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Education career is her masterpiece Set designer changes course after vicious mugging 
December 9, 2004 Eileen Stodut with an art class at Bronxville High in Westchester County. As an art teacher, Eileen Stodut's mission is to teach students how to seek the beauty the world has to offer. This from a woman who has experienced — and overcome — the ugliest in other people. One evening seven years ago, Stodut, a set designer for off-off-Broadway productions and B-movies, was brutally mugged in Greenwich Village, Manhattan . She was carrying a piece of furniture from a set, a gold-painted, papier-mache chandelier adorned with imitation gems, when two men attacked her with metal pipes. The men, still unidentified to this day, ran off with the chandelier, Stodut's purse and a portfolio. "I feel sorry for them," Stodut said. "They will never experience the joy that I have experienced." The beating was so severe that she has no memory of it. "The top of my skull was totally smashed in. I had no jaw left." Stodut's leg was nearly amputated, requiring 21 stitches. She spent four days in a coma. Stodut, a single mother of one son, also lost 12 years of her memory. "I remember my childhood and I remember my life, but I am missing from when Christian was 12 to 24." Over the next few years, Stodut underwent 21 operations, reconstructing her head and face. "Doctors inserted coral in my jaw because I had no bone left," Stodut said. Since she was uninsured at the time, the state Crime Victims Board paid for most of her surgeries. She still has at least two more operations to go. While recuperating from the operations, Stodut began attending Westchester Community College , where she learned about the State Education Department's Office of Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities. New York State United Teachers and VESID have been in partnership more than 10 years, encouraging people with disabilities to consider education as a career. "Because I was hit on the head so severely, I developed disabilities," said Stodut. VESID supplied Stodut with a design-quality computer, scanner and other equipment she needed in her studies. The program also helped with tutors and accommodations for her learning disabilities. "They were my lifesavers because, more than anything, I met two wonderful women who really became my friends: Veronica Stein, my counselor, and Tia Torch, my work counselor. Without them I wouldn't be where I am now," Stodut said. The women helped steer Stodut to a career in education. After an internship in computer arts at Bronxville High, Stodut was hired for a part-time position teaching Art 1. Through support from the art department, she has been able to introduce digital animation and movie-making to the school. "I love teaching and I love to see students be able to take what they've drawn and give it life," said Stodut. "It's so amazing to see their faces when they realize what they're doing." "Eileen is a real talent — the kids love her," said Jeff Zuckerman, president of the Bronxville Teachers Association. "The school almost cut her position, but the kids had such beautiful things to say that the district restored all of the proposed cuts." To supplement her income as she strives for a full-time position with health benefits, Stodut has a studio where she does mural painting and photo retouching. She has opened up her studio to student-interns who want real-world experience. "I love the arts and teaching. I love to see my students discover what I've discovered." • Clarisse Butler
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