{"id":3077,"date":"2021-04-28T13:37:29","date_gmt":"2021-04-28T13:37:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/?p=3077"},"modified":"2025-02-10T13:08:05","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T18:08:05","slug":"from-the-ground-up-patricia-porcello","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/2021\/04\/28\/from-the-ground-up-patricia-porcello\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Ground Up: Patricia Porcello"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kadence-column3077_fa10ba-66 > .kt-inside-inner-col{padding-right:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-left:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);}.kadence-column3077_fa10ba-66 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column3077_fa10ba-66 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column3077_fa10ba-66 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column3077_fa10ba-66 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column3077_fa10ba-66 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column3077_fa10ba-66 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column3077_fa10ba-66{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column3077_fa10ba-66 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 991px){.kadence-column3077_fa10ba-66 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column3077_fa10ba-66 dynamic-main-col\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\"><style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading3077_cbb7da-2a, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading3077_cbb7da-2a[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading3077_cbb7da-2a\"]{font-size:1.5rem;line-height:30px;font-weight:500;font-style:italic;font-family:proxima-nova;color:#808080;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading3077_cbb7da-2a mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading3077_cbb7da-2a[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading3077_cbb7da-2a\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading3077_cbb7da-2a img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading3077_cbb7da-2a[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading3077_cbb7da-2a\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<p class=\"kt-adv-heading3077_cbb7da-2a wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading3077_cbb7da-2a\">Patricia Porcello hopes that what she\u2019s learning in a master\u2019s degree program will allow her to help others as much as it\u2019s been helping her to navigate the challenges of trauma and recovery in her own life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEverything I went through, I can utilize,\u201d says Porcello, who began the coursework for a master\u2019s in Applied Family Science in January, just a month after completing her Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a certificate in Trauma-Informed Approaches through WilmU Dover. \u201cI\u2019ve found that you can either let adversity define you and even destroy you, or you can put it to use toward something positive. Wilmington University gave me the opportunity to expand my experiences into knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In October of 2012, Porcello was crunching numbers for A&amp;E Networks in New York. \u201cI\u2019d finally gotten promoted to IT finance budget manager,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI was a workaholic. I had a high-powered job. I got the corner office.\u201d She spent some of the vacation days she\u2019d been hoarding on a trip to France while the company renovated her workspace. She never saw the results.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kb-image3077_8b94cf-97 .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image3077_8b94cf-97\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"387\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.test.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Patricia-Porcello-2-e1618948036263-387x480.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-3078\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Patricia-Porcello-2-e1618948036263-387x480.jpg 387w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Patricia-Porcello-2-e1618948036263-202x250.jpg 202w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Patricia-Porcello-2-e1618948036263.jpg 403w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 387px) 100vw, 387px\" \/><figcaption><em>Patricia Porcello with her beloved Chelsea<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>A mishap at Disneyland Paris led to a fall from a roller coaster\u2019s loading platform. The 100-foot drop broke Porcello\u2019s neck, bruised her spinal cord, internally severed her left arm from her torso and her left leg from the knee down. She suffered severe head trauma and damage to many of her internal organs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She was transported to a British hospital for two days in the emergency department, then returned to the U.S. for multiple, lengthy surgeries and intensive physical therapy over the next several years. \u201cIt was like medieval torture, some of the work they put me through,\u201d says Porcello. \u201cMy doctors were telling me, your life as you knew it is over. \u2018You\u2019re never going to be who you were.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Medical treatment was only the beginning of her concerns. While recovering at her parents\u2019 house in East Hanover, New Jersey, and wading through the red tape of health insurance and disability benefits, she lost her job, her fianc\u00e9, and most of her friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI got thrown away. It was like I hadn\u2019t existed,\u201d she says. \u201cI didn\u2019t think I was capable of surviving. You have no idea how angry I was.\u201d That anger, along with her desire to exceed the expectations she\u2019d been given, fueled her recovery efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Physical therapy, Porcello notes, trains you to take care of your basic needs, but there\u2019s a big difference between being able to put on your slippers and being able to play the piano again. She was paralyzed on her left side, with limited movement on her right, and struggling with impaired cognitive abilities. \u201cI couldn\u2019t be fixed unless I knew what I was and wasn\u2019t capable of,\u201d she says. \u201cI needed to take stock of everything I had to work on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Returning to school was one way to find out what recovery was going to require. Porcello attended remedial high school classes in a motorized wheelchair, learning how to read, write, and spell again. After moving from New Jersey to Dover with her mother and father, she earned associate degrees in Marketing and Legal Studies from Delaware Technical Community College, then enrolled in a bachelor\u2019s degree completion program at WilmU in January of 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a change of course from her business background, she decided to study psychology, with the aim of assisting others who\u2019ve suffered life-altering trauma. \u201cThe research I\u2019ve done for my courses has given me the opportunity to expand on the experiences I\u2019ve had,\u201d she says. \u201cBut instead of just dwelling on what\u2019s wrong with me, I try to consider the people who need more than me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide wu-blockquote-row is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-ad2f72ca wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote wu-blockquote-simple is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>I\u2019ve been inspired by the ability to inspire others, to give back. I\u2019ve gotten myself this far, I\u2019m going to work until I get there.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to her undergraduate degree coursework, in which she maintained a 4.0 grade point average, Porcello also planned student events and organized community service efforts as WilmU\u2019s Student Government Association president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t do all that I used to do, but I do a lot,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m a continuous work in progress, though. I have to be careful to not overdo it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes she\u2019s able to cross the room without a walker, but she can\u2019t always comprehend the information on a page. Attention deficit and post-traumatic stress disorders inhibit her ability to concentrate on any given task, and calculating math problems can trigger seizures. Still, she\u2019s able to count her blessings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m crippled for life and in pain every day,\u201d says Porcello. \u201cBut I\u2019ve been given a second chance, and I\u2019m sure not going to waste it. I\u2019m thinking that the back half of my life is going to be more productive. I\u2019m going to make a difference.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Patricia Porcello hopes that what she\u2019s learning in a master\u2019s degree program will allow her to help others as much as it\u2019s been helping her&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[135],"tags":[621],"class_list":["post-3077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-magazine","tag-magazine-spring-2021"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":135,"label":"MAGAZINE"}],"post_tag":[{"value":621,"label":"Magazine Spring 2021"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"Eric Mumford","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/author\/eric\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":135,"name":"MAGAZINE","slug":"magazine","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":692,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":431,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":135,"category_count":431,"category_description":"","cat_name":"MAGAZINE","category_nicename":"magazine","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":621,"name":"Magazine Spring 2021","slug":"magazine-spring-2021","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1178,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":23,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3077"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3077\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15529,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3077\/revisions\/15529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}