20 | THELAKER the 10s Elizabeth Sprada ’10 (Liberal Arts, Humanities) graduated with a bachelor’s degree in early childhood development from SUNY Bu alo. Gina Maria Mangiamele ’14 (Accounting) is currently contributing to the region’s economic development through her work with the New York Small Business Development Center. She is a certi ed business advisor assisting entrepreneurs with business planning and development. Melissa Sherman ’15 (Nursing) joined Seneca Family Health Center in Waterloo in August 2022. She received a master’s degree in nursing from Upstate Medical University in Syracuse and earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Keuka College in Keuka Park. Melissa is a member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. A delayed dream, realized at FLCC Dawn Pietropaolo’s family didn’t support her interest in college, so she enrolled later in life, with her own daughter. of the teachers, and they would want you to be successful.” In the hallway of the Student Center, she met representatives from Keuka College’s bachelor’s and master’s programs in social work. ey laid out the path for her to join cohorts that met at FLCC. She earned her bachelor’s in 2019 and continued into the master’s program. “I stayed right at FLCC. Even when I got my master’s, it was at the FLCC campus in Victor. So if it weren’t for FLCC, I would not have done what I did.” Shortly a er completing her master’s degree, she accepted her current position, supporting special education classes for students who need cognitive and behavioral services. She teaches what are called socialemotional lessons, which means helping young children recognize their feelings and how to respond to them in a productive way. Dawn works with children who may have no supervision or guidance at home or who may have experienced trauma. It is not uncommon, for example, for them to have no understanding of what it means to be or have a friend, she said. “It sounds simple to people who did teach that to their children, but these kids don’t know. ey really don’t know how to carry themselves or be a part of the world,” she said. Her goal, she added, is “teaching them what nurturing is, teaching them what safety is, teaching them what a full belly is like.” It’s hard work. Children who lack cognitive or social skills may kick, scratch or swear. “Do I love all of it? No. Do I ever get tired of it? Not at all. I’ll tell you why, because you get results, you can see results,” she said, explaining that young children can make rapid progress. “To me, the rewards are constant: a child who wouldn’t talk to you when he rst met you who is now regularly sharing things with you,” she said. “No matter what eld you’re in, you have to bring your passion to the table, and it’s going to be whatever you make it.” As a teen in the 90s, Dawn Pietropaolo thought she wanted to be a social worker and serve children. Today, she does exactly that in a local district, but her story is not so simple. As she nished high school in the Rochester suburbs, her family discouraged her from pursuing social work. “My entire family was against college and against that profession in general,” she said. Instead, Dawn got married and had four children, raising them and volunteering at their school. She has no regrets about her time as a stay-at-home mom, but a divorce led her to revisit her old dream. When her oldest, Juliana, applied to FLCC, Dawn enrolled in the human services program. “We were freshmen together. We were in the same classes. It was a blast, and honestly, it gave me the con dence to keep going,” Dawn said of the camaraderie she shared with her daughter. She also wanted to counter the message of her own upbringing and show that education is the way to move forward in life. What better way than to go to college herself? Still, going back to school was intimidating. She credits Juliana ’16, now a teacher at Red Jacket, for showing her how to study and credits faculty for inspiring her. “I had professors who absolutely loved what they did,” she said. “At FLCC, it was more about you as a person, more about them sharing with you. ey made it feel possible. You could go to any
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