|
Earning Degree Completes Long Journey for
Returning Adult
When Sherry Lombardo receives her bachelor's degree in health
education K-12 with honors from the C.W. Post Campus of Long
Island University on Mother's Day, May 14, 2000 the Massapequa
mother will celebrate a 15-year journey back to independence.
A car accident in 1985 left Lombardo in a coma. When she regained
consciousness 10 days later, she was completely paralyzed on
her left side. She had been working in Florida as a supervisor
and instructor at a health spa. Her parents took her home to
Long Island, and worked her through a year-long rehabilitation
process. Even today, Lombardo feels slight reminders of the coma.
She cannot move as quickly as she used to, though she has no
visible scars. And she continues to improve in little ways, such
as how she writes.
Lombardo is 41 now and quick to point out that she has recovered
from her injuries. And she has moved on with her life. She married
her husband, Gerard, in 1988; they had their son, Gerard, Jr.,
about two years later. She worked for years as a secretary for
her husband's landscaping business,
G. Lombardo Landscaping. Then in 1998, as she was approaching
40, Lombardo decided to do something more with her life.
"My son was getting older and I had recovered from my
accident," she says. "I felt that I needed to do something
with my life. When you get to a certain age you look at you
life and say, 'what do I have to show for it?' I wanted to contribute
more than I was -- and the only way I was going to be able to
do that was to go back to school."
As the symbolic degree recipient for the School of Education,
Lombardo will represent her classmates when she accepts her degree
at the general commencement assembly. She completed her degree
program in two years, thanks to credits transferred from the
University of Rio Grande, where she had studied health and physical
education in the early 1980s. Although she was concerned about
returning to school after such a long absence, Lombardo says
she was welcomed with open arms from her first day at C.W. Post.
She hopes to work as a health teacher in the public school system
next fall.
"I don't thing there's anything special about my story,"
says Lombardo. "I have great family, great friends and a
wonderful support system. C.W. Post has been like a family to
me. From the moment I walked in the door everyone greeted me
with open arms."
Lombardo will receive her bachelor's degree at commencement
ceremonies on Sunday, May 14. C.W. Post is a campus of Long Island
University, the eighth largest private university in the United
States. C.W. Post's 11,000 students can choose from a broad
range of undergraduate and graduate offerings, as well as extensive
continuing education programs. C.W. Post has awarded more than
80,000 degrees in its 46-year history. The campus is located
on Northern Boulevard, (Route 25A) in Brookville.
|
