Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
DCCC graduates pick up their diplomas
Delaware County Community College students picked up their diplomas at commencement exercises.
RADNOR >> More than 600 students were handed associate degrees from the Delaware County Community College Thursday morning at the packed 2017 commencement at the Villanova Pavilion.
In total, more than 1,400 degrees were awarded to students across majors in communications, education, liberal arts, graphic design, business administration, sciences, engineering, psychology, nursing and many others.
Those various titles were the subject of student speaker, Gina DiLuzio, who said those titles become a balancing act in life, but aren’t a crutch.
“Throughout life we will all wear different titles — student, veteran, manager, wife — and with all these titles thrown at us, life becomes a balancing act,” DiLuzio said. “Sometimes these titles seem to take over and we lose track of who we really are.”
DiLuzio, who earned her associate in science in psychology, is one of only two students in the college and one of only 49 students from across the state selected this year to the All-Pennsylvania team, an honor that makes her eligible to attend one of the 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education tuition free for up to two years.
She chose to take her moment under the spotlight to highlight a debilitating physical condition that once held her back, but now acts as a source of encouragement.
“Some of these titles are happy milestones, and some of these are a little more difficult to manage,” she said. “I hold the title of reflex sympathetic dystrophy patient.”
Reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome, also known as complex regional pain syndrome, affect the part of the body that regulates involuntary functions such as heart rate, constricting blood vessels and increasing blood pressure.
DiLuzio said it also ranked number one as the most painful disease in the world.
“I spent most of my days in the hospital and homebound throughout high school, more recently this has lead to kidney failure,” she said. Unsure whether she could manage her pain while attending school, she was determined to pursue her dreams.
“For a while my health has clouded my ability to see my own potential, however the calling inside of me to help others prevail, I knew I needed a college to get where I needed to be,” DiLuzio said. “When I enrolled at Delaware County Community College, I was afraid I was afraid I wouldn’t be successful, because my RSD was still defining who
I was.” However, through the support of the Phi Theta Kappa honors society, DiLuzio found a support group who were also “fighting their own battles.
“I started to get involved and I realized I could use my struggles to help others with theirs,” she said. “Here at the college I learned I am much more than a diagnosis.”
In addition to being the president of president of the college’s Phi Theta Kappa Alpha Tau Epsilon chapter, she is vice president of buildOn, an international non-profit group that builds schools in poor countries around the world, a mentor with the United Network for Organ Donation, a college tutor and a student ambassador.
She also works two parttime jobs.
“By sitting here today, you are all proving that you can accomplish your dreams, no matter what obstacles, fears, or titles you face,” DiLuzio said. “Let today motivate you, remind you that you can be exactly who you want to be ... This is only the beginning of what all of us are capable of.”