Derek Billings '10

Hometown: Gonic, NH

Major: Business Administration

Why did you choose NEC? The small class sizes and the teacher to student ratio really caught my attention.

Why did you choose the Business program at NEC?  NEC shows a strong Business program that will give me an opportunity for success in life. I have always had a strong interest in the business field.

Why did you decide to join the Master’s in Management program at NEC?  The desire to better myself as a person. I want to gain the most knowledge that I possibly can before entering this competitive work environment. I have a strong desire to learn something new each and every day.

What are your extracurricular interests?  I am a member of the Men's Ice hockey team, and have a love for the game of hockey. A member of the Business / Investment Club, Baseball Manager, and also I am part of the NEC Golf Club that was recently added to the school. In the winter I do some snowboarding when it doesn't interfere with my schedule.  

What do you like best about NEC?  I like the campus setting: a small town in the middle of Southern NH. You have skiing/ snowboarding right down the road. It also doesn't hurt my feelings that we can use the hockey rink whenever we want to.  

What is your favorite class and why?  Sales Management: I enjoyed getting experience in going out and selling advertising space for Edge Sports NH. It wasn't a sit down class. You actually learned by going into the world and talking with real people and making cold calls.

What has been your favorite memory at NEC?  Late night open ice hockey games. I love just getting people together for a pick up hockey game.

How was your transition from high school to NEC?  After high school I did what is called a Post Graduate year at Berwick Academy in South Berwick, ME. That year prepared me quite well for college. The transition was very easy for me to complete in class, living, and athletics. Berwick was very similar to college life.  

What do you like most about Henniker?  Pats Peak

What are your plans after graduation?  After I graduate in the spring I plan to attend graduate school here at NEC (MS in Management). During graduate school I plan to really take time and find out what I want to do with my life beyond college and life after NEC. I plan to meet with the Career pathways people here at the school and make myself more marketable to different companies around the country or even the world. But that is the big question what do I want to do? I have once heard from a wise man that "your ideas change of what you want to do throughout your life. Goals change and you end up completing doing something different then you expected."