Felicia Phaneuf grew up in Middleboro in a family of dedicated fishermen. Her father and brothers are fishermen and she spent several years working in the fishing industry performing the duties of a "Shore Engineer." Felicia explained that a "Shore Engineer" is a kind of Jack (or Jill in her case) of all trades with a primary focus of performing maintenance on the fishing boats. Cutbacks in the fishing industry forced Felicia, age 39, out of her job. As a single mother of two teenagers, Felicia realized that she needed to learn new skills in order to begin a new career. Some friends told her about the Bay State School of Technology and she decided to contact the school to learn about it first hand. Because of her prior work in the fishing industry, she was eligible to participate in a special program designed to provide training opportunities for displaced workers. After visiting the school, Felicia decided to enroll in the Major Appliances, Domestic and Commercial Refrigeration & Air Conditioning program. In February of 2002, she started the nine month program and demonstrated her desire to excel by earning a 4.0 Grade Point Average (GPA) in all her subjects as well as excellent attendance. Felicia displayed a great deal of courage training in a program classified by the U.S. Dept. of Labor as a "non-traditional field" for women. She was the only female in her class, yet handled this situation with ease. She was popular among her classmates earning their respect and admiration for her achievements. Felicia managed this high level of achievement while attending classes on a full-time basis while also fulfilling the responsibilities as a full-time parent. Within a few weeks of graduation, Felicia started work as a Maintenance Engineer with Equity Residential in New Hampshire and looks forward to a new, productive career.