Deborah Kunins-Cerisier, a senior at Farmingdale State College, has won a scholarship for her achievements in the college’s Department of Urban Horticulture and Design.
Deborah, who has an associate’s degree in ornamental horticulture and is working on completing her BS, won the Ron-Dean Taffel Scholarship from the Farmingdale Horticulture Committee.
Deborah, who has been deaf since birth, also interns at the campus greenhouse. An artist and former art teacher (Cleary School for the Deaf, Nesconset), she considers horticulture her second career. She loves talking about her life-long love of nature and the inspiring summer vacations with her grandparents to Sterling Forest, in upstate New York. She recently added a greenhouse at home.
Says Deborah: “Working with plants has built my mind, body and soul.”
