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MS Knocked Him Down and
He Got Right Back Up
Virginia Beach Grad Serves as an Example to All
T
homas Cevora has always been a man of action. An Army veteran, he went
to work on tug boats after leaving the service. From there, he moved to rail
cars. Fourteen years ago, a clock started ticking and he knew at some point that
a physically active life would no longer be his to enjoy. Thomas has Multiple
Sclerosis (MS). That fateful day he long feared arrived three years ago. “When I
resigned from the railroad, I didn’t know what to do with myself,” says Thomas.
“Everybody said I should go on disability but that just wasn’t for me. I have to be
doing something.”
Using Vocational Rehabilitation through the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs, Thomas decided to go back to school. Despite being hospitalized on a
couple of occasions, he persevered to earn a Bachelor of Science Degree in Com-
puter and Information Science with a concentration in Web Development. “I
discovered a great deal about myself these past three years,” says Thomas. “First,
I am a lot stronger than I thought I was. Sure, I need a cane and, sometimes, a
wheelchair, but I have developed mental strength. Second, I have an even stron-
ger wife! She would never let me give up. We came close to losing everything.
We barely held onto our house, but we always held on to each other.”
While Thomas is excited to move on, he admits he’s a bit nervous. Big changes
are coming. He and his wife are planning to move to a cooler climate up north
because heat aggravates his MS. “ECPI University has been like a second home
to me. The faculty has been so great, especially Ms. Lanae Harris. She has been
an inspiration. Whenever I needed a boost, she was always there with a ‘you can
do it!’ And the best thing is: I did do it. I’ve applied for a graduate program with
Microsoft and I’ve got my own web design business up and running. Each time
I finish a website, I know that anyone in the world can type in that web address
and see what I built. I take a lot of pride in that.”
“ECPI University has been like a
second home to me. The faculty has
been so great, especially Ms. Lanae
Harris. She has been an inspiration.
Whenever I needed a boost, she was
always there with a ‘you can do it!’
And the best thing is: I did do it.”
-Thomas Cevora
Web Development Graduate