BASTL puts punk rocker on path as financial rep

Toward the end of his first semester at Harrisburg Area Community College in 2009, Nathan Bobb got a call from a friend in the pop-punk band Handguns. Its bass guitar player quit midway through the inaugural tour: Could Bobb fill in for at least two weeks?

Two weeks turned into three years, as Bobb played bass and sang backup vocals across the United States and Canada, and in the studio, recording for Pure Noise Records. But touring 10 months of the year was grueling, and it bothered Bobb that he hadn’t earned his degree.

“I got tired of touring and stressed out,” said Bobb, 28, of Carlisle, who stopped touring after 2012.

Bobb returned to HACC and earned an associate degree in marketing in 2015 while working full time as a construction foreman. But Bobb knew he didn’t want to stay in construction. Through HACC, he learned of Bloomsburg University’s Bachelor of Applied Science in Technical Leadership (BASTL) program.

“At the time I was a foreman, andI wanted to learn how to improve my leadership abilities,” Bobb said. “I realize now that all the communication classes in the program have helped me as well.”

Bobb earned his BASTL degree in August 2018. He said without the program’s flexibility to take classes online and at HACC, he probably still would be working on a degree.

In March 2017 he started at Novitas Solutions Inc. as a financial representative, processing Medicare overpayment refunds. What he learned in his BASTL classes has helped with special projects, including performance oversight of new employees and working on a team testing a new paperless process.

“I got a lot out of the communications classes,” Bobb said. “The classes covering adult learning principles and how to break down and explain a process also help you identify any knowledge gaps you have.”

Bobb returned to playing in Handguns, including during a two-week United Kingdom tour in September 2018 and in the studio now for another album. As he plans his career, he said his bachelor’s degree has opened more doors.

“I would recommend the BASTL program, especially if they want to improve their leadership skills and need a flexible schedule that can fit with their job,” Bobb said. “It’s a great program to take.”