By Melanie DeStefano

Graduating from college is a cause for celebration for every student, but for one Warren Community College graduate this year, the seven-year journey was infinitely more arduous than she could have imagined. 

Carissa Cirotti graduated from Warren in Fall 2019 with an associate degree in Liberal Arts with honors and was hoping to walk at this Spring’s commencement ceremony which had been scheduled for this past Saturday, May 16. The commencement was postponed for now due to COVID-19, but for Carissa, that was just another small bump in the road in her life.

Life had been a typical one for any college student. In 2013, Carissa was a freshman at Montclair State University. A recent graduate of Warren Hills Regional High School, she was dual majoring in history and education with a minor in special education through its five-year master’s degree program.  

She was achieving high grades and found she enjoyed the freedom and challenge of college.  

But on February 10, 2013, all that changed. The 19-year-old complained of a headache strong enough to make her sick. Then, an unknown brain aneurysm ruptured, causing a stroke.  

An aneurysm is caused by the weakening of an arterial wall in the brain. Doctors would tell her that she was born with it and, though rare, a rupture was inevitable in her case. 

Carissa was in a coma for 28 days at New York-Presbyterian Hospital (NYPH). When she woke up, she was transferred to Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in Chester, N.J. for two months of inpatient care, but the work had just begun. 

“I was a 19-year-old baby,” she said. “I was retaught how to stand up, walk, talk, how to eat and drink by myself, how to read. Even how to hold a pencil and spell my name.” 

She had to return to NYPH in May 2013 for a cranioplasty, during which half of her skull was replaced with strong plastic. She then had more than two years’ worth of outpatient care to work on her physical and mental abilities. 

“While learning my everyday tasks, I so badly wanted to go back to school,” she said.  

She talked to her parents, Arthur and Colleen Cirotti, about attending Warren Community College. They made her a deal. If she took it slow and audited a class or two before leaping all in, she could go back to school. 

“Carissa is a beautiful young lady that has amazing resilience and grace,” said Warren Community College’s Disability Services Coordinator and Academic Advisor Rebecca Mellinger, who has worked closely with Carissa during her time at Warren. She also described Carissa as determined and someone who won’t give up.   

Carissa found things more difficult than she’d anticipated, but also found a support system that helped keep her afloat. 

“Classes weren’t as easy as I thought they should have been,” she said, but “all of my professors were wonderful and were always there when I needed help.” 

Whether they were fielding her “millions” of questions or accommodating her need for extra time for tests and quizzes, everyone at Warren sought to provide her the tools needed for success. 

When she finished classes in the Fall 2019 semester, she began a new journey at the College. 

A consumer at Abilities of Northwest Jersey, Inc., which improves the employability and quality of life for people with disabilities by providing training and individualized services, since 2015, Carissa recently took on a new role as part-time staff.  

“It is a place that makes everyone equal to everyone else,” she said. “Abilities to me is more than a job, but more like a second family. I plan on working at Abilities for my life.” 

In her new role, she works at the Abilities’ college store on Warren’s main campus in Washington Township.  

The store sells school apparel printed at PrintAbilities in Washington, an Abilities-run screen-printing store, and is always looking for more ideas for products. 

Carissa’s commitment to helping others goes beyond the College. She is a member of the Warren County Division of Aging and Disability Services Advisory Council on Disabilities. Just another way that she will continue to buck the odds and seek her long-term goals, wherever they may take her.