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Westchester Mother Overcomes
Learning Disability to Graduate from College
Brookville, NY - Michelle Ghilardi has wanted to be a teacher
for as long as she can remember. She can hardly believe that
when she receives her degree at the C.W. Post Campus of Long
Island University commencement exercises on Sunday, May 14 (Mother's
Day) that dream will finally become reality.
"I never had any doubt in my mind that I would finish
college," said Ghilardi, who at 24 has had more than her
share of challenges to overcome. "Still, it's hard to believe
that I am receiving my B.A. in elementary education. It's been
such a long, hard struggle."
A native of Hartsdale, N.Y., in Westchester County, Ghilardi
came to C.W. Post in the fall of 1994. She was accepted into
the Academic Resource Center (ARC) because of a learning disability
that makes reading comprehension and memorization difficult for
her. She says the one-to-one tutoring and untimed tests provided
by ARC have made it possible for her to excel.
Ghilardi took a few detours along the way, but always managed
to stay on track. When she became pregnant with her daughter,
Alyssa, in the spring of 1995, Ghilardi took a leave of absence
the following fall. She returned to C.W. Post for the spring
1996 semester, only to take another leave for the birth of her
son, Richard (R.J.) in spring 1998. She also went part-time for
two semesters in order to care for her children.
Ghilardi has been working as a substitute teacher three days
per week in the Greenberg Central Seventh District in Westchester
County where she attended school, and commutes to her classes
a C.W. Post the remaining two days. Ghilardi will student teach
in the fall to complete her requirements for C.W. Post, and hopes
to begin teaching full time in January 2001.
She is scheduled to begin a master's degree program in special
education at the College of New Rochelle next spring.
The past six years have not been easy for Ghilardi. So it
is with tremendous satisfaction that she prepares to don her
cap and gown for commencement. She credits her professors, ARC
and her family for helping her get to this point.
"I didn't want to go on public assistance like a lot
of people I know," says Ghilardi, a single mother. "I
wanted to be independent for myself and my children. Thanks to
my family and C.W. Post, I will be."
C.W. Post is one of three residential campuses of Long Island
University, the eighth largest private university in the United
States. With nearly 11,000 students, C.W. Post offers a broad
range of undergraduate and graduate programs in the liberal arts
and sciences, accountancy, business, public service, library
and information science, education, health professions and visual
and performing arts. C.W. Post also offers doctorates in information
studies and clinical psychology as well as an extensive continuing
education program.
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