“I feel like my life didn’t really start until I got to Northampton Community College,” says Rayn Feeney, a hospitality restaurant manager/theatre major and a resident of Hellertown. “Everything was amazing. We were able to participate in so many hands-on experiences, allowing me to have first-hand experience in my field.
“To begin with, all of our professors have experience in the industry and are successful industry professionals. We were able to meet with local business owners and learn how they started their business, the challenges they faced and how they got to be successful.”
She and her classmates were also able to manage an event through their catering class, getting to be involved in every aspect of the event, from staffing to service, before starting the internship portion of the program. “I did mine with Sodexo at NCC, and the guidelines for the internship allowed me to validate all I learned in class by putting all the management skills I learned into action.”
She chose NCC because she became sick with an unexplained genetic illness during her senior year of high school and wanted to be close to home. She was also determined to make a better life for herself through education. Because of the illness, she had temporary paralysis and had to relearn to walk. In order to do this, she spent two months at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, undergoing an intense physical therapy program.
While at NCC, Feeney served as treasurer of the Self Defense Club, stage manager in NCC’s production of Amadeus, and an actor in Merrily We Roll Along, another NCC production. She earned membership in the National Honor Society, the Phi Theta Kappa honor society, the Eta Sigma Delta international honor society for hospitality students, and received the Heart of Hospitality Award.
Her advice for incoming students is to “take advantage of the networking opportunities this program will give you. Participate in everything! Take the knowledge you are being given because it will give you the tools for success. Take the classes you are interested in and ask any and all questions. Take advantage of office hours.”
Feeney plans to attend Johnson and Wales University and become a banquet manager.
“NCC is the place where everything started to fall into place for me. It gave me all the tools I need to be successful as well as friends, knowledge and support,” Feeney says. “I love NCC!
