Press Releases

May 14, 2001
Told She'd Never Make It, Severe Dyslexic Lacey Wallace Earns College Degree

Environmental Science Student Remade Herself in College, Named Class President

Contact:
Darren Johnson
(631) 287 8313
Fax: (631) 283 4081

Teachers told her she would have a hard time getting into college. Administrators steered her into special-education classes even though she wanted more. A counselor, trying to prove a point, pulled out a list of polysyllabic words, telling her she would have to know how to spell them just to be able to get through high school.

Lacey Wallace knew the words, but spelling most of them was a mystery. Diagnosed as a severe dyslexic, with low scores in spelling, she was gifted in other areas and remained undeterred. Wallace still believed that she was college material, even though in an exceptional high school she sometimes was told not to aim too high. Now, Wallace, 22, is set to receive her B.S. in Environmental Science at Southampton College Commencement on May 20 at 2 p.m.

Wallace got a new start at Southampton College and took full advantage. In one of the College's most rigorous programs, she has maintained a 3.0 grade-point-average, participated in an internship with the National Marine Fisheries Laboratory in Milford, Conn., and worked with Southampton College Professor Sandra Shumway in the Pfiesteria Laboratory at North Carolina State University, gaining experience in biohazard technology. Meanwhile she also became one of the most popular students on campus. Wallace, a native of New Milford, Conn., who now lives in Southampton while finishing up her undergraduate studies, was named class president her junior and senior years. She also was Marine Science Club president and treasurer and recently led senior events like the Senior Dinner and the Cruise to Nowhere. She also was recognized for her student involvement by receiving the Provost Citizenship award last year, and this spring she received both the Dean of Students and the Student Activities Merit Award.

"I guess I've shown up those people who said I couldn't do it," Wallace said. "I applied to college, was accepted and now am getting my degree on time."

She chose Southampton College because of its reputation for fostering one-on-one relationships with faculty and students. She had also read about the pioneering environmental and biological research of professors like Shumway, Larry Liddle and Paul Forestell. "I couldn't go to a school that had hundreds of students in a lecture hall," Wallace said. "I started working closely with the professors here and have since broadened my experience and knowledge."

The child of Bette Anne and Chris Wallace of New Milford, Lacey Wallace wants to be a role model for those students who feel castigated because of a learning disability. "Don't listen to the teachers and administrators in your schools who say you may not be able to get into college, or excel there," she said. "Some day everyone will know that dyslexia has nothing to do with intelligence. Don't let yourself be discouraged by other peoples' ignorance, and forge ahead towards all of your goals"