September 8, 2008 (Vol. 8, No. 2)

Women's Forum Taps Three Lehman Students to Receive Education Awards

Three women at Lehman prove that with hard work and perseverance dreams deferred in childhood can come true in adulthood. For their dedication to their education, while overcoming great personal odds, students Judy Canestrelli, Charlene Corbit-Tosi, and Wanda Vargas will each be awarded the Women's Forum 2008 Education Award in a special ceremony on Thursday, September 11.

As a child of circus performers, Canestrelli moved around quite often, causing her to miss out on a formal education. One summer, while volunteering as an art teacher at a camp for high-risk children, she was impressed by the children's creativity, intelligence, and eagerness to learn. This experience inspired her to return to school and pursue a career as a teacher. An anthropology, biology, and chemistry major, she hopes someday to teach science in the New York City public school system.

A divorced mother of two, Corbit-Tosi had to interrupt her education on several occasions due to a lack of financial resources or to attend to family obligations. She currently attends classes part-time, while holding a full-time position at a city hospital and working part-time at a doctor's office on weekends. Despite the workload and the setbacks, Corbit-Tosi has managed a spot on the dean's list. A business administration major, she hopes to someday become a hospital director and open her own medical-billing business.

Ever since Vargas was a small child, she's been fascinated with earthquakes, volcanoes, glaciers, and oceans, but a difficult childhood and a thirteen-year absence from college thwarted her ambitions. Through the years, however, her passions for the earth sciences only deepened. She returned to school, and shortly after participating in a sea-faring expedition, decided on a degree in marine geophysics. Last year, she took part in a study-abroad program in Antarctica.

The Women's Forum is a community of preeminent female leaders in New York whose goal is to make a difference for each other and to take an active leadership role in matters of importance, such as education. The awards will be bestowed following a colloquium of female thought leaders from business, science, education, and the media, discussing "Visions for the Future: What Will It Mean to Be Human?" For more information, see www.wfnewyork.org.

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