Marathon Bombing Survivor Returns to Alma Mater with Inspiring Message for Students
11/24/2015
By Ed Brennen
She was there as featured guest of the Manning School of Business’ new Women in Business Speaker Series, but the message Boston Marathon bombing survivor Roseann Sdoia delivered to a packed Moloney Hall crowd applied to everyone, regardless of gender or career path.
Sdoia, a 1991 graduate of the business school, lost her right leg in the 2013 Boylston Street bombings that killed three and wounded more than 260. She shared the life lessons that are still helping her get through the ordeal — keep a positive attitude, rely on the support of others and always set new goals — with nearly 300 students, faculty and staff at the University Crossing event.
“We all have these obstacles in life,” Sdoia said. “Because of the support I’ve received from so many people, I find it important to share my message with groups such as yourselves, because at some point you may face adversity and you need to understand you will find the strength to move on and to be unstoppable, just as I did.”
Lisa Armstrong, coordinator of student success for the Manning School who helped launch the speaker series last spring, was an Alpha Omega sorority sister with Sdoia during their days together at the University of Lowell.
“I thought it would be a good inspiration for women in the business school to hear her story and the major obstacles that she’s overcome in life and in business,” said Armstrong, who was among a small army of friends who helped Sdoia readjust to life in her North End walk-up apartment after her monthlong hospitalization.
“Roseann truly represents the type of leader that we hope to profile through this series,” added Manning School interim Dean Scott Latham. “She is living proof that our spirits cannot be broken.”
Chancellor Jacquie Moloney, who opened the event with a moment of silence for victims of all recent terrorist attacks around the world, said Sdoia’s message was especially timely.
“I know that we can learn from her resilience, her determination and hope,” said Moloney, who added the speaker series is just one way the Manning School is preparing students for success in a world where inequality still exists. “By having this kind of forum, the men and women in the Manning School of Business will get the tools they need to work as equal partners and to build business, to be entrepreneurs and to take business into the future.”
‘Everything Went Blank’
Sdoia, a Dracut native who went on to become vice president of property management for Newton-based National Development, talked about her love of attending the marathon and cheering on friends. She showed a photo of herself standing behind a barricade near the finish line — with convicted bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev standing in the background — moments before the blast.
“I saw two flashes of light at my feet and then everything went blank,” said Sdoia, who survived thanks to the aid of Northeastern University student Shores Salter, police officer Shana Cottone and firefighter Mike Materia, along with her own instinct to remain calm. “I knew that taking on the feeling of the chaos that surrounded me would not do me any good.”
Nor would it do her any good to waste negative energy on the culprits in the days, weeks and years to come.
“Hatred takes so much more energy, so why waste that on them? I need that energy to keep moving forward,” said Sdoia, who did testify against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev during his federal trial last spring in Boston.
“He looked me in the eye and made a sarcastic face at me, and I just stared him down,” Sdoia said. “In a weird way I got some satisfaction out of it.”
Proper Perspective
Renee LeRette, a junior business administration major, welcomed Sdoia’s message of positivity.
“I feel like there’s a lot of hatred going on in the world, and I think to have her come and share her positive outlook, it’s really needed,” said LeRette, a member of the Dean’s Student Leadership Council. “As a student, I really like having people come to campus who give us a message that we can relate to.”
Several past and present members of the Alpha Omega sorority were on hand to support Sdoia, including Catherine Horan, a senior majoring in business and health science.
“It can be really hard in college, obviously, with everything going on — tests, social life, working. It’s kind of hard sometimes to keep afloat,” she said. “It definitely gives you perspective when you see someone who’s been through something so horrific who can stay positive. I’ll be upset for three weeks if I get a 70 on a test, so that’s definitely something I’ll take from it: being a more positive person.”
Returning to her alma mater and seeing the campus transformation “almost makes me want to go back to college — almost,” joked Sdoia, who stepped down from her position at National Development last March to begin a new chapter in her professional life as a motivational speaker.
“I’m enjoying it. I think it’s helped me mentally get through a lot of it,” said Sdoia, who stressed to students the importance of asking for help in moments of despair.
“I had a very difficult time in the beginning asking for that help, but one of the things I’ve learned is to rely on those near or dear to you,” she said. “And if you don’t have someone, find that person. The help is out there, whether it’s other classmates or advisers within the school. They’re there to help, and it’s OK to ask for help.”
Despite all her personal progress over the past two years, Sdoia admitted to feeling “kind of numb” to terrorist attacks like the ones in Paris.
“What I went through was child’s play compared to what they had to endure, and my heart goes out to all of them,” she said. “I encourage everyone in this room to reach out the best you can, even being so far away. You don’t understand what that support really means.
“On many occasions I could feel hugs, even if someone wasn’t hugging me. I knew there were people out there supporting me, and I think they need to feel the same.”