Through Music, Tenacious Graduate
Hopes to Help Others

Marissa Manzino has spent a lot of time with social workers, some of whom told her she was nothing and called her a waste of space. But Manzino prefers to remember the social workers who inspired her and helped her achieve her dreams. As she graduates from Marymount College of Fordham University with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology, she plans to pursue graduate studies in social service and help others—including those, like herself, who are blind.

“It’s a perfect profession for her,” said Mary Ann Quaranta, Ph.D., provost of Marymount College and former dean of Fordham’s Graduate School of Social Service. “She has empathy and impressive relationship skills and a way of engaging people with her genuine charm. She certainly understands challenges and is aware of adversity in life. These are all things that will help her succeed as a social worker.”

Manzino said people constantly tell her she’s a good listener and is empathetic to their problems. “That’s what a good social worker is,” said Manzino. “I feel my purpose in life is to help people.”

When Manzino, who grew up in Bronxville, N.Y., graduated from Gorton High School in 1999, she became the first blind student in New York State in more than 24 years to earn a Regents Diploma. She was offered a scholarship to Marymount and enthusiastically enrolled in the small, women’s Catholic college.

Manzino navigates the hilly campus using a cane. She brings an electronic device to her classes that enables her to take notes in braille. Specialized computer equipment in her residence hall room scans classroom handouts and reads them aloud to her. She types her papers on the same computer and uses a braille printer.

Manzino’s listening skills will not only benefit her as a social worker. They will continue to serve her as a musician as well. During her freshman year, a Sarah McLachlan song heard on the radio inspired the dean’s list student to try singing and songwriting herself. She began taking guitar and piano classes at Marymount and soon added private lessons with accomplished teachers on weekends.

By her junior year, Manzino had composed 23 songs and was performing to adoring crowds on campus. With funding from her grandmother, she rented studio time and recorded eight of her folk-pop songs. She is now selling her CD, The Acoustic Experience, on the Internet and independent radio stations as far away as Yugoslavia are playing her tunes.

Manzino plans to combine her musical talents with a career in social service. She got a taste of the mixture last summer, when she worked as children’s music director at the White Plains YMCA. Among other songs, Manzino taught her students one of her original compositions, “Go For the Gold,” which they chose to perform publicly. The song’s lyrics speak to Manzino’s tenacity, a lesson she hopes to instill in the children she mentors: “Give me optimism keep me safe and warm/Give me shelter from this pessimistic storm/In time you will make your way/With persistence will come your day.”

Manzino, who minored in music, soon plans to record a follow-up CD of 15 songs. This time, she will accompany herself on a new electric guitar and try to incorporate more complex harmonies and post-production work. She will perform in a Bronxville coffeehouse this summer and work to find an agent. She said she would eventually like to move to Boston, where there is more of a folk-music scene.

“I got into music to brighten people’s days,” she said. “I hope that everyone who listens to my music finds solace and peace.” This hope is also what drives her to pursue a career in social work. “There would be no greater reward than to use my music as a tool of healing.”

You can listen to some of Marissa Manzino’s songs at www.cdbaby.com/marissa

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Through Music, Tenacious Graduate Hopes to Help Others

Through Music, Tenacious Graduate
Hopes to Help Others