Mother Leads by Example Mother of two to graduate
from college despite the challenges of day-to-day life 

May 8, 2005 — Brookville, NY — When Eileen Truzzolino’s son asked her why she had never graduated from college, she did not know what to say. “I have always tried to lead by example,” Truzzolino recently said. “Then one day I was telling them how important it was that they should go to college and get a good education, when Joseph asked ‘Then why didn’t you go to college, Mom?’” she remembers.

On Sunday, May 8 (Mother’s Day), Joseph will be there, along with his brother, Anthony, and dad, Tony, to cheer Truzzolino on as she receives, with honors, her Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University.

Truzzolino, a resident of Garden City, is currently on a leave of absence from the New York City school system, where she worked as a Pupil Accounting Secretary for nine years. She had been thinking about returning to school even before her son asked the innocently profound question. Attending a memorial service for a childhood friend, a NYC fireman who perished in the terrorist attacks of September 11 in 2001, she thought about what she admired most about him, which was his ability to follow his dream of being an actor while protecting the lives of others. She thought about following her own dream of someday completing college. But just like when she was younger, circumstances always seemed to get in the way.

“I have always tried to show my boys that you cannot let anything keep you from your dreams,” she remembers.  “They know I have a hearing loss but I always tell them that nothing should ever stop them from achieving what they want in life.”  So when the opportunity came to fulfill her dream to go back to school, Truzzolino exclaimed, “Now, I had the chance to set an example again – by not letting the circumstances of life get in my way anymore!”

Following graduation, Truzzolino will begin working toward her Master of Science degree in School Counseling at C.W. Post, where she has been accepted into the School of Education graduate program.   

Truzzolino will be one of more than 2,200 students who will don their caps and gowns on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 8, 2005 for the 47th annual commencement exercises of the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University. The Campus has awarded more than 90,000 degrees in its 50-year history, through a broad range of undergraduate and graduate programs.