Central MA Up + Comer: Anna Maria College’s Jessica Sabourin

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Susan Wagner, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Jessica Sabourin is a woman on the go as a wife, mother, Manager of Student Accounts at AMC, and real estate seller.

GoLocalWorcester introduces Central MA Up + Comers, a weekly profile of a member of the next generation as they begin making their mark on the Central MA workforce and community. Join us every Thursday for a look at the careers and lifestyles of the local digital generation.

Jessica Sabourin, Manager of Student Accounts at Anna Maria College

SW: We are introducing some of the younger generation who is starting to or is making their mark on the Central MA community. What career have you chosen to move forward in?

The career path I have chosen is in higher education administration. I am currently the Manager of Student Accounts at Anna Maria College. I got my start in higher education after working in banking for three years at Clark University in 2007. My position resides in the Business Office of a college or institution and works mainly with student’s tuition billing, payment options, and financing higher education. I have a BS from the Isenberg School of Management from UMASS-Amherst, my MBA from Anna Maria College and my Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in Public Administration from Clark University. When I was leaving banking, I was finishing my MBA at AMC and was hired at Clark University. When I was finishing my CAGs at Clark University, I left Clark and was hired at AMC to work.

On the side I am involved in real estate. I’ve been selling real estate for six years through Emerson Realtors in Auburn, MA because I love it.

I am also involved with the Young Professional Women’s Association of Central MA and the Daybreak Committee for the YWCA in Worcester. Those are my two networking and professional groups as they empower and inspire me on a daily basis.

SW: What is the best thing about your job?

The best thing about my job is when my students graduate–especially those who may have struggled financially over the time I’ve known them to make private higher education work for them. That is the ultimate success story and that is the best part of my job. I enjoy helping people. I love when I see a student take a potentially difficult situation and rise above to better themselves through education.

SW: Can you describe a typical day in your life?

My days are anything but typical. You can start out with a to-do list and at the end of the day–accomplish nothing on that list. The day can change suddenly if you’re called into a meeting with a student, family or another staff member. Our busy seasons are cyclical–the busiest time of year being July, August, and September when we’re prepping for the fall semester. We usually request that students/families try to plan for the entire school year when deciding on payment options that work best for them. During this time, my day consists mostly of phone calls, emails, and meetings with students and families trying to finance the school year. In the down time I work on projects–reviewing contracts with collection agencies, student health insurance, student tuition insurance, the payment plan vendor, our online payment gateway and eBill system or on our billing servicer for our Federal and College institutional loans. All year round I am a proponent of financial affordability and counseling.

SW: What is your dream job?

My dream job would be Director of Student Financial Services–overseeing both the area I currently oversee and financial aid. After that I would consider consulting as there are many financial aid consultants but not student account services consultants. That way I could tie in more financial affordability counseling to assist students/families with making higher education affordable to them.

SW: What is your favorite piece of technology?

For work: our new phone system at work–all calls, emails, and voicemails now go into our email inbox. Your mailbox never fills up and you have easy access to view them, return calls and prioritize your day.

Personal: my smart phone (Android)–it still amazes me–it knows things like how far the distance is to my home or work even though I never set that up.

SW: What is on your iTunes?

Ke$ha, Cascada, Rihanna, songs that are great to run to and work out to.

SW: What is your favorite social networking site?

Facebook but recently I’ve been getting into Instagram

SW: What do you do away from your career?

Spend time with my husband and daughter, go running, read, real estate.

SW: Who is the biggest influence in your life?

My parents–my mother, for doing what I now know to be the toughest job on Earth–be a mom! (She was a stay at home mom too!) My father for influencing my business side, being an entrepreneur, and providing for his family.

SW: What is a fun fact few people know about you?

I was in a sorority in College–Chi Omega. My college friends know this but my after college friends, co-workers, etc, are initially surprised and then pause and say, you know what, yes, I can see that!

SW: Your favorite expression?

"The simplest things in life remind us of all we have to be thankful for."

SW: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

As a Director of Student Financial Services at a local Worcester area college, still pursuing my networking and volunteer opportunities (YPWA and YWCA), even more involved in our City community, living in Worcester with my family–we love our neighborhood and don’t plan on moving any time soon!

With more than 25 years of leadership experience, Susan Wagner has been known for driving events, initiatives, launches, and openings through her company Susan Wagner PR. In this challenging economy, she has begun a new division to offer affordable start-up packages to new and emerging small businesses and non-profit organizations that include professional writing services, websites, collateral, marketing, social media, grassroots outreach and PR campaigns.