Sweet and Incredible Success Story

A SWEET AND INCREDIBLE SUCCESS STORY It always seemed to me that my daughter came out of my womb itching to go to college. She always had a singular focus on high academic achievement, whether it was the uncanny precision she applied to her middle school social studies projects, or the remarkable resume she has been building.

My daughter was also fortunate to have had a Bubbe who loved her with a devotion I had never witnessed before. I would often find her watching her granddaughter sleep for hours, having long conversations with her before there was a chance the baby could understand. Bubbe also had a passion about her hometown of New Haven and its esteemed University and often spoke of a dream that her only grandchild might one day go to Yale. She would drop coins in her piggy bank and repeat “YALE” as each quarter made its satisfying clinking sound.

These memories make it particularly lovely to share that my daughter has accepted a position at what has been her dream job since the time she announced she wanted to be part of the research team leading the field in improving the lives of individuals with autism and their families. My feisty daughter always had lofty goals, but this one stuck.

Autism was part of our lives as we spent as much time as we could around my nephew Sam, and I believe all the love around him planted a deep seed of desire to make a difference in the lives of those effected by autism. She has been on this track, often foregoing the things that most consider fun and worthwhile, like parties, vacations, hang out or holiday time with friends or family, or anything for that matter outside of academics.

Recently she accepted a position as a Sara S. Sparrow Fellow in Clinical Neuroscience at the renowned Yale Child Study Center, a leading institution for clinical research on autism and related disabilities, with a multidisciplinary approach spanning behavioral neuroscience, neuroimaging, genetics, and treatment. After two years I predict she’ll fly into graduate school and make her mark and change the world through cutting edge research.

For now, I am bursting with joy that my daughter has manifested the path she has dreamed of, and all of her sacrifices and hard work has paid off. She is being welcomed with open arms into the Yale Child Study Center, and it warms my heart to see how excited these respected professionals are to have her join them. Melody often asks if I think her grandparents and her Bubbe would be proud of her. It’s hard to know how to best answer her. Proud seems like an understatement of how they would feel. I know there is so much about this sweet success to celebrate!