Honoring Lives Lost Through Lives Saved
How a tragic Seton Hall fire inspired a scholarship for student first responders.
Victoria Appicie entered Seton Hall thinking she wanted to become a veterinarian.
Her plans changed freshman year While volunteering as an EMT in her hometown of Warren,
New Jersey, Appicie fell in love with helping people in need of urgent care. That’s
why she
switched her major to nursing, a decision that tacked on an additional year of undergraduate
coursework. She’d earned an academic scholarship, but it was only good for four years.
As year five approached, she found herself in need of additional assistance. “I started
looking into other scholarships that could help take some of the load off,” she says.
Appicie attained that much needed assistance through the Aspiring Kindness Foundation Scholarship, which was born out of a Seton Hall tragedy that resonates deeply with Appicie in her role as a first responder.
This scholarship makes you feel like all the hard work is paying off.”
It happened early in the morning on January 19, 2000. “A small but intense fire sent acrid black smoke through a freshman dormitory, killing three students and sending hundreds of others on a fight for their lives,” reported The Star-Ledger, the entire front page of which was devoted to coverage of the blaze. One of those articles compiled heartfelt remembrances of the victims: Frank Caltabilota, Jr., John Giunta and Aaron Karol. “Mourning the loss of perpetual smiles,” the headline lamented.
The Boland Hall fire shook the Seton Hall community, where it is still talked about 26 years later. But it also demonstrated how beauty can arise from devastation. On the tenth anniversary of the fire, a group of Karol’s childhood friends came together to remember him, Giunta and Caltabilota. In the victims’ memories, these friends established the Aspiring Kindness Foundation, a nonprofit with a mission to provide financial assistance to support and enhance the abilities of emergency responders and service providers.
As part of that mission, the foundation partnered with Seton Hall to establish the Aspiring Kindness Foundation Scholarship. It is awarded to student first responders like Appicie, now completing her bachelor’s degree at the College of Nursing. “This scholarship really makes you feel like all the hard work is paying off,” she says. “The nursing program is very demanding I’m thankful I don’t have to worry as much about finances while finishing my degree.”
The Aspiring Kindness Foundation has raised more than $350,000 for first responders, emergency service providers and fire prevention and education programs. The Foundation’s scholarship for Seton Hall student first responders is now in its fifteenth year.
Through Seton Hall, Appicie has gained experience in all areas of nursing, from pediatrics to labor and delivery to psychiatric care. After graduating, she wants to work in the emergency department, an area where she can build on her years of experience as an EMT. “As a first responder, you’re one of the first people on the scene assisting the patient,” Appicie says. “As an emergency nurse, it’s your job to take care of the patient from there. It’s a very rewarding, very fulfilling feeling.”
It’s also a beautiful way to pay tribute to the Seton Hall students who lost their lives in the Boland Hall fire. For that, Appicie is grateful. “Saying thank you doesn’t feel like it’s enough,” she says. “Going through nursing school truly is a gift and a privilege. It’s been an amazing experience.”
