Waterbury, Conn. - At a high tea ceremony held Thurs., March 21, 2013, members of the campus community gathered together to honor the extraordinary lives and achievements of outstanding female NV students. The awardees were nominated by faculty and staff whose lives have been “humbled and inspired” by their students’ strength, patience, commitment and at times superhuman ability to endure and persist both personally and academically.

As a community college, NV welcomes and supports students from all walks of life. The high tea event was established to recognize and acknowledge some of the profoundly challenging circumstances that fellow community members struggle through in order to receive a college education.

This year’s nominees have become successful students while simultaneously dealing with matters of immigration, language barriers, abandonment, untimely death, addiction, disabilities, poverty, abuse, single-parenting and even incarceration.

More so than their adversity, however, these women share a level of fortitude and appreciation that humbled not only their nominating faculty/staff members but also each other.

“I’ve always seen myself as doing what needs to be done,” said one honoree who asked to remain anonymous. “To be recognized with the women whose stories I’ve heard today makes me see myself in a completely different way. I feel proud. Stronger.”

For second semester student Crystle Sadowski, NV has provided needed guidance and support to further her on her path toward becoming a professional dance teacher and performer. Crystle, who was adopted from the Philippines at just 17 months-old, has perhaps faced a more challenging road than most other dance students will.

Shortly after returning with Crystle to the U.S., her parents learned that she was deaf, but that didn’t stop them from dreaming big for their new daughter.

“My parents decided to send me to regular schools and have me mainstreamed instead of to ASD [American School for the Deaf] where most of my friends went,” said Crystle.

That decision gave Crystle the free time to begin learning dance at an early age from her mother and aunt, who together own Gotta Dance Studio in Fairfield, Conn.

​“Before I was even three I was taking dance classes,” said Crystle. “It was hard. Aunt Jeanette would sign the steps and put my hand on the speakers and I could feel the vibrations on the floor. I took ballet, tap and jazz in the beginning, and later added pointe, lyrical and hip-hop.”

​“In grade school I had a cochlear implant, which really helped me hear more of the music. In middle school I tried out for the dance team and I made it. I also started to do competitions with my studio. All my teachers treated me like any other hearing student. No exceptions were made and that made me a better dancer and performer. But the truth is, I have to concentrate and work twice as hard to get the timing.”

​Crystle went to Fairfield High School where she continued on the dance team and earned the rank of captain her senior year. When she graduated, she auditioned for and was accepted into the dance department at Long Island University (L.I.U.).

At L.I.U. Crystle excelled in dance, however, she craved a more balanced education academically. She transferred to Northwestern Connecticut Community College for a short time to catch up on her English and was ultimately advised into Naugatuck Valley, where she could study both dance and more traditional academic subjects.

​“This school has completed me,” she said. ​“I think by being deaf and facing challenges constantly that I have become a better teacher for all my young dancers regardless of their abilities. I have worked with deaf dancers and dancers with Downs Syndrome. I find that I am more patient with them because I know that they may need more time and patience to pick up a step, but when they do, they are so proud and happy to be dancing. My goal in teaching is to provide the best dance class for any student because every student deserves a chance to dance. ​I intend to get a degree to teach dance but I haven’t given up on also performing with a company.”

Stories like Crystle’s abound throughout Naugatuck Valley’s classrooms and so President De Filippis would like to thank the Women’s Tea Celebration Committee - Dana Elm, Yhara P. Zelinka, Karla Ekquist-Lechner and Karen Rotella - for helping these stories be told to our campus. She would especially like to thank Crystle for allowing us to share her story with our friends in the community.

For more information on NV’s outstanding women, contact the NV Women’s Center.