Alums Share Their Stories of Hope and Resilience

Alums explore experiences in neonatal intensive care and postgraduation to comfort and help others who are struggling

"Write what you know” has long been the advice offered to aspiring writers. Two Sacred Heart alumni have done just that, with the hope that their words resonate with and help others.

Paige Pedroli ’13 and Michelle Lynn Johnson ’19, who both earned bachelor’s degrees in marketing at SHU, were inspired by personal experiences to write and publish books that help others feel they are not alone in dealing with some of life’s more challenging moments.

“Before I had kids, I knew nothing about the NICU,” said Pedroli of her two experiences in the neonatal intensive care unit at Stony Brook University Hospital in Stony Brook, NY. In 2018, her daughter Penelope, 6, spent 10 days there, following Pedroli’s emergency C-section operation because of complications with her pregnancy. For the next two years, Penelope would return to the NICU every three months for follow-up appointments with specialists.

Then, in 2022, when Pedroli’s second daughter, Sydney, arrived six weeks early she too spent time in the NICU.

After Penelope’s birth, Pedroli’s sister had floated the idea of writing a children’s book. “‘You should call it NIC-Zoo,’ she said. I jotted down some ideas, and we thought it would be fun,” said Pedroli. “But I was a first-time mom, and the project went by the wayside. Then, when I had Sydney, and she spent time in the NICU, I thought maybe this is something I need to do.”

A new chapter

Welcome to the NIC-Zoo, a children’s board book, was published this year, written by Pedroli and illustrated by Elena Hernandez, a friend of Pedroli’s sister. Written and illustrated for young children, the book tells the story of the NICU experience through rhyming baby animal characters. Coincidentally, Hernandez had also spent time in the NICU. Twenty-six weeks premature, she spent three months in New England Medical Center’s NICU in Boston.

As Pedroli spread the word about NIC-Zoo through her website and social media, she learned that her NICU experience was not unique. But that didn’t make it any less stressful or worrying for parents who were going through it. “I had feelings of helplessness and fear. Hearing from many other NICU families helped me to validate my feelings about the experience,” she said. “My hope is for this book to bring the same comfort to as many other NICU families as possible.”

Johnson: Life after graduation

“When I graduated, I felt extremely pressured to know exactly what I was doing,” said Johnson, whose book focuses on the anxiety she experienced during her transition to postgrad years. “It felt like time was up to be confused or lost since I was now in ‘real’ adult life.”

Though Johnson’s experience is different from Pedroli’s, this 2019 SHU graduate similarly wondered if others were feeling this doubt, too. After she told others about what she was feeling, she realized the pressures she associated with societal expectations of where she and other graduates were supposed to be in their lives—and what they should be feeling—were not unique to her.

Her book, Shift Your Standards, covers the topic of postgrad depression and worry. The subhead captures it all—“The how-to guide for navigating life after university: Learn how to create your dream reality and thrive in your 20s.”

“There are post-college books out there, but they focus highly on career,” Johnson said. “I wanted to address an overlooked part of the conversation—the mental health difficulties that can arise from the [graduation to career] transition.”

With chapters on emotional maturity, patience for the unknown, finding your purpose and living with courage, she taps research-based strategies to provide others with tools to successfully navigate life after college graduation. She also stresses seeing a professional when feelings become too much.

Her hope is that others read the book and use the accompanying worksheets to “take action, overcome self-doubt, build resilience and gain the courage to live a life they are excited to live.”

A strong foundation at SHU

Pedroli and Johnson said their studies and other SHU resources helped them achieve success with their recent endeavors.

Pedroli, who minored in sports marketing, said a class she took with the late Stephen Kaye, an adjunct professor of marketing and sales at SHU who had enjoyed a successful and long marketing career (including working on the Got Milk? campaign) was key to getting NIC-Zoo off the ground.

“Our big end-of-the-semester project was to create your own marketing campaign,” she said. “You had to come up with a product, define your target market, design your own logos, create catch phrases and slogans, and develop different ways of marketing products through social media, commercials and billboards. I had so much fun!

“Everything I learned from that class is how I came up with the marketing campaign for my book,” she added. Even before the book was published, she had built a vibrant online community that helped with book pre-orders.

Johnson said she appreciated SHU’s attention to mental health resources and counseling services. She was inspired as a student by talks and other events that centered on mental health. “They always showed how powerful it was to speak up about what you were going through. I could see how it was healing for those who spoke [about their experiences]. This was always in the back of my mind and helped me feel courageous enough to share my story as well.”

Providing support

Pedroli’s hope is that parents of NICU babies now have a book they can read to their little ones who are recovering in the NICU, as well as to older siblings at home to better explain the NICU.

“I wanted to give parents comfort and a way to bond with their baby,” said Pedroli. “By hearing your voice, singing to them, reading to them—I truly believe that is the best way to bond. That’s what my husband and I did when our daughters were in the NICU.”

Johnson is hopeful soon-to-be graduates, as well as those who might be working through post-grad challenges, now have a guide for embarking on new experiences and opportunities and reaching new milestones. “My book is a guide designed to help recent college graduates navigate the mental health challenges that come with transition into adulthood,” she said.

Both books are available on Amazon. If you want to learn more about Pedroli’s story and her new book (as well as buy it), you can also visit nic-zoobook.com.