 
Mission Accomplished for CSI Nursing Grads
83-member class, newly minted on
Tuesday, includes many for whom nursing is a second career
Staten Island Advance - Friday, May 30, 2008
 The graduating class of the College of Staten Island's School of
Nursing is a melting pot, students united in their hard work,
ambition, and caring for others.
The newly minted nurses include many for whom nursing is a second
career: Recent high school graduates, retirees, firefighters, police
officers, teachers, secretaries and single parents working full-time
were counted among the 83-member class.
The graduates were honored at their pinning ceremony Tuesday
afternoon in the College's Center for the Arts.
"For me, this is a huge accomplishment," said Donna Magrone, 44, of
Dongan Hills, a single mom who was working full time at Staten
Island University Hospital when she heard about the nursing program
six years ago.
"At times I thought this day would never come," she said.
With the help of her cousin, who offered to babysit her son, Vincent
Lavin, now 16, she used Sundays and vacation time for studying, and
got through it all with "a lot of juggling . . . and a lot of
coffee."
For Joy Fornino, 51, of West Brighton, nursing was a calling that
came after she retired as a police lieutenant. Inspired by the care
visiting nurses offered her parents, Ms. Fornino said she plans to
cut her teeth in a hospital's medical-surgical unit. "It's something
I want to do to give back," she said.
Several of the graduates juggled the demands of motherhood while
hitting the books.
The class-elected speaker, Rebecca Berman, began the program as a
mother of four -- and graduated as the mother of six.
Another new nurse made it through the program while coping with a
divorce and moving back in with her mother after a 17-year marriage.
She had to stop work as a medical transcriber to fit in the class
time, and had to take out loans to pay for school.
"It's so amazing how everyone pulled together," Ms. Fornino said.
The graduates will become full-fledged registered nurses upon the
successful completion of their national certification board exams.
The graduates are:
Tinuade Ademola, Stephanie Adigun, Dana Alacha, Lovie Marie Amolo,
Jennifer Antioco, Sarah Bamba, Susan J. Barberi, Glenn Beauchamp,
Joanna Bekowska-Pallacios, Rebecca Berman, Dillon Blaize, Yelena
Borisova, Anna Borsic, Joanne Bruno, Ammiel Callum, Dalu Canmu,
Frederick J. Cappetta, Melissa Carrasquillo, Leah Comery, Melissa
Diane Cordero, Steven DeCarlo, Patricia Diaz, Dmitry Feldberg,
Blythe Finn, Danielle Firsching, Joy Fornino, Arianna C. Freyre,
Nydia Garcia, Kristopher Johnson, Heesun Jong, Shaiju Jose, Bob
Kandakai, Michele Kaplin, Catherine Kass, Urszula Kisluk, Lana
Kodinsky, Michael Leone, Peter Librizzi, Halyna Litovskiy, Valerie
Lodescar, Donna Magrone, Mariella Marino.
Fay Matthews, Leonid Mirakov, Rachel Shaina L.Moheban, Ruth Mones,
Patricia Moore, Tayyaba Mughal, Marylauri Mulligan, Angel Nakazibwe,
Brian Naylor, Danielle Nelli, Sandra O'Byrne, Michael Olshansky,
Catherine O'Sullivan, Kristen Padilla, Jaclyn Perez, Manuel Perez,
Mary Petito, Debra Phillips, Lourdes Quinones, Diana Marie Romano,
Lisa Rosenberg, Blerta Saipi, Mercy Sam, Vanessa Sanchez, Steven
Saviolis, Erika Semidey, Michael Seropyan, Margarita Shapiro,
Stephen R. Sharrett, Alice B. Shaw, Christina Somma, Susanne D.
Speziale, Senada Steinman, Sally Tejada, Dana Ulsamer, Jenell
Vargas, Marina Vasilyeva, Svetlana Veinberg, Cornel Vitiello, Louise
Morley Ward, Jamie Worona.
By Maura Yates
Reprinted here with permission
from the
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