Alumni Spotlights are Q&A's with former Brandeis student-athletes, across a myriad of disciplines, as they reflect on their Brandeis experience and how it has shaped their lives today. Read more spotlight features here.
Name: Piera Carfagno '10
Job Title: Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in Art Therapy
Organization: Creative Counseling, LLC
Piera Carfagno came from Los Angeles to play volleyball at Brandeis, serving as a two-time captain for the Judges under coach Michelle Kim. She helped the Judges win back-to-back ECAC tournament titles in her first two seasons on the squad and went on to become the sixth player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills. Her 228 career service aces are second on the all-time list, including a single-season record 116 aces as a first-year player. Piera was also a three-time member of the Academic All-UAA team.
After graduating with a B.A. in art history in 2010, Piera returned to the L.A. area to receive her master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy and a clinical focus/specialized training in Art Therapy from Loyola Marymount University. She now resides in Las Vegas, where she owns a private practice specializing in art therapy for individuals, couples, and families.
Describe your overall experience as a student-athlete. What does it mean to you now/what did it mean to you while you were an undergraduate?
At the time, being a student-athlete allowed me to feel that my purpose was larger than just pursuing academics. I felt that most students within the Brandeis community had a strong sense of self, based in rooted cultural identities and various life experiences. I felt that the student-athletes helped to round out that cultural diversity through physical competition. After graduating, it was really difficult to phase out of consistent, competitive play as it was a rewarding experience.
How did your time as a student and student-athlete at Brandeis prepare you for your career and life after college?
Time management- there’s nothing like trying to carve out time to complete your schoolwork when your team relies on you to be physically and mentally present for practice, games, and tournaments. You learn to set boundaries that your teammates can help hold you accountable for, but you have to be the one to enforce them. Being able to do this is a key factor in my profession; I have to be able to separate my “stuff’ from the person sitting across from me in the therapy room. I have to be able to put my worries or excitements on hold when I’m supporting another individual, and oftentimes, this means carving out additional time in the day to keep up on exercise, family time, and social life.
Do you have any advice for current or future Brandeis Student-Athletes?
It goes quick and there never seems to be enough time. But, “argue for your limitations and you get to keep them...” I learned that there is always a way to make things work.
What originally attracted you to Brandeis as a student-athlete?
I wanted a primarily academic college experience with the ability to compete and travel for volleyball on a varsity team. My family has spent quite a bit of time in Boston, so it felt like the right fit. Mike’s Pastry in the North End was a good selling point, too.
What was your favorite memory of being a student-athlete?
I have quite a few fond memories of our team essentially sprinting to upper Usdan after late practices trying to get dinner before it closed. We usually had bags of ice wrapped to our shoulders, backs, shins, and ankles. Between the plastic wrap squeaking and the trail of water we often left behind us when walking from the gym to upper campus, it was a team affair. I remember feeling, particularly during my junior and senior years, that there was nothing like playing college sports. It was hard and sometimes grueling trying to balance academics with team commitments, and it was worth it.
What lessons did you learn as a student-athlete that have benefited you as a professional? As a person?
Being a student and an athlete at Brandeis was like working to hold two different identities at the same time, making sure one did not overshadow the other so that you can remain effective in both areas. I learned that for me to feel confident on the court, I needed to have a good handle on my classes and vice versa. Accountability, responsibility, confidence, and determination were fostered in this type of environment.
What do you miss most about your Brandeis experience?
I met amazing people that I keep in contact with to this day. I miss these relationships the most. The student-athlete relationships expanded beyond just your team, though. Between whoever was working the front desk, sharing your work-study hours in the office, or running the cage, it all felt cohesive.
Do you still keep in touch with any of your former Brandeis teammates?
I knew that I would meet people from around the world and from various parts of the U.S., but I was surprised to see how our differences and similarities could equally strengthen relationships. I keep in touch with quite a few of my teammates from the 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 classes. When we chat or get together, we seem to pick up right where we left off. We catch and reminisce… “Remember that time when…”
What personal or professional accomplishment(s) are you most proud of since you graduated?
After graduation, I returned to Los Angeles. During my senior year at Brandeis, I took an art history senior elective that studied art and trauma. It was taught by Professor Gannit Ankori and it was the most influential class in my academic career. From this class, I began to explore art and healing practices when I came across Art Therapy. In 2014, I graduated from Loyola Marymount University in L.A. with an M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy and a clinical focus/specialized training in Art Therapy. This is what I am most proud of. Art has historically had a lot of push-back and criticism, yet I feel I have found a career and path that is powerful and allows people to operate and connect with themselves on a level that verbal language cannot always access. Art Therapy is a psychotherapeutic approach that aids individuals to explore unconscious material, problem solve, improve awareness and develop an understanding for our internal world by incorporating visual art practices such as painting, clay, photography, etc. I work primarily with mood and anxiety disorders as well as psychological trauma, and the art helps clients to process surfacing material. I have worked in residential treatment centers with adolescence, children on special education programs, adults, and elderly populations. Currently, I am in private practice providing individual, family and couples therapy using art therapy approaches in Las Vegas, NV. I think being a student-athlete helped train me for this work, too, since oftentimes a client’s progress is slow and sometimes hard to quantify. When you practice your sport, the progress and change is not immediately observable; it takes a lot of time and practice, which as we all know, are the basic ingredients to competitive sports.