Proud parents of grads say Northeastern delivered on co-ops and jobs
Thousands of moms, dads, sisters and brothers, spouses, children and best friends came to celebrate their graduates’ academic milestone
Ebie Burgett considered about 20 colleges and universities throughout the country as she deliberated her future.
But out of all schools she reviewed, Northeastern University was the one that stood out, according to her father, Nick Burgett.
“I always tell people, because I was on the trip with her when we were looking at colleges, this was the only school out of all the schools we looked at that she actually said, ‘I could see myself going to school here,” he said, explaining that she was excited that the university allowed her to explore her interests in biology and engineering.
It was also situated in the heart of Boston, he said, noting that his daughter wanted the city experience when she went to college.
Some four years later, Ebie Burgett is now a Northeastern graduate, having completed her bachelor’s degree in bioengineering this spring.
She was among 5,000 undergraduates and 3,400 graduates who attended Northeastern University’s commencement addresses in iconic Fenway Park on Wednesday, along with thousands of proud moms, dads, sisters and brothers, spouses, children and best friends who came out in force to celebrate their graduates’ academic milestone. Northeastern Global News spoke to relatives and friends as the degree recipients made their way to their seats.
For the parents of Jackson Knapp, Northeastern has been a “boring great story,” because he fit right in at the university the second he arrived.
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From his involvement in the taekwondo club and robotics club to his co-ops at Massa, a sonar and ultrasonic technology company, and at MSI Transducers Corp. a maritime transportation company.
The co-ops, in particular, played a key role in helping Knapp, who is graduating with a bachelor’s in electrical and computer engineering, land a job at General Dynamics, an aerospace and defense company based in Dedham, Massachusetts.
“In general, you go to school to be employable,” his dad, Tom Knapp, said. “Northeastern definitely prepares you for that. It’s the reputation of the school.”
For some, the celebration was a dream realized.
Nora Wood, who is graduating with her doctorate of nursing practice and nurse anesthesia, was inspired to go back to school after working as an intensive care unit nurse at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston during the COVID-19 pandemic. As her husband, Jeff Weinstein, explained as he was making his way to his seat for Wednesday’s ceremony, “Working in an ICU during COVID was quite an experience.”
“A lot of people left healthcare from their experiences. But to her credit, she decided to stay and found a specific speciality to be very attractive,” Weinstein said.
As part of her studies at Northeastern, she completed her clinical work at hospitals around the Boston area, where she worked under certified registered nurse anesthetists, who administer anesthesia to patients before surgery.
It was one of the most demanding parts of her degree. To help handle the load, Weinstein would make dinner every night, take care of the house chores, and drive her to her daily shifts at the hospitals.
“It was my pleasure,” said Weinstein, who noted that his wife played a similar role for him years prior as he pursued a law degree.
Joining him to celebrate were Nora’s parents Margaret Wood and Jon Wood, who offered emotional support while she completed her degree, they said.
“I’m overjoyed for her,” her father said. “It’s been a lot of work and she’s been very diligent. I feel great both for her and Jeff.”
It’s been an eventful month for Mia Celik, who graduated with her master’s degree in business administration. Just weeks before graduation, Celik became engaged to her longtime boyfriend, Bobby Gonet, at Boston Common.
Gonet was joined by Celik’s mother, Larisa Celik, in celebrating at Fenway on Wednesday.
Celik completed her degree while working full-time at the U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation Raytheon, a long-time dream, her mother said, adding her daughter is the first in her family to get her MBA.
“She’s a very take-charge kind of person,” Gonet said, adding that she plans to run the Toronto marathon the Sunday after commencement.
Many attendees traveled thousands of miles to attend Wednesday’s celebration.
Arun Kapse was holding a bouquet of red roses as he waited to enter Fenway.
He planned to give it to his son Pranav Kapse, who graduated with a master’s degree in information systems. He and his wife, Vijaya, had travelled from India to attend the ceremony.
Joining them was the graduate’s sister Pratiksha, who lives in California, and his best friend Sourav Joshi, who lives in Florida and completed his undergraduate degree with Pranav in India.
They were elated to see Kapse reach the finish line and already have a job at the financial technology company Lendbuzz, where he completed a co-op Joshi remembers having many discussions with Kapse as he completed his own master’s degree.
“We used to talk and share insights,” Joshi said, adding that Kapse’s cloud computing class was one of his most challenging courses, but also one of the highlights of his degree.
“He had super tough assignments, but he loved learning it,” Joshi said.
