alumni spotlight
Name: Nancy McCallum Brenerman
Current Employer: Retired
Tell me about your career and your current job. What does a "day in the life of you" look like?
I began at Scarsdale Middle School in New York as a French teacher for three years, then co-founded and taught many subjects in an alternative program there for five years. Leaving the education sector, I returned to Maine to work for eight years in the Maine State Government as a project lead, committee clerk, an assistant to the democratic senate minority leader, and finally as a lobbyist for Governor Joseph Brennan. I moved to the private sector for 27 years at Unum Insurance Company where I did planning and budgeting for a department head for three years before becoming an individual disability underwriter for 24 years.
After retirement, I volunteered at Mercy Hospital in Maine, the Maine Irish Heritage Center, and the Friends of Portland-Shinagawa (Japan) Sister City. I mentored a few “New Mainer” students at an alternative high school, and I currently continue to volunteer for the Maine Irish Heritage Center. My new volunteer role began last fall as a mentor at Southern Maine Community College (SMCC).
What is your greatest professional accomplishment? Contributions you have made or plan to make in your role.
The professional accomplishments of which I am most proud always involve using my abilities, education, life experiences, and love of kids to help students to learn, grow as a person, and succeed. There is nothing better than to see “those light bulbs go in” with a student of any age. I hope to do the same in my new role as a mentor at SMCC.
How did your experiences and your education at Regis prepare you for life after college?
The financial support Regis provided me allowed me to be the second in my family to graduate from college. My professors, teachers, and the staff at Regis were wonderful mentors. Their passion and love for teaching combined with their brilliance and advanced degrees were the best preparation for my career in teaching. My life at Regis enhanced my ability to work with others. The belief in me and my abilities that began in my family were enhanced at Regis by the staff, but also by my fellow students. It was a great cocoon from which to begin the next steps on my personal and professional journey.
Share a memorable experience during your time at Regis. (Internship, study abroad, service trip, clinicals, etc) How did that experience affect you, professionally and personally.
My summer abroad was not only memorable but was also integral to my personal and professional growth. I still love traveling, meeting people, and learning whether in person or online. Living on campus provided me with wonderful experiences but more importantly, with life-long friends whom I cherish.
If you were a student scholar recipient, what would you say to your donor today if you could?
Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Although we have never met, I am so grateful that you helped me live my dream of teaching.