Twenty-Year Journey to Graduation

“Speed doesn’t matter. Forward is Forward.”

That’s what SJNY Online‘s Tracie Esposito’s graduation cap is going to say on it this May as she crosses the stage at commencement — 20 years after she started pursuing her degree at St. Joseph’s University, New York.

“I started my endeavor at (then) St. Joseph College in 2004 at the Patchogue location,” Esposito said. “There weren’t many online classes offered at the time. iPhones weren’t invented yet. I was 29 years old.”

Now, the 48-year-old mother and business owner is set to graduate with a B.S. in General Studies and a Minor in Psychology — and a 4.0 GPA.

“I will be graduating this spring, just two months shy of my 49^th birthday,” the East Moriches resident said.

A Start in Sewing

Esposito began sewing when she was a young teen. She credits the hobby with saving her life.

“My father died tragically in a plane crash when I was 11, and life was never the same after that,” she said. “We lost our house and moved above a bar just as I was becoming a teenager; it wasn’t pretty. But then I saw the movie ‘Pretty in Pink,’ and I decided I too could sew my prom dress…and I did! It gave me hope that I could become so much more.”

After graduating from Islip High School in 1993 with a love for fashion, in large part because of Barbie, Esposito began taking fashion merchandising at BOCES in Oakdale.

She then spent two years at Nassau Community College (NCC) where she studied fashion design.

“It was a small yet comprehensive program, with two teachers to 15 students,” Esposito said. “I completed my degree there with a study abroad program in London, where I worked at Parveen Couture as a production assistant.”

A Foot in the Fashion Industry

Her next stop was the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she had been accepted into the upper division of the fashion design program.

“I hated it,” Esposito said. “After one week of classes, I changed my major. After one year, I effectively said goodbye to my bachelor’s degree for the first time.”

Esposito was then hired to work for an evening-wear company on Manhattan’s Seventh Avenue (aka Fashion Ave), which began her long career in the fashion industry. Ten years later, she was offered a position teaching fashion at NCC. While her industry-related experience got her the job of teaching assistant, she needed a bachelor’s degree for full-time employment.

“That’s what led me to St. Joseph’s,” Esposito said. “I began taking classes one night a week, while still working in the garment district and assistant teaching two nights a week. It was a grueling schedule, but I was determined!

“After four semesters, I found out I was pregnant, and my journey changed again,” she continued. “I paused classes and my career to become a stay-at-home mom to my daughter Madison.”

Returning to Work and School

After Madison began kindergarten, Esposito started her at-home business crafting custom-made women’s aprons, which are sold worldwide.

“This part of my journey was the most unexpected, both in wild success (selling my creations to more than 40 countries and all 50 states) and in difficulty in the balancing act of motherhood and career,” Esposito shared.

It was during this time that Esposito started to dive deep into psychology, trying to heal trauma from her own childhood while raising her daughter. Working alongside her psychologist Dr. Diane Brooks, Esposito felt inspired to return to school and pursue her newfound passion.

“In 2021, during a global pandemic and world uncertainty, I blew the dust off my files and made an appointment with the then-assistant director of admissions at St. Joseph’s, Erin Boccio,” she said. “While she no longer works for St. Joe’s, she is without question, 100% the reason I made that final decision to head back to college at 45 years old.”

Esposito also thanked her advisers, who helped answer endless questions for her along the way: Christine Brody, DoriAnne Sapienza and Linda Darroch-Short.

“My hope for my future is to become a ‘sewing therapist’ by merging psychology with fashion,” Esposito said. “I dream of one day starting a nonprofit called ISew, helping to heal trauma in children using sewing as the modality. My heart yearns to encourage young people who have overcome adverse childhood experiences as I have, to help them transform pain into beauty.”

An SJNY Legacy Family

Esposito’s inspiration to attend St. Joseph’s came from her mother-in-law Linda and sister-in-law Lisa. Both had attended St. Joseph’s together and graduated at the same ceremony in 1994, the former with a B.S. in Health Administration and the latter with a B.A. in Child Study.

And as Esposito is preparing for her own graduation from the University, her daughter Madison is getting ready to start hers. She plans to enter in the fall 2025 as a hospitality and tourism management major.

“This University is like home to us all,” Esposito said. “It offers so much value to the community of Long Island, especially for mature students like me. It’s okay that my journey was not linear and took 20 years to complete. St. Joe’s embraces the nontraditional path and, more importantly, the nontraditional student.

“The SJNY community has taught me how to think, how to grow and how to heal, and they have effectively given me the knowledge to help others do the same,” she continued. “I am so very grateful for this opportunity and welcome the next chapter of my story!”