Behind Hawa Giannetto's radiant smile lies a past shaped by loss, upheval, and extraordinary resilience. When she was just three years old, her mother was killed during a civil war in the African nation of Sierra Leone. As the decade-long conflict intensified, her father made the painful decision to place her in an orphange, hoping she would be in a better place.
One night, amid the chaos of the war, a large man gathered up Giannetto and two other children and fled with them through the jungle. They crossed into the neighboring country of Guineau, where a Nigerian pastor sheltered and cared for them. By the age of seven, she was adopted by a Central New York family who would raise her in southern Onondaga County. "I think all of this was a miracle - it was all the work of God. I think a better life was chosen for me. I was given a second chance."
That second chance includes a return to college. Giannetto came to Onondaga Community College in 2014, took classes for two years, but never completed a degree. She returned in the fall of 2025, now as a mother of four, determined to get to the finish line. "I'm always there for my children, no matter how tired I am. When it's time to do my school work, I make it work whether I have to stay up until 2 a.m. to submit an assignment or get up at 5 a.m. to study."
After considering her academic options, she chose the Cybersecurity major. "I knew I wanted to be in tech. Even though I'm a people person, I wanted a job that is more background support. It was an odd pivot for me. I want something that can sustain me and my kids - that will give us a life with stability and freedom."
Her support network on campus includes the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program, the Children's Learning Center where she takes her youngest child on days when she has class, and Student Navigator Rich Goodell. "I don't think I could have gotten this far without him. He listens to me, he really understands where I'm coming from, what's going on in my personal life, and what works with me. I've gotten approved for things I didn't even know existed because he called somebody and told them I needed something."
Thanks to credits she earned the first time she was at OCC, and plans to keep taking classes during the summer, Giannetto expects to graduate a year from now in the spring of 2027. "There's an endgame to all of the hard work I'm doing now. I'm doing whatever it takes and it's going to be worth it. This is a second chance for myself."
