New England College was founded in 1946 to help veterans return to college after World War II. This series of articles will highlight veteran students, staff, and faculty whose post-service paths led them to New England College.
Tom McGrevey is an author, business owner, and professor of business at NEC who is also a former veteran in the United States Army National Guard.
Professor McGrevey has been out of the National Guard for several years and has used his experience in the service to lead him into many paths of life.
“I learned a lot. I made some great friends. But It was a very peaceful time, fortunately,” McGrevey said.
When he was young, the National Guard gave McGrevey some surprise experiences that prepared him for his next steps in life.
“I had a business degree, undergraduate, I had an MBA, been a college professor in business for many years before starting that business, and it’s funny, the two things to prepare me for that business were a summer at McDonald’s, and occasionally getting the extra duty as mess hall in the service,” Mcgrevey said about what prepared him for running and owning his very own laser tag arena with a friend.
After ROTC in college and his time in the service, McGrevey was unsure what his lifelong path would be. However, throughout his life, he said he has worked very hard and has taken many opportunities, some of which have been hurdled his way. After he had sold his business, he worked at a federally-funded agency helping with computers until he realized he had the means and knowledge to become a consultant.
“They were like, ‘oh you’re the computer expert?’ and I was like ‘oh, no, no, no that’s a mistake.’ And they said ‘yeah, but you got these programs working’. So I was like, ‘yeah, I did.’ So I went home, had a beer, thought about it, and said, ‘you know what? I quit. I’m a consultant now.’”
He then became a professor of business after being asked to fill in for a professor who left mid-semester and obtaining his master’s degree at the same time
“They were like, ‘well, you took over a class, you’re a good teacher. You can do this. Why don’t you apply for this job?’” McGrevey said.
After applying and getting the job as a professor at New England College, Professor McGrevey branched out from business courses to management as well as serving on committees and getting involved. He most enjoys the part of his job where he gets to connect with others.
“And I found that hanging out with, at that time, was mostly adults, that was the fun part.”
McGrevey sees his civilian life as relaxing, and for that he’s grateful.
“I’m happy now to have a job where if somebody makes a mistake, nobody’s gonna die, right? That’s a weight off your shoulders,” McGrevey said.
Since teaching at NEC, McGrevey has learned to explore many different aspects of life to make his and others better.
He recently published The Lift, which leads readers through the process of an end result of meditation which he calls, The Lift, that McGrevey has found himself through experience and discovery.
“I’m not an expert on meditation by any means. I just use mindfulness meditation to teach the lift, and once you learn to lift, you don’t need meditation anymore. I mean, I recommend it, but when you can lift, you can lift, and it’s just really cool,” McGrevey said.
McGrevey said that once he learned to lift, he learned to hone in his limbic brain systems and anxiety, and has success stories of others who have taken up the practice.”
He holds “lifting” sessions at NEC for all those interested in the John Lyons building, Room 204 on Tuesdays at 1 p.m. for 20-30 minutes.
McGrevey said he’s very thankful for every opportunity and ounce of work that he has put into each stage of his life, including his experiences before and after the Army National Guard. He said he is always excited about new projects and journeys along the way. Now he’s excited to share his success with ‘the lift’ with the NEC community.
“I feel more passionate about this than anything I have ever done before.”
Tom McGrevey is an Author, Business Owner, and Professor of Business at NEC who is also a former veteran in the United States Army National Guard.
Professor McGrevey has been out of the National Guard for several years and has used his experience in the service to lead him into many paths of life.
“I learned a lot. I made some great friends. But It was a very peaceful time, fortunately.” McGrevey said.
When he was young the national guard gave McGrevey some surprise experiences that prepared him for his next steps in life.
“I had a business degree, undergraduate, I had an MBA, been a college professor in business for many years before starting that business, and it’s funny, the two things to prepare me for that business were a summer at McDonalds, and occasionally getting the extra duty as mess hall in the service.” Mcgrevey said about what prepared him for running and owning his very own laser tag arena with a friend.
After ROTC in college and his time in the service McGrevey was unsure what his lifelong path would be, but as he has lived, he has worked very hard and has taken many opportunities that have been hurdled his way. After he had sold his business he worked at a federally funded agency helping with computers until he realized he had the means and knowledge to become a consultant.
“They were like, Oh you’re the computer expert and I was like Oh, no no no that’s a mistake. And they said yeah, but you got these programs working. So I was like, yea, I did.” “So I went home, had a beer, thought about it, and said, you know what? I quit. I’m a consultant now.”
He then became a professor of business after being asked to fill in for a professor who left mid-semester and obtaining his masters degree at the same time.
“They were like, well, you took over a class, you’re a good teacher. You can do this. Why don’t you apply for this job?” McGrevey said.
After applying and getting the job as a professor at New England College Professor McGrevey branched out from business courses to management as well as serving on committees and getting involved, enjoying the part of his job where he gets to connect with others.
“And I found that hanging out with, at that time, was mostly adults, that was the fun part.”
McGrevey’s outlook on his civilian life is grateful and relaxed.
“I’m happy now to have a job where if somebody makes a mistake, nobody’s gonna die, right?” “That’s a weight off your shoulders.” Mcgrevey said.
Since teaching at NEC McGrevey has learned to explore many different aspects of life in order to make his and others better.
Tom McGrevey is now the author of The Lift, which leads readers through the process of an end result of meditation which he calls, The Lift, that McGrevey has found himself through experience and discovery.
“I’m not an expert on meditation by any means. I just ise mindfulness meditation to teach the lift, and once you learn to lift, you don’t need meditation anymore. I mean, I recommend it, but when you can lift, you can lift, and it, it’s just really cool.” McGrevey said.
McGrevey describes that once he learned to lift, he has learned to hone in his limbic brain systems and anxiety, and has success stories of others who have taken up the practice.”
He holds “lifting” sessions here at school for all those interested. In The John Lyons building room 204 on Tuesdays at 1:00pm for 20-30 minutes.
McGrevey is very thankful for every opportunity and ounce of work that he has put into all of his different walks of life, before and after the Army National Guard and is always excited about new projects and jouorneys along his way.
“I feel more passionate about this than anything I have ever done before.” McGrevey says about his book and journey with “The Lift.”
