All posts by By Pheonix German, Campus Life Editor

Introducing new campus life editor

A photo of a woman looking into a computer cameraHello, my name is  Lirianni, but my preferred name is Pheonix German. I am the new campus life editor in the NECC Observer. I am also visually impaired and use a white cane when I am not in the Haverhill campus. 

As a visually impaired person, I was told to use my technology all the time, but I really like writing with pen and paper rather than typing. But now that I have the app Goodnotes on my iPad, I can do traditional handwriting with the technology that I have. But I also really like typing a little bit more now. 

I am nonbinary and my pronouns are he/they. I am gender fluid specifically. 

For the people who are unaware of these words, nonbinary means that my gender is not in the binary, there are many different types of nonbinary genders such as gender fluid, agender, and lots more. Gender fluid is when someone experiences two genders that can fluctuate over time. 

For me, being gender fluid is feeling more masculine some days and sometimes being more feminine. I feel more masculine most days, but I rarely feel feminine. What I feel is out of my control when it comes to my gender expression. Like on days when I am at school or just going somewhere, I present more masculine, but on days when I am going out to a professional place or a fancy place, I tend to feel more feminine. There are other times where I feel more feminine, it’s just hard to catch sometimes and sometimes its hard to explain. 

I prefer the pronouns he/they because I don’t really  care which one you use but I just prefer he/he’s/his and they/them/theirs. I also prefer he/they pronouns because, like what I said in the last passage, I present more masculine and rarely present feminine. So I feel like it is more fitting for me to use those pronouns. 

If you are interested, you can search up the meanings of these things in more detail. Its just hard to explain because everyone experiences it differently. 

I am a business major, but I wanted to be a part of the Observer because I love writing and always have loved it since I was little. I also love being a part of the campus life here at Northern Essex and thought it would be a good thing to do what I love to do the most, while keeping people informed on the different events that happen here in the Haverhill campus. 

I have always loved writing. When I was little, I had a notebook where I would write anything I thought of. Even though I had really long paragraphs and would run out of sentences, I still loved writing anything I could. In middle school, I would go in the library and just write in my notebook and some of the books that I’d check out as well. The library was my favorite place to go to when it came to recess. That was until the library was closed for that time. 

I also like reading, studying, and solving math problems and solving educational puzzles and reading textbooks and educational books. 

I wanted to make this my third story because although I might only have one semester left in this college, I wanted to experience writing in journalism and how it works. I am currently taking journalism 1 this semester as it is a required course to be apart of The Observer.

I am very excited to write about the different events here at Northern Essex.

I am very excited to get more involved in some of the events and get to let people who weren’t able to go to the events know what went on and how other people thought about it. 

Faculty art show opens in gallery

A series of artwork hanging on wall. Drawings or paintings of various objects. A faucet, a pan, and something that appears to be hooks and tongs.
“To honor the quotidian,” by Dianne Pappas in the faculty art show. Photo by Lirianni German

The faculty art show gallery opening happened on Thursday Oct. 23, 2025. 

It consisted of artworks from the art teachers here at Northern Essex. At the event there were four faculty members who participated in this art gallery but one was unfortunately absent for the event. 

The gallery show consisted of 19 pieces of art from the faculty, and they were really good. 

The event started off with people looking at the artwork and the professors talked about their artworks for a little bit. 

Coordinator of Library Services Laura Mondt , she  said, “My favorite art piece is ‘Sun eaters, pollen seekers’ by Jenn Houle.”

“I came to support the art faculty,”  she said. “I like the diversity within the art faculty.”

Mail and Reprographics Supervisor Steven DiLeo said, “ My favorite art piece is ‘Haverhill bell,’ by Marc Mannheimer.”

“I wanted to hear from the artists about their work,” he said.  “I like that the faculty is sharing their artwork.”

Tim Fiske said, “My favorite art piece is ‘Queequeg’s mark,’ by Dianne Pappas.

“I was interested in what the faculty were doing,” he said. “I like how the artwork is made by human hands.”

All of the artwork in the gallery is amazing, and it is very diverse.

The gallery is open for anyone to see in the library in the art gallery room. 

It is a great thing to check out if you like artwork or are an art student here at Northern Essex. It is also good to go see it if you want to get into art but don’t know the ways you can create art. 

The event was a great way to see what the faculty do when it comes to their artwork. 

It is also a great way to see what art can look like, it is amazing to see all the different art pieces that there were in the event. 

There are some artworks right when you walk in that signify the theme of the art gallery.

It was interesting to hear the faculty telling us about their artwork and seeing the relationship but also seeing the difference between them. 

All of the artwork is really cool and interesting to see, it is also a great place to relax and look at some great artwork made by the art faculty here at Northern Essex.The event itself was very laid back and chill and we got to hear the meaning behind each artwork and how it relates to the theme of the gallery. 

What high schoool did not teach us: Prep skills are lacking for many students going into college

A bulletin board in the Spurk building hallway
Photo by Lirianni German

How would the lack of college prep skills high school students get effect students that are just coming to college?

School has officially started, and new college students are coming in. High school is different in so many ways. High school can also teach us skills that are meaningful in our lives. For some people, however,  there are some things that they fail to teach us when it comes to going to college. 

But what did high school fail to teach us when it comes to people who are going straight to college after high school? And what resources there are at NECC and where you can find them?

Some high schools are a great way to learn some advanced things when it comes to work and having a career such as tech schools and other high schools with career opportunities. But what about the people who are going to college? How does this affect the people and their first semester in college?

There are a few things that high school did not teach us. A good example of this is high school did not teach us that in college we have to ask our professor for if we need any help. 

“I had to go out of my way to talk to my professor to get help,” Kevin Adu said. “I was the one who was responsible for revising my work.” High school students see their teacher more than twice a week, so it is easier to get help from your teachers. 

“I learned that I needed to ask for help because in high school, we would see the teacher more than twice a week,” Andrea Wall said.  “They didn’t give us any tips for college, nor did they give us any study times.”

 “Learning Excel spreadsheets was a really big learning curve for me,” Skylar Garcia said.  “Time management was a huge learning curve because high school had a set schedule.”

There are a lot of resources that NECC has to offer. 

There are tutoring centers that can help you with your classes. 

There is the math tutoring, which can help you with anything math and science related. There is the writing center, which can help you with any classes that involve writing. Finally, there is the accounting tutoring center for people who are taking accounting classes.

The math and science tutoring center is in C205. 

The writing center is in C204. The accounting tutoring center has changed so it would be good to ask your teacher to know where it is. 

You can also find the days and times they are opened on the NECC website. 

You can schedule appointments for the tutoring centers besides the accounting tutoring; you can do this through Navigate 360. 

There is an icon that says appointments on it, and you can schedule and cancel appointments from there. 

You can also find study buddies there as well, which can be really helpful for a lot of students who want to find people to study with.  

It is really good to take note of these resources whether you are a new student who is not used to having tutoring centers that are free, and for the returning students who have heard of these centers but don’t know where they are.