Best Wishes for a Healthy, Joyful Holiday Season

When the cold weather comes around to stay for the season, I always begin to think of what I am grateful for, and for this life we live.  I look around at our students, catch up with grads on Facebook, LinkedIn, at events, through calls and emails, and am always renewed by seeing the world through their eyes.

One fairly recent grad, Michael Adebiyi , CW Class of 2012, attended our alumni homecoming event a couple of weeks ago. I was lucky enough to have Michael as a BBA intern.  Smart, insightful, ambitious – it was a pleasure working with him.  Even before he graduated, Hertz snatched him up.  Michael is now a manager, and trainer of managers at Hertz’s largest Brooklyn location.  Clearly, he is happy and not finished climbing the success ladder.

This is what we at CW do.  We continue to be the facilitators and launching pad for thousands and thousands of young people like Michael.  The stories of success are endless!

I am grateful for the community of CW.  You all make this journey at CW worth it every day.

May the coming holidays be ones of great joy for you and yours, and may you find something fascinating in the everyday.  May you feel camaraderie and take comfort and support from those around you.  May your challenges bring unexpected opportunities, and as your best laid plans go awry, may you find that your life is joyous, unexpected and new.

Thank you to our Military Members and Veterans

Uncle Mac Sutkowski in uniform

I remember, as a child, being amazed by the story my Uncle Mac would tell about his time in Orbec, France, hiding with a farm family, his plane having been shot down during WWII.  He had just started seeing my aunt, his sweetheart, Helen, before he left Connecticut for the Air Force, deployed to Europe.  As a tail gunner on a bomber, her was doing his duty with his fellow soldiers, and on that fateful mission they were shot down over farmland in rural France. The family who took him in thought fast and sequestered him in their barn, initially. After a while he lived among them, taking meals with the family.  It took almost one and a half years for the French Underground to help get him out of Europe and back to my grandparents, his brother, my Dad, other siblings and his sweetheart Helen.  He had been missing in action throughout that period, as all communication sources were monitored, so the reunion was a huge surprise, and joyful.

Uncle Fred and Aunt Junko Blovat

Another lesser known story was about my mother's brother, Fred. My mom's family, from the Leatherstocking region of upstate NY State, lived a simple, honest life. Fred was also in the Air Force, a career soldier who retired after 25 years of service.  We never heard anything about his service, except that he served. About 10 years ago, a book was released outlining stories of the the hundreds of soldier spies who carried sensitive documents behind enemy lines, with extra risk during World War II. Who was included among these stories?  My Uncle Fred.

Thanks also to my cousins and nephews who have served, and many friends, coworkers, graduates and students at The College of Westchester.  WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf conflicts and wars.  Thank you.

Some of you reading this may have risked your lives in ways that we may never know. Today we honor you and thank you for the countless sacrifices, risks and secret missions that may be too painful to recount now, or that we might just not understand. We wish you, our US Veterans, peace and gratitude. Prayers and good thoughts toward you always. 

Happy Thanksgiving

When November rolls around, I always begin to think of what I am grateful for, and for this life we live.  I look around at our students, catch up with grads on Facebook, LinkedIn, at events, through calls and emails, and am always renewed by seeing the world through their eyes.

One fairly recent grad, Michael Adebiyi , CW Class of 2012, attended our alumni homecoming event a couple of weeks ago. I was lucky enough to have Michael as a BBA intern.  Smart, insightful, ambitious – it was a pleasure working with him.  Even before he graduated, Hertz snatched him up.  Michael is now a manager, and trainer of managers at Hertz’s largest Brooklyn location.  Clearly, he is happy and not finished climbing the success ladder.

This is what we at CW do.  We continue to be the facilitators and launching pad for thousands and thousands of young people like Michael.  The stories of success are endless!

I was fortunate to hear Dr. Merryl H. Tisch, Chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents, speak at the most recent Association of Proprietary Colleges meeting in Albany last week.  Dr. Tisch is the leader of education in the state of New York.  If you have ever met her or observed her in practice at a Regents meeting, you know that she is not a shrinking violet, and she always has a firm grasp on those things within her domain.  Dr. Tisch is a force to be reckoned with, and she shares her opinions clearly; she said many inspiring things last week.  The one that stuck with me most clearly was this; “the Proprietary Colleges in New York State are the gold standard for higher education in our state.”  With many wonderful colleges and universities in NY, this was an amazing thing to hear from the person who holds the fate of colleges within her leadership of the Regents.

With the release of the US Department of Education’s Gainful Employment rules on October 31, it is good to know that our state leadership believes in what we do, and understands that proprietary colleges play an essential role in educating New York’s students.  The State of New York stands with us and, even more importantly, they stand with our students’ opportunities for choices when deciding on a college.

I am grateful for the community of CW.  You all make this journey at CW worth it every day.

May the coming holidays be ones of great joy for you and yours, and may you find something fascinating in the everyday.  May you feel camaraderie and take comfort and support from those around you.  May your challenges bring unexpected opportunities, and as your best laid plans go awry, may you find that your life is joyous, unexpected and new.