Stephanie Rosado

Stephanie Rosado has a plan. After she earns her Hospitality Management degree in May, Rosado wants to start a food truck business. Her specialty will be Hispanic food. She’ll call her truck, “Love to Love.” “When I see two people happy, that’s love. When I read love, I think about my kids and my family. I love to love and think about it all day!”

“Love to Love” is also the name of Rosado’s anti-bullying project. It became a priority in her life when she realized a family member was being bullied. “My nephew was being bullied in school and he was scared to talk to my sister about it. I wanted to use my project as a way to help him talk about it. It’s so important for kids to know there’s someone out there who wants to help them whether it’s their parents, their teacher or someone else. They don’t have to be scared.”

Her “Love to Love” project included a video, a speech for children and a poster with two hearts. The color white was used to show the empty side of the heart, the red showed the good part of the heart filled with love. Her project was so successful she presented it at three SUNY state-wide conferences.

Rosado’s anti-bullying campaign is just the latest way in which she’s focused on helping others. She spent five years as a member of the Army National Guard. In 2005 she was deployed to New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina where she served as a truck driver. “I remember what it looked like… buildings with all of the windows gone, highways filled with empty cars. We worked hard and we worked together. The appreciation people had for us being there made it all worthwhile.”

Rosado began attending OCC in 2015 while raising her two sons. During her three years here she actively strived to make campus a better place for all as a member of two groups; the Diversity Council and Student Conversation Circles about Race, Gender, Religion, Economic Status and Sexual Orientation. “In ‘The Circles’ it’s safe to talk about things. We could talk among each other without worrying about offending each other. When I listened to other people talk I would think, ‘Wow, I didn’t think of it that way.’ I wish this was a course everyone had to take. I think if people would take the time to listen to others it would change the way they feel.”

Outside class the 32-year-old Rosado volunteers with La Liga: The Spanish Action League of Onondaga County and Wellness G.I.F.T.S., an organization which provides camping retreats for families with children who have special needs.

She plans to open a restaurant one day and will name it Casa de Papi which means “My Daddy’s House.”