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All smiles in this Christmas photo taken almost 15 years ago, Lisa (left) and Amy display the close bond that would grow even stronger as they got older.
hen Lisa Kandziorski was a little girl, she dreamed of the day she could leave home and go away to college. Being in a wheelchair because of Cerebral Palsy never deterred her from reaching that goal. “I’ve always been determined not to let anything stop me,” she says. “Perhaps I would get there in a different manner than other people, but I always knew I could do it.” The New Lenox, Ill., resident began her collegiate career at nearby Joliet Junior College three years ago. When it came time to transfer last fall, it was an exciting – and anxious – Lisa Kandziorski moment for Lisa and her family. Kerry and Al Kandziorski had done virtually everything for their eldest daughter over the years, and now they faced the day they knew was inevitable.
Southern Alumni
“I wanted to come to SIU Carbondale when I was 18 but knew I wasn’t ready,” Lisa admits. “Now I was 22 years old, had more courage to try it, and told my parents that I was going to finish my education there. I felt like if I didn’t take the step right then, I might never do it. That being said, it was really difficult for my parents to let go.” At the same time Lisa was making this decision, her younger sister, Amy, had graduated from Lincoln-Way Central High School and was deciding where to begin her college experience. She had applied at both SIU and Western Illinois University, but quickly decided that only one thing made sense: Amy Kandziorski She and her sister would come to Carbondale together. “It was a tough time for my parents. We are their only children, they were losing us both at once, and at that time, Mom and Dad
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