Sometimes it鈥檚 a long, long road to fulfilling your dream.
When Sadrac Noel graduated with his bachelor鈥檚 degree in Civil Engineering, he could look back on many twists and turns in his path 鈥� and one professor who was always there for him.
鈥淒on Leitch is the one who encouraged me,鈥� says Noel. 鈥淗e understood when adjustments had to be made.鈥�
The respect is mutual.
鈥淎 wonderful person, Sadrac amazed the faculty with his determination and courage,鈥� says Leitch, professor and undergraduate coordinator for the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. 鈥淭he story of his journey toward an engineering degree is a lesson in perseverance for all of us as we seek to realize our goals.鈥�
Noel immigrated from Port-de-Paix, Haiti, in 1975, and began higher education at the Wentworth Institute of Technology in 1981, completing a bachelor鈥檚 in Mechanical Technology six years later. Though it wasn鈥檛 the engineering degree he wished for, it was a start.聽
Noel wanted to teach, 鈥渂ut it didn鈥檛 work out,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t is just not my field.鈥� Further setbacks came when a retinal detachment in both eyes damaged his vision, and with the loss of the house he had bought.
鈥淲ith my vision not good, I got so down,鈥� he says.聽
Noel still wanted to work in civil engineering, a field that he says is 鈥渦seful in so many different ways, everywhere, globally.鈥� In 1998, he began taking some evening courses at UMass Lowell, with Prof. Leitch as his advisor.
The work was challenging, his study skills rusty. Noel took a semester break, came back to try again 鈥� then illness set him back once more.
鈥淢aybe this is not my field, I thought. So I went to seminary and studied theology, but I still wanted my field. I wanted civil engineering,鈥� he says.聽
Noel returned to UMass Lowell in 2008, saying, 鈥淟et me finish it this time.鈥�
The commute was long 鈥� Noel lives in Boston with his family. The extra hours were hard 鈥� he works full-time for the Boston Housing Authority. And the standards were high 鈥� 鈥淭hey expect a lot from you here. This is a good school,鈥� he says.
On Commencement day, 2012, Sadrac Noel walked across the stage to complete his journey and begin anew. With his degree in Civil Engineering, Noel can work on developing water resources, building bridges, and solving geotechnical and transportation problems 鈥� all challenges in a globally connected world.