Kenner. “I grew up in apartments with EBT cards and food stamps. I wasn’t exposed to different cultural values and diversity until I left Brooklyn.”

Eventually he and his family would make stops in Queens and Long Island, before landing in Allentown. That proved to be a most fortuitous path that eventually led him to knock on the door of Northampton Community College and its highly regarded hospitality program, a significant step in his dream of owning a restaurant.

At NCC, Kenner was a stand-out, earning Deans List honors and a spot on the All-PA Academic Team through his involvement with the Tau Gamma chapter of Phi Theta Kappa. He managed to thrive despite the challenges of his upbringing, something that continued even during the pandemic.

With a vision of earning his bachelor’s degree in hospitality management and one day operating his own food service establishment, Kenner credits his mentors and professors at the college for helping him develop leadership abilities and cultivate his passion for cooking.

Michelle Tatosian

A Future Beyond

Tatosian is enjoying her work as an associate safety management specialist for a major insurance company.

Michelle Tatosian ’19 lost herself as a teenager who became addicted to drugs and alcohol starting at age 15. “I had no thought of a future beyond the next high,” she recalls.

Then suddenly one day, after several years, she recognized how much she needed help to escape her addictions. She wanted a life she could be proud of. But after completing treatment, she didn’t know what to do or what was next, other than her desire to become a good person, always do her very best and to keep a solid faith in herself.

Tatosian found herself walking into Northampton Community College. Completely unaware of the person she was about to become, she began creating her future, despite her past. She excelled academically, was active in NCC’s Phi Theta Kappa honor society and received numerous awards, including being named as a New Century Pathways Scholar, the highest achievement award for graduates of community colleges.

After graduating from NCC with a degree in liberal arts and a psychology concentration, she earned a bachelor’s degree in public health from East Stroudsburg University. Tatosian is quick to express gratitude for NCC.

“I’m an addict who has seen some dark days and even darker sides of myself,” Tatosian recently wrote in a column for The Daily Item. “I’m also a college graduate, a capable professional, first-time homeowner, and a compassionate human. I am all these things because my local community college gave me a chance at success. A chance at becoming who I am today.”

Taiba Sultana

An Evolving Future

Sultana is a committed city council member dedicated to her Easton community.

Taiba Sultana ‘22 achieved a major goal last November when she was elected to represent the 3rd District on Easton’s City Council, defeating a 20-year incumbent to become the first Muslim and woman of color to serve on the council.

“We have proven that history is not just the events of the past,” Sultana said after being elected. “It is current, it is present, and it is evolving.”

A Northampton Community College alumna, Sultana graduated with a degree in political science. She moved to the United States from Pakistan as a teenager and later married. Domestic abuse forced her to flee her husband with her three children and another on the way.

Homeless for a time, she eventually secured public housing, worked as a special education aide, saved money, bought a car and later a home in Easton. Soon, she enrolled at NCC and got involved as a student member of the Disciplinary Committee and vice president of NCC’s student government.

She also was a student representative on the Pennsylvania Board of Education and served on the state College Textbook Policies Advisory Committee.

“I wanted to give back to my institution and community,” she said. With her NCC degree in hand, the city council member is now a mother of six who is looking toward the future. Sultana said she may pursue a career in law and will continue to play a role in helping those who are underserved or disenfranchised.

Nicole Hanna

Student Success In Action

Nicole Hanna’s love for NCC runs deep. As a Dean’s List nursing student she thrived thanks to the college’s supportive faculty, helpful staff, small class sizes and academic rigor. It was an experience that sparked her confidence and provided the know how needed to pursue her interest in a nursing degree at the next level.

Today, she’s hard at work earning her bachelor’s degree in nursing as a Cedar Crest College student, continuing her quest to grow her skills and knowledge in the health care field.

Hanna, who started out as a high school dual enrollment student, credits NCC with helping her understand the responsibilities and rewards of a college education. “My experience at NCC was so amazing,” Hanna said. “So many people went out of their way to help me.”

She cited staff members who assisted her with applying for scholarships, an advisor who helped her change her major from criminal justice to nursing, professors who built relationships while offering compelling teaching, and other students who became like family. It’s the people, she said, who make NCC so special.

“It was hard for me to make the decision to transfer to Cedar Crest because there were people I really didn’t want to leave,” said Hanna, who was an ESSA scholarship recipient for the 2021-22 school year. “But I know I have the foundation I need to be successful and move ahead with my career.”

Victoria DeLaRosa ’22

For Love of Family

DeLaRosa is grateful to those who made her NCC education financially possible, and plans to one day help others realize their college dreams.

For Victoria DeLaRosa, family is everything. And receiving the Louise Moore Pine Scholarship in 2020 and Eureyecko Family Scholarship Endowment in 2021 gave her the gift of being able to spend more time with her family. In particular, her beloved grandfather who was recently diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

“I was working 40 hours a week and taking six classes,” DeLaRosa said. “The scholarships I received gave me the opportunity to spend time with my grandfather and to continue my education.”

DeLaRosa comes from a large family and has a twin also attending college. She knew paying for her education would be challenging. “All through high school I had no idea how I would pay for college,” she said.

First attracted to Northampton Community College by the quality of education and the caring nature of faculty members, she was thrilled to discover attending would be affordable. She is grateful to everyone who helped make her education, and the education of others, a financial reality.

“My story is just a small example of how you impact people,” she said, addressing donors at a recent college event. “It’s imperative that you know what you do matters.” A business major, DeLaRosa transferred to Moravian University this fall. Having worked for fast food chain Chick-fil-A since she was 14, she hopes to realize her dream of opening a franchise after graduating. Doing so, she said, will enable her to help her family and others.

“I will use the gifts I received to one day give back to others and help them realize their dreams,” DeLaRosa said.

Jeffrey Erschen

Dealing With Life’s Curve Balls

Erschen’s internship with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs prepared him for a future in the front office.

Playing baseball has been a passion for Jeffrey Erschen ever since he can remember. Even as a youngster he excelled. As a standout player at Northampton High School, the 6’2” slugger even helped his Konkrete Kids team win the 2019 EPC Championship.

After high school Erschen was primed to take his game to the next level. He had heard of the strong reputation of the Northampton Community College baseball team and its head coach Adrian Yaguez. Because NCC was close to home, offered a top-notch sports management major, and would allow him to continue his baseball career, it seemed like a perfect fit.

He enrolled at NCC in fall of 2020 and got ready to play for the Spartans in spring of 2021.

But life has a way of throwing you curve balls and so when the promising pitcher tore his labrum in spring of 2021, a painful injury that can make it difficult to move your shoulder, his dreams of playing college ball suddenly seemed in jeopardy. Surgery followed and the injury cut short his maiden season with the NCC team. Full of optimism, he set out to rehab his arm only to suffer a setback last May, reinjuring the same shoulder.

“I’ve learned not to take anything I have for granted,” said Erschen. “I was playing baseball for 15 years and now I haven’t played in over a year and a half. It has been challenging mentally and physically, but I’m in a good place now and look forward to the future.”

An internship last summer working in the front office with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs put him on track to achieve his dream job - working for a Major League Baseball team. Erschen plans to graduate this December and transfer to a four-year college where he hopes to earn his bachelor’s degree in sports management…and resume his college baseball career!

Jonathan Rodriguez

Heart of a Champion

Rodriguez is an accomplished pro boxer with a vision to earn a world championship.

Heart of a Champion
Jonathan Rodriguez is a fighter…has been his whole life. The 23-year-old NCC student has overcome more than his fair share of challenges including living on the streets, confronting homelessness, facing abandonment by his mother and suffering abuse at the hands of his father. But he never gave up.

Today he is thriving. Under the loving guidance of adoptive parents, he’s become an accomplished professional boxer with an eye on a championship. He’s also a hard-working college student with hopes of graduating next spring and eventually applying to the police academy.

But it wasn’t always so. Born in Puerto Rico, Rodriguez moved to the United States when he was 8-years-old. By the time he was 10, he had fallen in with the wrong crowd, and was drinking, smoking and running in the streets. There was another thing young Rodriguez did in the streets - fight.

“Because I was hanging out with the wrong crowd, I was fighting every day, getting into trouble all the time...” Rodriguez said.

But it was fighting that gave him a path to a better life. The same tenacity and drive that got him into trouble became the impetus for a boxing career. In fact, he turned pro after winning the Pennsylvania Golden Gloves 123-pound amateur title in 2018 and now has a professional record of 9-1-1.

A part-time NCC general studies student since 2017, his main focus is to become a world champion. But he understands that no matter how successful his boxing career, a time will come when he will need to do something else. And when it does, his NCC degree will serve him well!