Finding Purpose in Farewell

When Northampton Community College (NCC) student, N’dia Escobales, took a test in high school to learn what careers might fit her personality, two possibilities emerged. One was to be a music teacher, which made sense because she’d played instruments her whole life and enjoyed being in the school band. She thought that going to music school and making her passion a career would ruin her enjoyment of music. The other career choice? Being a funeral director. That led Escobales to enroll in the funeral services program at NCC, where she’s flourishing. 

“I'm really big on the science, the anatomy part of it,” she says. “I like recreating people's faces and embalming. I care about how the families will see their loved ones. That’s a big part of it for me — I really like to see how the families feel when they see them.” 

Learning the Ropes 

Escobales is gaining valuable experience in the field through an internship at a funeral home, where she does everything from preparing the bodies to greeting the families of the deceased to helping with funeral services and burials.  

“Being out there in the field, it’s really nice for us students because the community starts to see us more often, and they realize, ‘Hey, there’s a new person there,’” she says. 

Her internship mentor is a family friend who runs a predominantly Black funeral home, she notes. 

“We tend to have a lot of different cultures within that,” Escobales says. “We are letting people express their cultural traditions. So, a couple weeks ago, we had an African funeral with a lot of singing and dancing. There’s acknowledgment that people grieve in different ways, and we’re able to provide a place for that.”  

Escobales’s classes have spanned an eclectic range of subjects, such as the psychology of bereavement, perspectives on death, embalming techniques, funeral home operations, and funeral director law, just to name a few. Her instructors have different teaching styles, she says, each of which works well.  “I love all of my professors,” she adds. 

Leading With Purpose 

Escobales is president of NCC’s chapter of Sigma Phi Sigma, a coed service fraternity for funeral program students. The group’s planned activities this semester include a grave cleaning and a memorial service for the bodies donated to the funeral services program. 

She also keeps busy as a resident assistant in the Bethlehem campus residence halls.  

“I’m basically around whenever the residents need me, and I throw events in the hall for them,” Escobales explains. “I just had a clay-making event as a stress reliever. The people in my hallway — I just love them. They’re really nice.” 

She adds that she enjoys being the person her residents turn to when they need something or don’t know what to do.  

“When I'm studying in my room, I'll leave my door open,” Escobales says. “I have a few basketball girls who’ll stop by and say hi. I like that they feel comfortable enough to do that.” 

A Dream for Mom 

It’s a far cry from when Escobales started at NCC as a commuter student. She struggled with a chronic illness that made it hard to engage with others and make friends, she explains. It can cause severe pain that forces her to lay down and wait until it passes, she says, and it’s made her miss out on things she wanted to do. 

The condition is more manageable now, says Escobales, who credits her mother with helping her get through it. “My mom is definitely my rock,” she says. “She’s always been there for me. She’s my best friend and biggest supporter.” 

Her mother looms large in Escobales’s career dreams. After Escobales graduates in May, she’ll serve another full-year internship, which, along with passing multiple exams, is required to get licensed as a funeral director in Pennsylvania. After she gains more experience, her ultimate goal is to own a funeral home and a cemetery. 

“My mom really loves my major and likes that I’m into it,” she says. “One of the things she’s always wanted to do is work in a cemetery. She would want to take care of the grounds and make it easy for people to locate their plots. I want to help make that happen for her.”