Danielle (Sicotte) Eaton

Suffolk University, advertising major, minor in marketing, graduated May 2009 

Current hometown: Lewiston

Age: 26

Live at home/rent/buy your own home? My husband and I own our home, a cute little ranch-style house near Bates College. My husband is a carpenter and owns his own business, N.E. Carpentry. This was a fixer-upper (can you say shag carpeting?). We’re almost done. The next step is to build our “forever” home on land his parents gave us in Litchfield.

Current job? I recently started a new position at Androscoggin Home Care & Hospice in the Marketing & Development Office.

Enjoy what you do? I love what I do. I get to be creative, plan exciting events and in my own way help numerous Maine residents stay healthy, comfortable and independent in the comfort of their own homes and communities.

Major milestones the last four years: I moved home from Boston and married my long-distance college sweetheart. We adopted a sweet, silly, black Lab named Harley, and most recently welcomed the birth of our bright, beautiful daughter, Amelia, now 4 months old.

If you’re comfortable sharing, how much college debt are you still carrying? Upwards of $15K. But with a plan in place and a lot of penny pinching, my husband and I are working hard to pay down all our debts.

So, the big question: Was it worth it? There were times — when money was tight, when I was working multiple part-time jobs and couldn’t find a job in my field — that I wondered that. I graduated fresh-faced and eager from college only to find myself with a mortgage payment, kicked off my parent’s health insurance and in lower-paying jobs than my non-graduate counterparts. They had been working the past four years and had earned themselves higher-up positions, while that piece of paper in my hand wasn’t getting me a leg up. Fast forward four years: Now I can see how my degree will allow me the opportunity to advance. I had to pay my dues and get some experience under my belt.

Is your job now related to your major? Yes! Really, and truly, and finally, yes!

Please finish this sentence: “When it came to college, my parents were right about . . .” . . . my ability to handle it.

And: “My parents were wrong about . . .” . . . the big bad city. I think my mother was most worried I’d get lost on the T and end up kidnapped in some creeper’s basement. And I realize, after having my apartment broken into, I probably still sound a little naive. Are there crazies in Boston? Of course. There a crazy people everywhere, the bigger the city, the more you will find. But the thing I love about Boston most is its people. Walking to school one day the skies just opened up and it started pouring. A man ran up to me and shoved his umbrella at me. My first reaction was to karate chop him in the throat, but he said, “Here! This is my building, take it!” gave me his umbrella and ran into his office.

What are you hoping for as you look out over the next 10 years? I hope to continue to grow and advance professionally. I hope to still be socially engaged and volunteering and active in the theater. I hope we’ve got our beautiful house in Litchfield all done by then. And I hope to be someone who, maybe not at 10 but maybe when she’s a little older, my daughter will look up to and admire and want to be like, just like how my mother inspired me.

Do you feel your college experience plays any role in those goals? Absolutely, yes. Though I never could have imagined being married to the love of my life or my beautiful daughter’s face back then, those years at college shaped me into who I am today.

Grads face a new world: Maine college freshmen are trying to spend less, learn more and think jobs.

‘Explore careers.’ ‘Engage in classes.’ ‘Show up.’ ‘Go for it!’: Older, wiser: Our former freshmen offer advice to the class of 2017

Following the Freshmen: Where are they now?

Since the Sun Journal stopped following the original 15 students in our “Following the Freshmen” series in 2009, bringing to a close our four-year college project, they’ve established interesting lives, careers and pursuits. And gained a lot of perspective on the value of their educations. We were able to catch up with 11 former freshmen and quiz them about life, college and future goals, and how school played into all of it.

• Jennifer Berresford: In the pharmaceutical industry, pet foster-mom-to-be
• Tracy Bradley: Helping others get fit, enjoying Boston
• Sasha Campbell: Dancer, mom, busy lady
• Alison Coleman: Moving up the ranks at work, still fitting in softball
• Danielle Eaton: Marketer, mom, grateful former Bostonian
• Brian Erickson: Engineer open to new adventures
• Matt Jones: Computer engineer in Rhode Island
• Loren Lepage: Helping others rehab and loving it
• Elizabeth Mitchell: Taking life and career to the West Coast
• Tyson Morgan: Learning, teaching, writing
• Ryan Reed: Teacher, husband, dad

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