Intern's Corner

My Summer at faces

By Stephanie Vaiano

The reason I first got involved with faces was because of my father.  He’s had epilepsy for over 35 years and has been a patient of Dr. Devinsky since 1989.  My father and his illness have shaped me into the person I am today.  From him, I learned the meaning of sacrifice and the importance of helping others.   My father became my living example that the only handicap in life is one's attitude.  I never once heard him complain about his illness, never once seen him act like the victim.  Instead, he has taken his challenge, accepted it, and taught me to focus on what is important in life and the impact that one can have on another’s life.

I decided at a young age to focus on volunteering my time and spent my adolescence assisting faces.  I worked at numerous faces Galas and at various children’s events.  I have also gone into the faces office to help stuff envelopes, conduct research, and make phone calls to ask for donations.  Now, as a college student, I’m sitting behind the scenes and this summer I was given an experience of a lifetime - - I was an intern at faces.

As part of my scholarship to Manhattanville College I received an innovative grant to put towards a personal endeavor to broaden my horizons.  With the grant, I decided to help faces and incorporate my internship with something I love to do:  we decided to use the grant so that faces could take approximately 200 people - patients and their families - to two minor league baseball games this summer.  This was a positive experience for the children to be in an environment where they could make friends and have fun.  It was also a good place for parents to meet and socialize with others who have shared similar experiences.  Personally, this experience was not only rewarding but was also interesting because I got to meet families just like my own and talk to them about their experiences with epilepsy.

Interning at faces has given me the chance to do what I always wanted, help families with epilepsy.   I take great pride in helping faces and plan to give it my support throughout college.