Nicole Boyette, Innovating a Family Lineage in HVACR, Generations in the Making
Nicole Boyette, a proud NOVA Nighthawk, recently received a scholarship from Women in Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (HVACR).

Nicole Boyette, a proud NOVA Nighthawk, recently received a scholarship from Women in Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (HVACR).
Asher Moore never thought college would be a part of his life. He thought it was out of the question for him.
Sofiya Dengub was not sure about attending college in America after having to leave Ukraine abruptly. But now, at NOVA, she is finding some comfort and peace.
Very early on, Fatimetou Bechir understood the value of higher education and knew it would be critical for her dream of helping people.
Lucy Williams, NOVA Workforce’s guaranteed interview program coordinator in the Office of Employer Engagement and Career Services was recently recognized by the VCCS for outstanding achievement with the Chancellor’s ‘Rising Star’ award at the 2022 “Hire Education Conference”.
Ed Haraguchi, NOVA Veteran Student, Enjoying His Retirement as a Student!
ADVANCE student Enayah Rahman is a NOVA legacy as she joins a line of family members who have attended here as well.
NOVA’s Lucy Holsonbake Inducted into One Diverse Industry Hall of Fame.
Nico Gabriel, a nontraditional, international student, loves to connect others, as a mentor for NOVA’s AAPI Connect and as a supporter of the college’s new Career Up program.
Aigul Egemberdieva is passionate about writing! But being new to the U.S., she knew she needed to do a deep dive into learning the English language.
Today is National Philanthropy Day, and NOVA gratefully recognizes all the NOVA Educational Foundation donors who have so consistently helped our students cross the finish line with a certification or degree that leads to a family-sustaining career.
For First-Generation Student Week, we hear from Cindy Tran who is a health science and pre-nursing student at NOVA who just wants to help others.
In this year’s Veteran’s Day spotlight, the college’s own LaToya Sivells, Ed.D., shares why her work with student-veterans, active-duty military and their families drives her passion to provide the best experience for NOVA students, even after 12 years!
Asher Khan faced a setback early on in his NOVA college experience. Life happened to him, and he was not able to continue on his path toward a college degree.
Lisa Scott, a Licensed Veterinarian Technician, currently serves as NOVA Loudoun’s Veterinary Technology Program Manager. In addition to being a NOVA alum, she earned a Bachelor of Science at George Mason University and returned to help students here at NOVA.
Charlotte Butler, an equine veterinarian’s assistant who is almost a vet tech, is NOVA’s current student spotlight for “Vet Tech Month.” Here, she talks about her love of horses as well as growing and further exploring this gratifying field.
Dhyuthi Chegu or “DC” as she likes to be called spoke at a photography exhibit hosted by the college and Lumina Foundation called, “Today’s College Climb.”
As we wrap up the final days of Hispanic Heritage Month, we want to spotlight Nataly Lovera Pestana, a current NOVA accounting student who will be representing NOVA at the “One Diverse Industry” (ODI) conference.
Manuel Santiago grew up in Guatemala City. His mom encouraged him to pursue a college education, and his deep curiosity about the world and its many cultures drove him to study abroad.
Mercy Osei-Hwedie wears many hats from day to day. She’s not just a current NOVA cybersecurity student, she is also a single mom and works with NOVA’s Office of Strategic Insights to assess, identify and implement ways to better serve student parents and improve overall student outcomes as NOVA’s first Generation Hope Student-Parent Fellow.
NOVA’s World Teachers’ Day spotlight, Sana Hilmi who is a Foreign Language- Arabic Language professor at Annandale campus talks about her journey here starting off as an ESL NOVA student to becoming a renowned faculty member here at the college.
As October is the start of LGBT History Month, here are some thoughts from NOVA’s own advocate, Kelly Cochran-Yzquierdo, an associate professor of English and screenwriting.
Big news from the SkillsUSA National Conference for our NOVA Cybersecurity team – they are bronze medalists!
Lelin Ahmed, a NOVA CCI student was recently featured in the international publication the Business Standard which chronicled his life that he thought would only amount to rickshaw puller.
In partnership with Lumina Foundation, Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) hosted an event to celebrate the first in-person gallery exhibition of ‘Today’s College Climb’ by Documentary Photojournalist Rachel Bujalski.
Dwayne Parris is no stranger to the community here at NOVA. He can be seen policing at events, making new friends while helping at the NOVA café and sitting in classes finishing up his two degrees. After many years in law enforcement, Dwayne now works at NOVA and loves the rich diversity and ability to catch up with students along their educational journey.
John O’Neil NOVA Student and Esports Coach Speaks on National Championship-Winning Team.
Diana Ghulami is one of five NOVA students to receive a 2022 Lockheed Martin Vocational Scholarship.
Jacob Workman is one of five NOVA students to receive a 2022 Lockheed Martin Vocational Scholarship.
NOVA Esports Head Coach Jordan Whitaker brings years of experience to NOVA, and he is an active advocate, helping students thrive in esports and their educational journeys.
Albertine Djoumou Nkombou has worked diligently to make a name for herself as an engineer while ensuring that support for women like her in the tech industry continues.
Spencer Ecker, a recent intern for Prince William County Public Schools, talks about returning to school and finding his path forward through technology.
Excited to return to NOVA for the fall, Indio Prather does a lot of work to make a difference in his community.
Cody Nguyen is excited to come back to NOVA to continue to compete for the Nighthawks Esports team! A stellar cybersecurity student, Cody is a “legacy student” with many family members who have attended NOVA.
As we wrap up Minority Mental Health Awareness Month (July). We would like to introduce you to Yolanda Castillo, a criminal justice student at NOVA who has utilized the many experiences of her upbringing to help lift those around her.
Kidist Gebreamlak is an African American woman who describes herself as ‘a person of two worlds – Africa and the U.S.
NOVA’s Two Gilman Scholars, Yasmin Jalloh and Manuel Santiago, to Embark on Social Impact Work in Europe
Anum Khan is an engineering student who wants to travel the world with ‘Engineers Without Borders’ to help provide safe drinking water for populations at risk.
First generation college student Nicole Mullings came to NOVA with three kids and a difficult relationship at home.
Shelby Lukes is passionate about fostering Labrador Retrievers, taking care of horses, and fixing cars.
NOVA student, Luigi Grande, has years of experience in military services and engineering. He also is following his passion to become a singer.
Every student at NOVA brings a different story and a different perspective on student success and achievement. Commencement brings to life their accomplishments.
Last week, NOVA celebrated the accomplishments of its graduating class of nursing students with its annual pinning ceremony, a history-laden ceremony that signifies the official launch of a nurse’s career.
Gabrielle Walters is another of NOVA‘s outstanding dual enrollment students who has kept her eye on the prize.
Every student at NOVA brings a different story and a different perspective on student success and achievement. Commencement brings to life their accomplishments.
Eryn Yarrell will graduate from Hayfield High School in Alexandria this June. There’s one thing she needs to do before high school graduation, however, and that is to graduate from NOVA on May 15.
Every student at NOVA brings a different story, and a different perspective on student success and achievement. Commencement brings to life their accomplishments.
Every student at NOVA brings a different story, and a different perspective on student success and achievement. Commencement brings to life their accomplishments.
On April 21, the NOVA Educational Foundation launched an inaugural 24-hour virtual fundraiser in support of NOVA student achievement. Nearly $30,000 was raised to support student success through scholarships, emergency grants, textbooks and even caps and gowns for NOVA’s upcoming May commencement.
NOVA’s Student Internship Month Spotlight is Axel Concha-Lopez who just landed the prestigious summer position at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art. He hopes to leverage this amazing position for a future career in marketing and entrepreneurism.
Five NOVA students join the competitive summer undergrad internship program at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Asian Art (NMAA). This is a paid internship opportunity open to college students across the nation to work on a variety of programs and pathways, offering a wide range of learning opportunities within the various departments
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background: I am originally from Philadelphia but moved to Dallas, Texas in 2017 with my fiancé who received a promotion at work. In a few years, he was promoted again, and we moved to Virginia. We have a five-year-old daughter, whom I adore so much! She’s my motivation for everything I do in life and, honestly, I wouldn’t know what I would do without her.
For Women’s History Month, NOVA highlights women who have been innovative in their fields and are recognized for their commitment. NOVA alumna, Grace Nicole Lazarte, who prefers to go by Nicole, was recently appointed to the board of the 2022 Northern Virginia Association for the Education of Young Children.
NOVA non-traditional student, Kerri Langhorne, exemplifies being #BoldlyNOVA! Recently named a Jack Kent Cooke semi-finalist, Kerri is an inventor, entrepreneur, single mom, an in-demand equine athletic recovery therapist and holder of a patent on a top-of-the-line horse recovery supplement—a patent she wrote herself because she couldn’t afford a lawyer. She has been a speaker for NOVA Stem Week, and she serves as a mentor for other NOVA students.
Nazrawi Yenberberu became interested in NOVA’s Data Center Operations course after spotting an online ad for the program. Nazrawi lives in Ashburn, Virginia and is a real estate agent by trade who hopes to capitalize on the growing data center industry.
The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is “gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow,” which honors all women in the movement against collective biases that fuels gender inequality.
NOVA thanks the many contributors, presenters, logistical personnel, students, faculty, staff and attendees who have made Black History Month memorable.
Interim Dean and Accounting Professor Kush Jenkins has been awarded the 2021-2022 Fulbright teaching scholarship and will spend the spring semester of 2022 teaching accounting and entrepreneurship to students at COSTAATT (The College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago).
Nicolas Height worked in restaurant kitchens for six years. It was during the height of the pandemic, after being furloughed, Height decided to look for ways to get out of the service industry. After connecting with a technology industry leader on LinkedIn, Height decided to give NOVA’s Data Center Operations program a try.
Northern Virginia Community College alum, Naraya Omar is part of a group of 12 recipients of a grant from Generation Hope, a nonprofit that provides parenting students with mentoring and financial/childcare assistance so they can graduate college.
Albertine Djoumou Nkombou works diligently to make a name for herself as an engineer while ensuring that support for women like her in the tech industry continues. To her, it is important to help bring more women into the STEM industry.
Aleksander Marthinussen, program manager with NOVA SySTEMic, has been named as a Post-Secondary Leadership Spotlight ECMC Foundation Fellow. Marthinussen’s Techniques interview appears as part of a digital-exclusive spotlight series on fellows.
Kim B. Miller is the Poet Laureate of Prince William County, Manassas and Manassas Park from October 2020 until October 2022. She’s the first African American Poet Laureate for this region. Her poetry is inspirational, and her words are bold as she is unapologetically blunt. Miller has performed nationally in person and internationally online.
NOVA’s annual “MLK Day of Service” kicked off on Monday, January 17, 2022 with a series of heartfelt speeches, warm memories of what the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy meant to them, opportunities to further serve and volunteer in the community and a closing video of vignettes from NOVA’s faculty, students and staff members, each reciting parts of the famous “I Have a Dream” speech.