Every year, hundreds of graduate and undergraduate students graduate from Eastern Nazarene College. This leaves the question of what they’ve been up to since we last saw them.

Graduates come and go like the wind. Luckily, I was able to catch up with these three past alumni of Eastern Nazarene College: Jessica Vieira, member of the class of 2017 and Jeremy and Joy Anderson of the class of 1997. We discussed how the education and experiences they had here at ENC helped to shape their future.

Jessica Vieira explained how attending the Christian institution of Eastern Nazarene College increased her walk with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Vieira said, “ENC helped me in my walk with Christ by owning it and challenging it. Courses such as Bible in Current Perspective have really challenged what I grew up believing and [caused me] to question why I believe what I believe. This has brought me to become a more mature Christian and to really study the Bible more.”

Vieira was a Psychology major with a minor in Business during her time at ENC. Vieira cites her experience as an opportunity to increase her involvement in her community.

She said, “I do think ENC has been a place where I learned to grow up as a person. I’ve matured in my thinking. It’s helped me to be more open minded and has taught me to listen to opposing viewpoints without having a mindset of listening to develop a rebuttal. I also learned a lot about social justice and keeping up with current events, which has led me to be more involved in my community.”

Reflecting on the memories she made during her time at ENC, Vieira said, “My favorite memory of ENC has to be the people. I loved waking up to seeing so many faces and meeting so many people who are completely different from me. More specifically though, my favorite memory of ENC was all the pranks I did to my roommates freshman year in first Willy.”

Vieira misses the community and the friendships she created. Vieira said, “There are a lot of awesome people and spending time getting to know each is definitely something I miss. Once you are done with college, you don’t see nearly as many people throughout the day. I also miss my friends. It kind of sucks that you “do life” with these people for four years then everyone goes home to a different state or country.”

Vieira is currently seeking employment in the business or psychology fields. She also hopes to be able to do some traveling. Vieira said, “Business field is my top choice, but a job in Psychology would be just as good. I’m not 100% positive.”

Vieira is still likely to be spotted on campus whether she is participating in Intramurals, watching different ENC athletic teams, or visiting friends.

Jeremy Anderson was a Business major with an Accounting minor during his time at ENC. Jeremy was able to do some soul searching during his college experience.

Jeremy said, “My faith was becoming my own. Attending Eastern Nazarene allowed me to step out from underneath the shadows of my parents. In doing that, I was able to begin living out my faith as a Christian.”

Jeremy cites attending ENC as a time of opportunity and a time of fostering lifelong friendships. “Therewere opportunities to create networks as well as create friendships with solid Christian citizens that I’ve stayed in touch with for over 20 years.”

For Jeremy, ENC was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Jeremy said, “I miss the college life like being able to get up and hang out with friends. I miss playing basketball and being a member of the varsity baseball team. Back then it wasn’t all that expensive either, it certainly was a huge blessing.”

Since attending ENC, Jeremy went on to marry his high school sweetheart, Joy Anderson. They have two children, Jake (15) and Zach (18). Jeremy has done work for multiple companies such as State Street and the Bank of America, where he was involved in financial services. Now, he works at U.S. Trust as a Business Initiative Manager. On the side, he has been working to diversify his investments into real-estate to create non-commercial income. He hopes to be able to retire in 5-10 years.

Jeremy had a bit of advice to give to current ENC students. “The best part of living at school is the network you create. Build up relationships and look for ways to serve. When you do something for someone else, do it in a manner where you are not expecting something in return.” He cited one of his favorite passages of scripture from the book of Philippians.  “Philippians 2:2-4, “Then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” For Jeremy, the goal is servanthood.

Joy Anderson majored in Social Work while attending Eastern Nazarene College. Here, she began living out and maturing in her faith as a Christian. Joy said, “Eastern Nazarene had small groups, Bible studies, Flock group, and Shepard group. It was big for me and important for my spiritual growth. There were student ministries where I was able to volunteer at homeless shelters. I also got the chance to serve as Class Chaplin during my Junior year.”

Joy had many opportunities at ENC to establish relationships. The degree in social work gave her the opportunity to minister in the church. She gained a deeper understanding of people and learned how to coordinate with them.

Since attending ENC, Joy briefly worked at the YMCA as a Coordinator working with inner city kids from Boston. Her greatest accomplishments since then are being a wife to Jeremy Anderson and a mother to her two boys. She has been involved with many serving ministries in the church such as Vacation Bible School, Children’s Church, Youth Group, and even teaching music at FBC of Weymouth, which is a Christian school.

Joy misses living withall her friends at ENC. Her advice for current students at ENC is to “Seek the Lord first and test everything in the light of scripture.”

ENC has been formative for these graduates in more ways than one as they continue to live life and seek they Lord in all they do.