“You know that kid on your block who was older than you and was great at sports, who had a great dog that he didn’t have to walk on a leash, who everybody wanted to be when they grew up? He wore that jacket,” says Gulotta, who grew up in Queens, “and that’s when I first came to know of Fordham.”

Gulotta went on to graduate from Fordham College at Lincoln Center in 1982 and, after two years, returned to Fordham for law school. Now a Manhattan real estate attorney with his own firm and the founding CEO of a data protection company, he shares his love of Fordham with others through teaching and mentorship.

Gulotta says he was drawn to real estate law because it allows him to work on a transaction with a client from start to finish. And it was particularly important for him to start his own firm because he wanted to create his own culture—a culture inspired by one he found within the Fordham community.

“I wanted to create my own soil, if you will, where I could blossom the most” and help employees and clients do the same, Gulotta says. “As a businessperson, I don’t want to take advantage of people. I want to invest in my employees and let them know I am loyal to them so they too could thrive. And I wanted to figure out what my clients were going to want before they asked for it.”

That’s what drove him to co-found Real Estate Data Shield in 2012. He had noticed a big compliance gap in the mortgage industry: Banks and other lenders regularly share consumers’ non-public personal information (Social Security numbers, tax records, etc.) with title companies, attorneys, and other third-party vendors—not all of whom adhere to the same strict laws when it comes to safeguarding consumers’ data.

His response wasn’t what one might expect. Instead of developing a technological solution, he helped create a compliance and information security training program specifically tailored to the real estate industry. “That’s because the single greatest risk factor in any kind of information security is the human,” he says. “Depending on the study you read, about 40% of all incidents can be traced back to human misfeasance or malfeasance.”

It’s what he’s best known for in the field, and it’s an insight he shares with his students at Fordham’s Real Estate Institute, where he teaches a course on legal concepts in real estate. The institute, founded in 2016, offers an M.S. and several graduate and professional certificate programs in real estate finance, development, and construction management. “I love working with the students,” he says. “For most of them, it’s their first Fordham experience. And I get to give them guidance and mentorship, to bridge the gaps and actually get down in the trenches and coach them in a personalized way, just as my Fordham professors coached me.”

He brings that same mindset to the Fordham Mentoring Program, where he has been volunteering for 10 years. Each year he is paired with a new mentee, but he’s also done training sessions for his fellow mentors. His biggest tip? “I tell them that before you start offering advice, listen. Really listen and understand who you’re working with, what their strengths and weaknesses are, what their aspirations are, and what they need from you” he says. “Build trust and be a good listener.”

He is proud to have played a small role in how the 15-year-old program has blossomed, growing from just a few dozen mentors in its first year to more than 200 today. Gulotta has been most impressed with the addition of new events like speed interviewing and social outings, where mentors and mentees can bond.

While he has remained connected to all of his previous mentees in some way, he has formed a particularly strong bond with his first: Brandon Brown, GABELLI ’10, who was recently promoted to director of pro scouting for the Philadelphia Eagles.

“Chris was like a sounding board for me,” Brown says of Gulotta’s role in helping him figure out his next steps when he realized he wouldn’t have a playing career in the NFL. “He was like, ‘Hey, can I help you think through that?’ He wasn’t pushing. That’s where I think the foundation for a long-term relationship was built for us.

“I don’t even consider him a mentor anymore,” Brown says. “I consider him a family friend who I lean on heavily for advice.”

Gulotta says he gets more out of working with each student than he ever anticipated.

“You know, there’s a counterintuitive reward from giving. You think if you give something, you have less, because you just gave something away,” he says. “But it actually comes back in spades.”

Fordham Five

What are you most passionate about?
In business, always focusing on being relevant and being known for doing it right.

In my family life as a husband, father, son, et cetera, I’m most passionate about understanding how to best support those I care most about—being mindful of giving them what they need, the way they need it, as much as possible.

And, on a very personal level, it’s two things. The first is staying calm enough, through all the stress and multitasking, so as to let those great realizations form or emerge and not rush into bad decisions. It’s the Xing Yi concept of “no mind,” erasing the cluttered blackboard that is our mind so these great ideas can present themselves. And the second is challenging myself physically, being willing to see and feel my limits and working to see those measures change, hopefully for the better.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Actually, there are a few, but two are from Father John Adam, who taught me at Fordham: “Life doesn’t work if you don’t keep your promises.” And “The mind is like a parachute; if it’s not open, it doesn’t work.” I think he meant the first one just as much about yourself as about others. We all have rationalizations to get through the day, but if we really start lying to ourselves, life just doesn’t work. The second piece of advice was just very vivid and stuck with me. It reminds me to be as open-minded as possible.

What’s your favorite place in New York City? In the world?
In New York City, it would be either Central Park or Riverside Park. Both offer incredible views, allowing us New Yorkers the opportunity to find calm, run, bike, walk, visit with friends, and get some balance from all the stress we find in the other parts of NYC.

In the world, it would be a toss-up between Cathedral Brook, which is a remote ski trail at Belleayre Mountain in New York, and Northern Italy’s Val D’Aosta. It’s lined with former Roman forts (now museums and inns), has gorgeous, glacier-fed, fast-flowing rivers, and the Nebbiolo grape is happy there.

Of course, any mountain, beach, forest, greenway, or my living room with my family and pooches also works.

Name a book that has had a lasting influence on you.
This is the toughest question you’ve asked. At 21, in my senior year at FCLC, I took a course called Philosophy of the Absurd with Professor Bernadette Bucher, who was born and raised in France. She had actually studied under Jean Paul Sartre. Assigned readings included Albert Camus’ “The Myth of Sisyphus,” written during the Nazi occupation of France.

We all know the story of the Greek myth. Sisyphus had been naughty, and the gods had sentenced him to pushing a boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back down each day—an eternity of hopeless struggle. Yet Camus tells us that he envisions Sisyphus happy or content, for he has accepted his fate and his struggle. And in doing so, he rises above it and has ultimately found contentment.

Life throws a lot of curveballs at us, both good and bad. It’s tempting to give up or think we’re victims. Facing challenges—understanding that the sooner we start trying to tackle them, the better off we are—and then smiling at and accepting the course of our journey was my personal takeaway.

Who is the Fordham grad or professor you admire most?
This is the easiest question, but I cannot answer it without mentioning both the Fordham grad and professor I admire most.

The Fordham grad would be my very first mentee, Brandon Brown. Nearly 10 years ago, he was a young man on a football scholarship at Fordham. In his junior year, he realized that for various reasons the NFL draft wasn’t a likely possibility for him. It was a sad realization for a truly gifted athlete who worked tirelessly since he was 10 years old on his fitness, technique, and understanding of the game. Yet he pulled himself up by the bootstraps, accepted this new reality, improved his academics, attended law school, and found his way back to his true passion as a football scout for Boston College. Within two years he moved up to the NFL as a scout for the Indianapolis Colts and was later recruited by the Philadelphia Eagles, where he now plays an integral role for the 2018 Super Bowl champions as the director of pro scouting.

Most mentor-mentee stories involve the mentor inspiring the mentee. But thankfully, in this instance, Brandon’s constant pushing of that boulder up the hill has and continues to inspire me.

As for Fordham professors, both Father Adam and Professor Bernard Gilligan, one an actual Jesuit and the other a virtual Jesuit, demonstrated a level of care, kindness, and joy in their teaching craft by helping scores of Fordham students like myself learn how to think, how to question, how to articulate, and how to reason. They are the embodiment of what makes Fordham special for me and are the very reason that I mentored Brandon and scores of great young women and men—and will joyfully continue to do so.

Enter the Fordham Mentoring Program. Now in its 15th year, the program connects alumni with current students in an effort to provide young professionals with someone they can turn to for guidance in their future careers.

A joint venture between the offices of Career Services and Alumni Relations, the program runs from October to May. Mentors are asked to commit to 24 hours a year with the intention of providing a few hours each month. Alumni from every undergraduate, graduate, and professional school can participate as mentors, and the program is open to all juniors and seniors.

What started with just a few dozen mentors in its first year has grown to include 216 alumni—and a host of success stories.

Preparing for the Professional World

Alumni mentors do everything from reviewing student resumes to attending networking events. There are also three annual events each year that mentors and mentees are encouraged to attend: a meet and greet, a networking skills workshop, and a mentor appreciation reception.

On Jan. 22, the program hosted this year’s networking skills workshop at the Lincoln Center Campus.

Spearheaded by Matthew Burns, FCRH ’13, assistant director for young alumni and student engagement, and Megan McDonald, FCRH ’14, assistant director of employer relations, the event began with a short presentation on general interviewing tips by Annette McLaughlin, director of career services.

McLaughlin, who worked in recruiting for several years, stressed the importance of preparation—researching and learning as much as possible about a company before interviewing. A candidate should also know what is important to them in a job, she said, practice their interviewing skills, and remember to relax during the interview.

To offer some hands-on practice, the workshop consisted of a mock interview session focused on finessing a student’s interviewing skills. Mentor-student pairs sat at round tables for seven-minute “interviews,” with time allotted for introductions, one question, answers, and feedback. Students rotated seats when their time was up and continued doing so until the end of the workshop.

The workshop was just one of many ways the program strives to give students tools for their future early on in their careers.

“This program is unique in that it’s an opportunity for Fordham students to interact with alumni in a way that is guaranteed to provide career guidance and support before they begin their own career journey beyond Fordham’s gates. Many students crave such networking opportunities but don’t feel comfortable reaching out on their own, so the Mentoring Program initiates those relationships for them and coaches them on how to maintain a mentoring relationship for the duration of the program and after,” said McLaughlin.

Life Lessons From Experienced Mentors

Alumna Michelle Hopson, PCS ’08, and current Fordham College at Rose Hill senior Wanida “Ting” Yana were matched up as mentor and mentee last October. Yana, an international studies major with a double minor in sociology and humanitarian studies, was pleased to be matched up with Hopson, who works as a consultant for nonprofit organizations.

“She’s given me a lot of helpful advice because she’s also a consultant, which is one of the things I aspire to be. It was really good to be able to hear from someone who actually works in the career that I want to be [in],” Yana said of her mentor.

Yana also found common ground in their similar backgrounds, commenting that “Michelle’s ethnically Filipino and I’m from Thailand, so we both have that international background in a way. So it was easy to bond over that.”

Hopson, who has been involved in the program for several years, finds real value in imparting her wisdom onto current students. She said she employs a hands-off strategy as a mentor: “I’m not there to do any work … but really coaching, motivation, giving the tools, giving the resources.” She said she helps students through a variety of issues, “from the decision about the next step and going to school internationally, to what type of industry they should be in, to the day-to-day questions, like how do I deal with this boss who’s like this.” With these skills, Hopson hopes to give her mentees the tools to effectively and independently solve their problems.

The Benefits of Being a Mentor

Students are not the only ones who benefit from the program. Hopson says that thanks to her mentees, she has continued on her journey of being a lifelong learner.

“I always tell myself I mentor because I want to learn … I wanted to bring back the things that helped me become who I am. I had a mentor myself and I knew with just these life skills, and practical wisdom, and these strategies, I was able to be where I was, where I am today.”

One success story from the program comes from a mentor-mentee pair that have been in touch for nearly a decade. Christopher Gullotta, FCLC ’82, and Brandon Brown, GABELLI ’10, met in fall 2009 when they were matched up by the mentoring program.

According to Gullotta, Brown was at a major crossroads when they were first matched up as a pair. Brown was a scholarship athlete on Fordham’s football team who was considering a career in law after realizing the NFL was becoming less of a possibility. With Gullotta’s guidance, Brown ended up going to law school and now serves as the assistant director of pro scouting with the Philadelphia Eagles. The men have remained close friends.

“My wife and children have come to know Brandon well. We attend each other’s significant family gatherings. And I go to Philadelphia every year to visit with Brandon and catch an Eagles game,” said Gullotta.

Gullotta wanted to become a mentor after two of his professors, John Adam, S.J., and philosophy professor Bernard Gilligan, took a special interest in him. “[They] helped me develop the critical thinking and advocacy skills that I would not have survived without in law school or in private practice. They embodied the spirit of Fordham, and I try to do likewise.”

Hopson continues to be a mentor in the “Fordham way,” she said. “You are out there continuing to develop yourself, continuing to be a critical thinker, continuing to reflect, to compare yourself not to anybody else but to who you were yesterday, to keep growing, to keep burning off all that stuff that didn’t work, that worked yesterday and no longer works for today, and not getting stuck in the past. That’s really what growth is about and that’s, for me, what Fordham kind of equals.

“I took a train here, took two subways and I’d still do it every day if needed after a full day of work and talking to clients and doing all that stuff. It’s so rewarding and I know there’s a place for people like me here.”

Morgan Vazquez, FCRH ’13, hasn’t missed a Fordham home football game in four years. She even builds her schedule around the team’s calendar. But Vazquez doesn’t just have school spirit—she embodies the Fordham spirit of being a woman for others.

Since graduating from Fordham with a double major in sociology and communication and media studies, Vazquez has dedicated herself to paying forward all of the support she’s received. “I want to feel that I’m contributing to the greater good,” she explains.

Vazquez received a full scholarship to Fordham from JPMorgan Chase. She interned at the company throughout her college career as part of their Smart Start program before ultimately landing a full-time job in the company’s HR division.

“I loved the whole focus on mentorship and developing the junior talent, and of having a job that would let me help and mentor people directly,” she says. Now the vice president of campus strategy and pipeline development at BNY Mellon, where she manages junior analyst, leadership, and recruitment programs internationally, she often comes back to campus to give Fordham students career advice.

Vazquez has three tips she gives all job seekers. First, she encourages students to rethink their idea of networking. “Networking isn’t about getting people’s business cards and reaching out when you need them. It’s about having the opportunity to connect with people and build a genuine relationship,” Vazquez explains.

She also encourages them to take advantage of the extra resources available to them through the University, like the Fordham Mentoring Program, which pairs alumni with students interested in their industries in a one-on-one mentor-mentee relationship. Vazquez is applying to become a mentor this year.

Fordham’s career services and alumni offices also offer many career development opportunities. That’s how Vazquez first met Jean Wynn, MC ’80, a managing director and chief of staff to the president at BNY Mellon. Vazquez had been involved with Fordham’s Smart Women Securities as a student; she first connected with Wynn at an alumni event hosted by the group. “She’s an inspiration for others and a terrific role model,” Wynn says of Vazquez, who now works with her.

Her last piece of advice is to “be yourself. You can’t sound scripted and robotic. Recruiters and potential bosses want to see someone smart but also a genuine person, an individual.”

Recently Vazquez gave similar advice at the annual Association of Latino Professionals for America convention in Dallas on behalf of BNY Mellon. “The goal is to encourage leadership and empower Latinos and Latinas, especially youth, to bridge the gaps, to see the power we have as a collective community,” she says.

She says Fordham was the perfect place to embrace her own multilayered identity. “I’m Hispanic, but I was also president of the Jewish Student Organization on campus,” says Vazquez, who is the daughter of a Puerto Rican father and a Jewish mother. “Fordham encourages you to grow your own faith, your own individuality, regardless of what that is. Fordham embraces differences and diversity, and that helped shape me as an individual,” she says.

It’s part of why she’s stayed connected to Fordham in so many ways, including through the Young Alumni Committee. “It’s so important to reflect on what you have. If I didn’t get that scholarship, would I have this career I love? If I didn’t go to Fordham, how different would my life be? Would I have these amazing friends?”

“I’m motivated to give back,” she says, “because I want others to have the same experience I had at Fordham. I couldn’t have gotten here without support. Now I want to be that resource.”

According to the 16th-century founder of the Jesuits, “A little holiness and great health of body does more in the care of souls than great holiness and little health.”

In other words, says Nardone—a board-certified OB/GYN with a passion for nutrition and more than 30 years of clinical experience—no matter what you do, “if you’re healthy, you can fulfill your responsibilities all the better.”

We asked Nardone for her advice on getting and staying fit throughout the year.

1. Be Practical

Set achievable goals, and don’t be too hard on yourself.

“Patients tell me, ‘Oh, doc, 20 years ago, I was your size.’ And I say, OK, it took you 20 years to (gain the weight); it’s not going to come off in 20 days,” Nardone says.

The goal is to get and stay in a range that’s healthy for you—one that’s not only appropriate for your age and in line with your genetic makeup but also compatible with normal blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and glucose tolerance.

“The worst thing is yo-yo dieting—up and down, up and down,” she says, which puts a lot of stress on your heart, your vascular system, and your entire body. “You should always try to stay within a seven-pound range that you can maintain without dieting or worrying every day.”

2. Weigh In Regularly (But Not Obsessively)

Get a scale you like and use it wisely, Nardone says.

“You can lie to yourself—oh, I’m fine—but your scale doesn’t lie. So you should weigh yourself once a week or once every two weeks. Patients will come to me once a year, and they’re surprised that they’ve gained 15 pounds. How could you not notice?”

But don’t “get obsessed with it,” Nardone adds, “and never weigh yourself every day.”

3. Prioritize Exercise

Daily exercise will help stem weight gain and improve your mood, so treat your workout like a social commitment.

“Mornings are probably best because later never comes. If you’re a mom and a working mom, you know what that means: later never comes,” Nardone says.

But allow for some flexibility in your routine, she adds.

“If the gym is closed, go for a walk or do a workout video on YouTube at home. And you can take the stairs instead of the elevator or walk around the block at lunchtime. You don’t need to belong to a gym to be physically active.”

4. Make Smart Swaps

Some simple recipe adjustments can go a long way toward reducing fat, salt, and calories in your meals—and improving your health, Nardone says.

• Try half-and-half or 2 percent milk when recipes call for cream.
• When cooking with butter, use half the amount called for in the recipe.
• Use low-sodium stocks (and don’t add salt) when making soups or gravy.
• Use olive or nut oils when sautéing.
• Add more vegetables like roasted carrots, peas, broccoli, and brussels sprouts (“You want a very colorful dish!”) instead of starchy sides such as potatoes and pasta.
• Choose lean cuts of meats and poultry that are fresh and farm raised.
• Serve water or club soda. Keep alcohol consumption to a minimum. And ditch sodas and juices entirely. “They’re just wasted calories,” she says, “and loaded with sugar and additives.”

5. Manage Stress

Use exercise and healthy food habits to reduce stress.

“Number one, exercise is a great release for stress. And it takes time, but you have to plan your meals. Don’t allow yourself not to be eating. You need breakfast, you need a lunch, and you should keep some healthy snacks, like low-fat granola, in your drawer,” Nardone says.

“If you’re stressed but you’re hungry or you’re not drinking enough and your blood sugar’s dropping, you get shaky. One component of stress you can control is eating, so eat the right things.”

Last but not least, she says, “Don’t use eating as an activity. Do something active instead. You’ll enjoy your food all the more when you’ve earned it!”

Adelaide Nardone, MD, FACOG, earned a BS at Fordham and an MD at New York Medical College. She was a clinical instructor at Brown University and the University of Rhode Island. And she’s been an instructor and a wellness consultant at Fordham, where she has offered one-on-one career guidance to students through the Fordham Mentoring Program.

In 2014, she spoke with FORDHAM magazine about her family’s ties to Fordham and her participation in the mentoring program.

Photo by Bruce Gilbert

“I really fell on the floor. But when I took her to visit the Lincoln Center campus, with all the sirens, and the horns beeping, and the drilling in the street, and everything going on, she loved it. It was music to her ears.”

Though they thrive in two very different environments, Cirillo says that “we both love our Fordham experiences.”

“I loved throwing myself in the grass and lounging on Eddies Parade. She’s a city person who needs action all the time. But it’s still Fordham—it’s the same supportive people, the same outstanding classes, the same community.”

Case in point: both Cirillo and his daughter, now a senior, are members of the Fordham Mentoring Program. When Fordham’s various mentoring programs were combined and relaunched in 2012, Cirillo was one of the first to sign up.

“When the University asked if I would want to mentor current Fordham students, I said, ‘Absolutely, I’m in!’”

Cirillo is particularly excited about the program because he credits Fordham’s alumni connections with launching his own business career. When an IBM executive and Fordham alumnus came to campus looking for interns during Cirillo’s junior year, he says, “I went to meet him, heard him speak for an hour in Freeman Hall, submitted my resume, and three days later I got an offer.”

The internship at IBM was Cirillo’s first professional accounting job. He is now a vice president and chief accounting officer for a consumer products company.

“A resume isn’t built in a day,” he says, “and mine started at Fordham, with the wonderful professors and that internship that came from an alum.”

Each year, Cirillo is matched with a Gabelli School student who has applied and been accepted into the mentoring program. “I hear myself in them,” he says. “And I always tell them: ‘Make your mistakes with me. Don’t make them on an interview or in business.’”

And, last year, his daughter joined the program as a mentee. A communications major and part-time model with her own fashion blog, Clare was paired with Andrea Heaney, FCRH ’07, a marketing professional.

“As a college student you don’t always get to connect with people in your potential future field. The program really gives you a feel for your industry and gives you a one-up against other college kids,” says Clare. “And I think it will help me combine my modeling experience, my major, and my blog so I can do something bigger and more collaborative after graduation.”

At this past spring’s Mentor Appreciation Dinner, Cirillo and his mentee sat at the same table as Clare and her mentor. “It doesn’t get better than that,” says Cirillo.

Clare agrees. “My dad and I are super close. And it’s cool that we have these Fordham and Jesuit values in common. I had to explain to people at the table that he wasn’t my mentor; he is my dad.”

When the pair left the Lincoln Center campus after dinner that evening, Clare hailed a cab for her father. “He’s not the biggest city person,” says Clare, “so the roles sometimes reverse. I kind of show him the reins with that, and he shows me around the Rose Hill campus.”

When in Manhattan, Cirillo says, “I have to follow her lead. She’s a real New York City girl.”

But he thinks the mentoring program will help his daughter jumpstart her career the same way Fordham once helped him.

“And, you know, it’s very typical of Fordham,” he says. “Fordham alumni do things like this—they’re caring, they love the school, and they don’t forget.”

Chukwuneke, who is majoring in general science with a minor in chemistry and creative writing, has found a good match with her mentor. “He’s destroyed every stereotype [I’ve had] about doctors. He’s one of the funniest persons I know, and he has wonderful rapport with his patients,” she says. “I just watch [him]and think, this is how it’s supposed to be.”

Throughout the year, she’s watched Longobardi, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist, perform several surgeries, and she’s shadowed him during his rounds in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center, where he is an assistant professor of clinical orthopaedic surgery.

“The fact that he’s allowed me in to see surgeries—it’s an opportunity you don’t [often]get [as an undergraduate],” says Chukwuneke, “it’s what medical students get.” She says Longobardi also quizzes her about what she sees on X-rays, explains anything that she finds confusing, and asks her about her Fordham science classes. “He just treats me like a student interested in medicine. ‘See what you like, see what you don’t like.’ I think that is great.”

Longobardi, who has been a mentor in the Fordham Mentoring Program for four years, says, “No one learns in a vacuum. We’ve all been taught by other people. I try to impart some of the things [my teachers]taught me about taking care of people.”

It was after he broke his wrist as a freshman at Fordham that led Longobardi to one of his mentors, Kenneth Kamler, M.D., a microsurgeon specializing in hand reconstruction and finger reattachment, and an eminent adventure physician who practices medicine in remote regions. “I met him right after he came back from an expedition to the Amazon,” says Longobardi. “I was taking general chemistry then and while he was putting the cast on my arm, we were talking about the chemical reactions happening. He always made it very easy to understand what’s going on in orthopedics. That’s something that I always admired and always tried to replicate.”

It was that experience with Kamler, whom Longobardi calls “a mentor, an inspiration then, and friend to this day,” that spurred his interest in orthopedics. The interest was enhanced by his construction work experience during high school and college. “I had some ideas about drills and saws, so orthopedics kind of came naturally. But it’s not for everyone,” he says.

After observing a knee replacement surgery, Chukwuneke knew she could stomach being a doctor, but her career aspirations lie in becoming a reconstructive plastic surgeon. In 2005, when Chukwuneke was a student at the Loyola Jesuit College in Nigeria, Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 crashed in Omagwa, killing 108 people, including 60 students from the school. One of the two survivors, a friend of Chukwuneke’s, was critically burned. “I watched how she struggled through one plastic surgery after another,” says Chukwuneke. “She’s so much better now than she was.”

Chukwuneke sees plastic surgery as an outlet for her creative side. “I believe science and art are inseparable and for this reason, I tend to incorporate both in nearly everything that I do,” says Chukwuneke, who sings with Fordham’s Gloria Dei Choir and attends performances at the Metropolitan Opera and New York City Ballet as often as she can. “Plastic surgery is the one place in medicine where I could explore both sides of me.”

She’s also sharing some of her varied interests by tutoring and counseling high school and Fordham students. Through a summer program in Fordham’s Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program, Chukwuneke has tutored local 10th and 11th graders in poetry and calculus, and counseled them on the college experience. Since her sophomore year she has been providing tutoring assistance in math, music history, and general chemistry to students in Fordham’s Higher Education Opportunity Program. “I love it,” she says. “It’s really rewarding for me.”

Longobardi finds fulfillment, too, in sharing his knowledge with students. A member of the admissions committee at the NYU School of Medicine, he’s conducted mock interviews with Fordham students preparing for medical school admission and given lectures to pre-health professions students.

“I really love the University. I always feel you need to give back and give back not just by giving monetary donations,” Longobardi says. “What’s really going to help students is guidance. And if there are areas that you can help in that way, that’s what’s going to make the programs at Fordham better, and give the students a better edge so that they can make better and more intelligent decisions.”

His “take-home message” to students is to “find what you really love,” says Longobardi, an avid baseball and football fan who has treated athletes from the New York Islanders, Florida Marlins, and University of Tennessee. “If you’re going to spend your life doing something, find something you love.”

—Rachel Buttner

Chukwuneke, who is majoring in general science with a minor in chemistry and creative writing, has found a good match with her mentor. “He’s destroyed every stereotype [I’ve had] about doctors. He’s one of the funniest persons I know, and he has wonderful rapport with his patients,” she says. “I just watch [him]and think, this is how it’s supposed to be.”

“The fact that he’s allowed me in to see surgeries—it’s an opportunity you don’t [often]get [as an undergraduate],” says Chukwuneke, “it’s what medical students get.” She says Longobardi also quizzes her about what she sees on X-rays, explains anything that she finds confusing, and asks her about her Fordham science classes. “He just treats me like a student interested in medicine. ‘See what you like, see what you don’t like.’ I think that is great.”Throughout the year, she’s watched Longobardi, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist, perform several surgeries, and she’s shadowed him during his rounds in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center, where he is an assistant professor of clinical orthopaedic surgery.

Longobardi, who has been a mentor in the Fordham Mentoring Program for four years, says, “No one learns in a vacuum. We’ve all been taught by other people. I try to impart some of the things [my teachers]taught me about taking care of people.”

It was after he broke his wrist as a freshman at Fordham that led Longobardi to one of his mentors, Kenneth Kamler, M.D., a microsurgeon specializing in hand reconstruction and finger reattachment, and an eminent adventure physician who practices medicine in remote regions. “I met him right after he came back from an expedition to the Amazon,” says Longobardi. “I was taking general chemistry then and while he was putting the cast on my arm, we were talking about the chemical reactions happening. He always made it very easy to understand what’s going on in orthopedics. That’s something that I always admired and always tried to replicate.”

It was that experience with Kamler, whom Longobardi calls “a mentor, an inspiration then, and friend to this day,” that spurred his interest in orthopedics. The interest was enhanced by his construction work experience during high school and college. “I had some ideas about drills and saws, so orthopedics kind of came naturally. But it’s not for everyone,” he says.

After observing a knee replacement surgery, Chukwuneke knew she could stomach being a doctor, but her career aspirations lie in becoming a reconstructive plastic surgeon. In 2005, when Chukwuneke was a student at the Loyola Jesuit College in Nigeria, Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 crashed in Omagwa, killing 108 people, including 60 students from the school. One of the two survivors, a friend of Chukwuneke’s, was critically burned. “I watched how she struggled through one plastic surgery after another,” says Chukwuneke. “She’s so much better now than she was.”

Chukwuneke sees plastic surgery as an outlet for her creative side. “I believe science and art are inseparable and for this reason, I tend to incorporate both in nearly everything that I do,” says Chukwuneke, who sings with Fordham’s Gloria Dei Choir and attends performances at the Metropolitan Opera and New York City Ballet as often as she can. “Plastic surgery is the one place in medicine where I could explore both sides of me.”

She’s also sharing some of her varied interests by tutoring and counseling high school and Fordham students. Through a summer program in Fordham’s Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program, Chukwuneke has tutored local 10th and 11th graders in poetry and calculus, and counseled them on the college experience. Since her sophomore year she has been providing tutoring assistance in math, music history, and general chemistry to students in Fordham’s Higher Education Opportunity Program. “I love it,” she says. “It’s really rewarding for me.”

Longobardi finds fulfillment, too, in sharing his knowledge with students. A member of the admissions committee at the NYU School of Medicine, he’s conducted mock interviews with Fordham students preparing for medical school admission and given lectures to pre-health professions students.

“I really love the University. I always feel you need to give back and give back not just by giving monetary donations,” Longobardi says. “What’s really going to help students is guidance. And if there are areas that you can help in that way, that’s what’s going to make the programs at Fordham better, and give the students a better edge so that they can make better and more intelligent decisions.”

His “take-home message” to students is to “find what you really love,” says Longobardi, an avid baseball and football fan who has treated athletes from the New York Islanders, Florida Marlins, and University of Tennessee. “If you’re going to spend your life doing something, find something you love.”

– Rachel Buttner