DeLorenzo Credits NSCC For "Giving Her Wings"

Jacqui DeLorenzo "got her wings" at , and has since helped students do the same for the last 38 years, until retiring this past April. 

A Danvers native, DeLorenzo attended as a child and graduated from in 1968. She received her Associate's Degree from  (NSCC), her Bachelor's Degree from UMass Amherst, and later her Master's in psychological counseling from Salem State. 

Still, DeLorenzo credits her success to NSCC.

"I was at a point where I didn't feel like I could do anything," she said. "My peers always bullied me, and even in school I was told I'd never make it to college. I always had that thread of hope." 

That thread of hope, which happens to be the name of her first book, is what she has tried to instill in students as an academic counselor at NSCC. "Sometimes its just one person believing in you that can set forth your whole journey," she said. "I love giving them the tools to set their path, their journey."

A Thread of Hope: A Women's Spiritual Journey of Faith from Trauma to Triumph, her 2007 self-published book, is used in the College Success seminar at NSCC, a class dedicated to teaching students success skills such as time management, relationship skills, and more. 

Post-retirement DeLorenzo is continuing to work in the Enrollment Center part time, will teach one course in the fall, as well as work on her second self-published book, which is based on a lot of her experiences at NSCC.

Rather than giving herself a deadline, she hopes to have the book completed in a year.

"I thought when I retired I'd have so much time to work on my book, but I haven't had time to sit at the computer and type away," she said. 

As a licensed mental health counsellor, DeLorenzo also plans to look into starting her own practice part time, and is currently doing workshops with a friend in the practice. 

"I always wanted to share my experience with others," she said. "I always tell students, 'don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it,' and I owe it a lot to North Shore; they believed in me before I even believed in myself."