Alumni Spotlights

For most college students, walking across the state at graduation is joyous. For Julia Hannigan ’25, it was monumental. Five years ago, during the height of COVID-19, Julia broke her foot. That event started a chain reaction that changed her life. The broken foot required surgery, and the recovery included wearing a walking boot.

A Pittsfield native, Randy McLeod '03 was attending Pittsfield High where he started taking computer programming classes. It took off from there, eventually leading him down a path that brought him to where he is now: Director of Technology at Lenox Public Schools. "BCC was truly the foundation of bringing me to where I am today."

"BCC helped immensely in staying productive and relevant while I worked for the government at General Dynamics in Pittsfield," says Steve Sweeney '02. "The valuable degree in computer science also helped me secure a promotion within the government at Lockheed Martin and work on programs of national strategic importance."

"BCC fueled my motivation to finish my degree. I felt like everyone was sitting at the table with me,” says Amalio Jusino, who graduated in May. With more than 25 years of professional experience, Amalio earned life experience credits. While his initial college focus was on business, he decided to pursue a degree in criminal justice.

"What I'm attempting to do is resuscitate the great American musical," says John, who is mostly a self-taught composer. A straight-A student at BCC, he studied liberal arts with an emphasis in theater and voice before completing his bachelor's degree in theatre from Russell Sage College.At BCC, John found his voice and music theory classes to be particularly influential to his future career path.