Meet Our Alumni 

Dawn

Stewart Riles

TRANSIT LINES
BY ELENA ROMERO

Dawn Stewart-Riles’ greatest personal accomplishments have been being a mother of two teenage children and having the opportunity to take care of her great grandparents in their elder years as they took care of her. Her next best triumph has been one that has taken more than 14 years in the making, obtaining an undergraduate degree.

Finally returning to school in 1999 after a long hiatus, Dawn discovered that there was no better time than now than to finish what she had once started. “I left school [Taylor Business Institute and Brooklyn College] in ’84 because I had to work,” she explains. “I could never find the right time to go back but I found out about CWE through the employee development office. Initially I was going to go to L.I.U. but after attending a [CWE] open house, I decided to give it a try.”

CWE’s location, schedule of classes and positive learning environment were big advantages for Dawn. “The commitment of the staff has created a supportive environment,” she says. “CWE is a school that caters to working adults who want to return to school. They [staff and faculty] will not hold your hand nor will they put up with laziness. But they will support and guide you along the way.”

For Dawn, who enjoys traveling, the arts, writing, poetry and photography, has been more for “personal satisfaction” than a job requirement. “I’ve had my share of tribulations but I’ve pulled through,” she admits. “But I want to carry out what I started. I want my children to understand that it is important to get an education.”

Dawn has witnessed firsthand how her degree will position her for career advancement in the near future. “I lot of the job postings available require a degree,” she says. ”It will help me in the long run.”

And the best part of all, “I’m studying with adults that are getting on with their lives just like me.”