News & Events
Caruso Named 2005 Valedictorian at City Tech
Talk about diversity! The valedictorian for the 2005 graduating class at New York City College of Technology (City Tech) of The City University of New York (CUNY), 19-year-old Nicole Caruso, is of Italian, Cuban, German, Dutch and Cherokee Indian descent.
“She is surely a symbol of the diversity of the student body at our college,” says City Tech human services professor Richard Holm, who told Caruso in her sophomore year that she had the potential to become valedictorian of her graduating class. “She was so energized,” he recalls. “She was not only an exceptionally hard-working student,” he notes, “but she also got along wonderfully well with her peers.”
A resident of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Caruso graduated from John Dewey High School at age 16, the sixth in her class, with a perfect attendance record from third grade on. At City Tech, where she has maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average, awards have been showered upon her from many sources: a four-year scholarship from 100 Hispanic Women, Inc.; a City Tech Presidential Scholarship, which covered her full tuition costs; and such other honors as a New York State Regents Board Scholarship, the Uniformed Firefighter’s Association Scholarship and a Peter F. Vallone Merit Scholarship.
After earning her associate’s degree in human services from City Tech in 2004, Caruso went on to earn her bachelor of science degree in one year (instead of the usual two), which will be awarded to her, as valedictorian, on Thursday, June 2, 10:30 a.m., in the Theater at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. She plans to pursue her master’s degree in childhood education and to become an elementary school teacher.
“My main problem,” she says, “is having too strong a drive for perfection. During my second year at CityTech, for example, I took 22 credits in one semester, had no free time and actually burnt myself out. I’ve since learned to pace myself a little better,” she adds, “so that this semester I’m taking only five classes and have more time for myself.”
Caruso says that she tries to “think outside the box.” Throughout her internships at the Brooklyn East Family Center, where she was involved in case management and crisis intervention, and at the School for Legal Studies, where she assisted guidance counselors with helping high school juniors make academic choices, as well as in her volunteer work for the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, she feels she has been able to put into practice the theories and skills learned in the classroom.
“It’s important,” she says, “not to be confined by textbook standards, but to find your own way. You should be able,” she stressed, “not just to accept criticism, but to be able to criticize yourself, so that you can grow both professionally and personally. With the help of my professors, and through my work as an intern with children and families, I’ve come a long way.
“I’ve learned to trust myself,” she adds, “so that I can be more patient, more observant, and can listen not for what is just on the surface, but for the thoughts and concerns behind the spoken words.”
Nicole Caruso’s diverse ethnicity, she feels, has given her a great advantage. “At City Tech, where there is such a mixed student population,” she says, “I can identify with everybody -- just kind of float around and hook up with whatever group or issue is at hand. I think that my openness to different ways of thinking and feeling will always keep me focused.”
5.13.05
Photo by Michele Forsten
