For grads, journey culminates with degree
PROVIDENCE — Bryan DeGrace was ready to do something totally different with his life. Newly clean after becoming chemically dependent due to undiagnosed post-traumatic stress from his three years in the United States Army, DeGrace felt he had an entirely new outlook on life.
But his initial effort wasn’t working. Enrolled at Bristol Community College from 2013 through 2016, DeGrace said “it didn’t work for me, it wasn’t working. I needed something that was a little bit more handson with smaller class sizes.”
When he found the New England Institute of Technology had a program – advanced manufacturing – similar to the automated engineering courses he was taking at Bristol, it made the choice easy for him.
While the road to graduation wasn’t the traditional route, nor was it always easy for DeGrace, the 32-year-old Woonsocket resident, military veteran, and father of three was one of 1,180 students receiving associate, bachelor’s, or master’s degrees during New England Tech’s commencement ceremony at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence on Sunday.
DeGrace was in the U.S. Army from 2005 through 2008 and was deployed overseas
in Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2007 through 2008. After dealing with undiagnosed post-traumatic stress, DeGrace found that the Veteran’s Administration had a vocational rehab program, which helped him with everything from paying for books to arranging tutors.
After transferring from Bristol in 2016, DeGrace enrolled in the new advanced manufacturing program at New England Tech. The program was so new that he was the first student to enroll in that technology.
“Piloting a new program had its speed bumps but I’m glad that I’ve done it because my feedback has helped. I’m always looking to help those new students enrolled in manufacturing,” DeGrace said. “I hope they have success like I’ve had ... My feedback was important for how it’s going to shape the future of that program.”
Initially, DeGrace wanted to design his own car wheels, but he said “there’s more to designing. Manufacturing is such a broad spectrum of avenues on where to go, from designing to helping figure out and create that physical part to making sure production is running smoothly.”
After receiving his diploma on Sunday, DeGrace said he’s still looking for a job, but in the interim he’s been asked to come back to New England Tech to work part-time as a machine shop lab technician. He also starts an internship on Tuesday at an East Providence company that produces capacitors.
“I feel that I can be a valuable, productive member of the engineering work force,” he said. “I’m confident in my- self, in my skills. I’m still a rough diamond that still needs some polishing but when I do find employment, I’ll be polished into a better engineer.”
Graduating on Sunday also meant that DeGrace would be able to show his three children – 15-year-old Tapanga, 13-year-old Dominick, and eight-year-old Lana – that hard work pays off and anything is possible.
“They’re excited to be here,” he said of his family. “My wife Tanya is here, I’m really doing this to show my kids this can be you …Don’t wait, opportunities are out there, take advantage of every opportunity that’s given to you.”
Just as DeGrace was counting down the minutes to the start of Sunday afternoon’s commencement, so too was fellow Woonsocket resident Yamilett Monge-Joubert. A 39-year-old mother of three and grandmother to two, she was receiving her associate in science degree in medical assisting and administration.
Monge-Joubert always aspired to be in the medical field, even from a young age, and worked with Blue Cross for 10 years as a medical coder. However, she never got to assist patients in that job like she’d desired. After relocating to Pennsylvania in 2013, Monge-Joubert came back to Rhode Island and landed a job as a customer service representative at Bank of New York Mellon for three years.
After she was laid off from that job, she decided to “follow my desire,” and that’s how she ended up at New England Tech.
“What I learned was how to treat patients and how to attend to the needs of others, which has always been a part of my life even in my religious background,” Monge-Joubert said. “That’s always been a passion of mine. My goal is to eventually become a registered nurse, which I enrolled in the RN program at New England Tech for this October.”
Monge-Joubert currently works in the Milford Regional Physician Group and she says she’s “going to utilize that experience to gain the experience necessary to get into nursing so I can have a better grasp of how to deal with patients.”
“Ever since I was little I wanted to help, I do that in Calvary Worship Center in Woonsocket, I’ve always done service ... Anywhere I can assist, it’s always been a passion,” she said.
With three children – 21-year-old Yaribel, 19-yearold Miguel, and 16-year-old Jaden – and two grandchildren, Monge-Joubert said there’s always a way to finding success no matter where she is in life.
“There’s obstacles in life and we are going to confront them and conquer them. We’ve just got to look at life and beat the odds and not let the odds beat us…” she said. “There’s nothing in life to hold you back from doing the things you want to do. If you put your mind to it and you want to do it, go for it, make it happen.”