Grad Excels in Mechanical Engineering

When Jesse Tocci graduated from Northampton High School he had no idea what he wanted to study. That’s one of the joys of Northampton Community College (NCC), he says: “I could take a bunch of different classes and figure out what I liked.”  

Tocci, 22, graduated from NCC in 2024 with an associate’s degree in general studies. Today, he’s an honors mechanical engineering student at Lehigh University.  

^{Tocci's Graduation from NCC}

When Tocci enrolled at NCC he didn’t shy away from any class, any challenge. “I took everything.” 

Tocci tried computer science, psychology, communications, but he was most drawn to the math and science courses. Tocci raves about his calculus and physics classes, saying they’re nearly “on par” with the classes he’s taking at Lehigh. He especially loved his calculus 2 professor, Josiah Mount, who made the material really easy to understand. 

He excelled in math and science. 

“I figured out what I was good at,” Tocci says, and thanks to the support from his professors and the NCC admissions office, he started applying to engineering programs. Tocci looked at Carnegie Mellon University, Penn State University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Lehigh University.   

Through networking, Tocci met an engineering Lehigh University alumnus who pushed for Tocci’s acceptance at the school. But when Tocci first applied in the fall of 2023, Lehigh rejected him.  

“I was on a cruise ship, on vacation with my family,” he says. “I got the rejection letter. It was devastating.”  

But he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.  

“I just kept showing them how determined I was to get into the program.” He signed up for a summer course at the university: thermodynamics, designed for junior-level students.  

“If they see a kid who’s passing thermodynamics with an A, they probably need to accept this guy,” Tocci says.  

Tocci reapplied and was accepted into the mechanical engineering program.  

NCC and Lehigh worked together to transfer Tocci’s credits. “Almost every credit I took at NCC applied to mechanical engineering at Lehigh. It was amazing I didn’t have to retake any classes.” 

A final piece of advice Tocci gives to prospective and current students is to apply for every available scholarship. 

“I only applied for a couple at NCC and Lehigh University, but there are so many you can find,” he says, specifically highlighting his experience with Phi Theta Kappa [PTK], an international honor society for students at two-year colleges.   

“I’d tell every NCC student that if they have good grades, roughly a 3.5 GPA, they can join the honor society,” he says. Through that membership, he received a a $10,000 scholarship for Lehigh. 

As Tocci looks ahead to what he might want to do—he’s currently an intern for Precision Medical—he looks back at those who helped him along the way at NCC.  

“NCC is a great start to figure out what you like,” he says. “It has pretty much everything you could ever think of.” And with those courses, roughly 30 people to a professor, come supportive staff and faculty helping guide you to your goals, whether that’s transferring to continue your education or going out into the workforce.