Built on Support

Ashley Hummer ’19 and Austin Anema ’20 found not only camaraderie at Northampton Community College (NCC), but lifetime commitments to one another and their passions. Hummer, a registered nursing graduate, and Anema, a media production graduate, met by chance.

Hummer transferred to NCC from East Stroudsburg University where she started after high school as a nursing major. She made the change because she heard the nursing program at NCC was prestigious. “The rigor made me feel very prepared when I graduated and went on the job. I was a better prepared nurse having come to NCC,” she says.

Anema started at NCC as a general studies major. As he got closer to his last semester, he realized that NCC had a media production program, which piqued his interest. “I’ve always wanted to be involved in music in some capacity, and I wanted to be able to record my own music and know the ins and outs of the studio and producing my own music,” he says. He decided to declare the major and continue his studies at NCC.

Both Anema and Hummer worked at Boscov's during college. One day, the co-workers discovered they both attended NCC. Spending time together on campus, they recall, sparked something more. Now, they’ve dated for eight years and supported one another's studies along the way.

Hummer plays ukulele and piano, sings, and dabbles in guitar. Anema recorded her singing “My Immortal” by Evanescence for one of his advanced audio production projects at NCC. It was one of the first times he worked with audio recording and mixdown.

“I love her voice a lot, so I really loved working with her on that,” he says. “She is an incredibly talented musician. My classmates and professor were all really impressed by it.”

Hummer practiced the nursing skills she was learning in her classes on Anema as if he was a patient. “He’d let me go over his health history, try out what I learned about physical exams, blood pressure readings, really, the whole gamut of what I was being taught,” she says.

Before graduating from NCC, Hummer had already lined up a job on the medical and surgical oncology floor at Lehigh Valley Hospital (LVH)-Muhlenberg, where she worked for a year and a half.

“If you’re admitted to the hospital with pneumonia, an infection, appendix issue, or other general medical issues, that’s where the majority of people would go unless it’s a more serious situation,” she says of her time at LVH.

That experience helped Hummer gain experience with oncology, which is what began her interest in nursing. “I lost my nana and stepdad, and I was present for their deaths as a child,” she recalls. “Being that young, you don’t understand too much, but I’ve always wanted to help in the fight against cancer because it’s such a terrible disease.”

She earned bachelor of science degree in nursing from Drexel University while working at LVH. She currently works at St. Luke’s Hospital-Anderson in the emergency room (ER) where every day is different. She enjoys helping people feel better on their worst days. She plans to work with cancer patients again after her contract with the ER is complete and aims to earn a master’s degree in clinical education to teach as well.

After graduating from NCC, Anema started work at Just Born, Inc., where he is now a machine operator and helps produce onboarding videos for new employees. Through Just Born, he met Nick Csorba, a drummer, and Joe Csorba, a guitarist, to form the band Orange Moon Project. Vocalist and guitarist John Detrick, Jr., rounds out the band.

"They were without a bass player, which I play, and the chemistry was very natural,” he says.

Anema uses his background in music and passion for recording, producing and mixing to help the band put content online. He also uses his degree to mix the band's music, perform sound checks, and advertise on social media.

This past spring, Orange Moon Project played at the Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg, Pa., after submitting material for an event featuring local talent.

“We were featured with an audio and video recording, lighting, staging -- the big band experience,” says Anema. “It was a big networking experience where we met a lot of people who we could play with or for at other events. The Sherman enjoyed hosting us, and we were asked to come back.”

Now, Anema and Hummer live in Macungie with their four-year-old dog, Luna, and are still supporting each other every day.

“Nursing is emotionally and physically draining and exhausting,” says Hummer. “I come home, and I’m stressed. Sometimes I don’t know what I’m going to need that day, and Austin’s there to provide that. He’s understanding of when he needs to pick up the slack to help me.”

“Ashley's very honest and lets me know what she thinks of my music,” says Anema. “She understands music theory. We could sit down together, she could play the piano, and we could play through an idea together.”

Throughout their personal growth and professional successes, the couple has continued to champion one another and build upon the interests and strengths they discovered together at NCC.