Melissa Biscardi

by Cari Costa ’16

Sociology Major (STEP)
Transferred from St. Joseph’s College

“When I originally applied to colleges, I didn’t even apply to Adelphi,” Melissa Biscardi said. “When I decided to transfer, I was looking for a school close to home and found out Adelphi had a five-year education program. I decided to go to a Transfer Day, and that’s when I got accepted.”

A sociology major in the five-year Scholar Teacher Education Program (STEP) for elementary education and a St. Joseph’s College transfer, Biscardi has had her heart set on becoming a teacher since childhood.

“My second-grade teacher was the first teacher to acknowledge how much I struggled with school and worked with my family and me throughout the year,” said Biscardi, a senior. “Without her, I probably wouldn’t have excelled in school as much as I did. I decided that I wanted to be a teacher so I could hopefully one day impact a child’s life like she did for me.”

Now that she’s attending a school closer to home, Biscardi is able to commute. Although she doesn’t live on campus, she has found plenty of ways to get involved on campus beyond the classroom.

Biscardi—who until November 2015 was a transfer ambassador, assisting new transfers with their transition to Adelphi—is president of Adelphi’s chapter of Tau Sigma, the transfer honor society, and is involved in Greek life.

As Tau Sigma president, she has enjoyed getting to know other transfers and helping them become more involved on campus. “When I first became president,” Biscardi said, “the chapter was almost nonexistent at Adelphi. I worked alongside CSI [Center for Student Involvement] to build it up on campus and create a constitution.”

Biscardi also belongs to the Future Teachers of America (FTA), which she calls a great resource for her career aspirations. “The FTA serves as a way to broaden our horizons as future teachers.” For instance, she said, “They recently invited different people to speak about their experiences teaching internationally.”

Though she expects to graduate in May 2016, Biscardi still has more time at Adelphi ahead of her. As part of STEP, Biscardi will go straight into the master’s degree program in childhood special education at Adelphi. After completing the master’s degree, she said, she hopes to teach first grade.

Biscardi greatly values the time she’s gotten to spend at Adelphi, along with everything that she’s learned. She hopes that other transfer students will be able to feel as comfortable with Adelphi as she has.

“My biggest piece of advice for transfer students is to get involved,” Biscardi said. “Adelphi has so much to offer, you have to take advantage. Once you get involved in one thing, you end up getting more and more involved and, soon enough, Adelphi becomes your second home.”