Mercy Maverick All the Way, Amber Deegan '13, M.S. '16 

Born and bred in Mahopac, New York, Amber Deegan ’13, M.S.’16 knew from day one that Mercy College was home. She began her education at Mercy College’s Yorktown Heights Campus in 2009 at 17 years old. She was in the first cohort of PACT, a program that helps Mercy students navigate through their academic career. She started working at the Student Services Support Center in 2010 as a student worker, where she immersed herself in the Yorktown Heights experience. She was able to complete the majority of her classes for her Behavioral Science degree at the Yorktown Campus.

Once Deegan completed her undergraduate degree, she was hired fulltime at the Student Services Support Center as a coordinator and then was promoted to counselor. While working, she began her master’s degree in the Tri-Certification program for early childhood education, childhood education and special and graduated in 2016. She was able to complete her entire master’s degree at the Yorktown Heights Campus. Currently, Deegan is one of three assistant directors at the Student Services Support Center at Mercy College. The Student Services Support Center is made up of three teams: the contact team, admissions processing and transfer credit and articulation team. When Deegan began working at the Student Services Support Center, the office was not split into teams, so Amber was able to learn all three sections. This helped her grow and enhance her skills. Once they created the teams, Deegan was on the transfer credit and articulation team. As the assistant director of the Student Services Support Center, she oversees the contact team where they answer admissions, financial aid and any general questions asked through the main Mercy College que line (877) MERCY-GO. Deegan supports her team everyday as the team fields questions to prospective students and families about Mercy College.

Deegan believes in lifelong learning. After she graduated with her master’s she got involved in working out by taking fitness classes. She was recruited to her first gym by another Yorktown Heights colleague. Deegan stated that she was never an athlete or did sports growing up so this was unchartered territory. She got certified as an “Insanity” instructor because the instructor left and her gym family encouraged her to go for the certification. This lead to her getting her group fitness instructor certification and personal training certification.

Deegan found a home at Mercy College and her gym and sees her colleagues and clients as family. She looks forward to having people to work out with and watching her clients progress as much as she looks forward to seeing her team every day. Mercy College has allowed Deegan to build the skills she needs to be a fitness instructor by learning to be organized and multitask. To motivate her clients while she is home, Deegan has been posting daily workouts on her social media platforms. Deegan believes that “No matter how much time you have, you’ll make the time for something you really want.” Deegan thanks Mercy College for her amazing career and is proud to be a Mercy Maverick!