Single Mom – With One Son Graduating from High School and
Another Son Serving in Iraq – to Graduate from C.W. Post on Mother’s Day

Brookville, N.Y. – Single mom Wendy Goldstein has worked in public relations for more than a decade. On Mother’s Day, Goldstein will celebrate a long-held personal goal – her graduation from college. On Sunday, May 14, Goldstein will graduate from the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University with a bachelor of fine arts degree in public relations. In addition, Goldstein will be honored on May 13 with an Academic Excellence Award, one of C.W. Post’s highest honors, for an academic career that culminated in an impressive 3.98 grade point average.

Goldstein’s graduation from college at age 44 coincides with her younger son’s graduation from high school. Ryan Goldstein, 17, will graduate from G.W. Hewlett High School in June. Goldstein’s other son, James, 21, is currently serving with the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division in Baghdad, Iraq. 

In addition to being a C.W. Post graduate, Goldstein also is the associate director of public relations at the C.W. Post Campus, where she is involved with media relations and writing and editing of university promotional materials. Previously, she worked in Public Affairs at one of Long Island’s renowned research facilities, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where she wrote about and promoted biomedical research.     

“At Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, I learned a great deal about molecular biology, genetics and neurobiology,” Goldstein said, “and at C.W. Post I have had the opportunity to continue to develop my career in communications, while simultaneously pursuing a degree.” As an adult student with a great deal of on-the-job learning behind her, Goldstein earned college credit in several ways. She brought transfer credits earned at Nassau Community College in the 1980s, earned credits in biology and English through New York State’s College Level Examination of Proficiency (CLEP) program, garnered Life Experience Credits for skills and knowledge developed in the field, and capped it off with five years of part-time study at C.W. Post.

Goldstein is a member of Alpha Sigma Lambda – the national adult student honor society – and the National Association of Science Writers. On Mother's Day, Sunday, May 14, 2006, she will be one of more than 2,300 students who will graduate from the C.W. Post Campus. The Campus has awarded more than 92,000 degrees in its 51-year history through a broad range of undergraduate and graduate programs. The Class of 2006 includes 949 baccalaureate degree candidates, 1,376 master's degree candidates, 16 graduates receiving the Psy.D. in clinical psychology and three receiving the Ph.D. in information studies. This year, C.W. Post’s commencement ceremonies also include graduates from Southampton College and the Southampton Graduate Campus of Long Island University.

Posted: May 5, 2006