Florida Technical College President, David Ruggieri: Success is a Process

ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida Technical College President and CEO, David Ruggieri, believes that success is available to everyone who goes after it with a plan, determination and resilience.  Ruggieri, who has more than 40 years of experience in post-secondary education, is currently in a media tour exploring this very topic with U.S. audiences.

"Success requires discipline," Ruggieri recently told Ocala Magazine. "But first, we must identify what we like to do, what brings a sense of fulfillment, and how that fits into opportunities in the market. We have to establish short and a long term goals and set a plan to reach them. We need to accept that we will fall along the way. But I always tell my students, if you fall, don't fall backwards -fall forward. You'll be at least four feet ahead from where you fell. Success is a process. Those who seek immediate gratification will likely not get it."

In addition to Ocala Magazine, Ruggieri's advice to achieve success has been featured on the cover of Central Florida's La Nota Magazine, Central Florida Lifestyle Magazine, Insight Magazine and SpaceCoast Magazine. In South Florida, he has shared his insight with the readers of Mujer Magazine and Negocios Magazine.

Earlier this fall, Ruggieri's book, Soul of Success: Volume 1, hit bookstores' shelves and online book retailers. It quickly climbed to the first spots in several Amazon.com categories, including Direct Marketing and Marketing for Small Businesses. The book was co-written by famed author Jack Canfield, of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, in collaboration with group of carefully selected entrepreneurs, business and civic leaders who shared their insight on overcoming obstacles, planning the route to success and celebrating achievement by giving back.

Under Ruggieri's leadership, Florida Technical College has gone from three to six campuses and quadrupled its enrollment to almost 4,000 students.  He has reinvented his role as President and CEO to be more than an administrator.  Ruggieri sees his job as that of a mentor with the tremendous responsibility to help non-traditional and low-income students –many of them Hispanic and African American- walk across the graduation stage and get started on their careers.

"Part of my job is to make sure our students stay on track," Ruggieri said. "It is paramount that they have full support to finish what they started and leave Florida Technical College with a diploma.  Our students, for the most, are not the traditional type that goes to college right after high school. They are young adults in their mid-twenties and thirties, and even older. They have lives, family, jobs, and balancing all of that with college can be trying."

At FTC, Ruggieri is currently developing more programs in technical fields as well as in construction and construction management, business, IT and the medical field. Also in the works, programs taught in Spanish that would be complemented by English classes for mon-native speakers.

Ruggieri is available for interviews and speaking engagements. Soul of Success: Volume 1 is widely available in U.S. bookstores an online in Amazon.com.

About Florida Technical College: FTC offers associate and bachelor's degrees and diploma programs in a range of professions, including healthcare, computer networking, graphic design, criminal justice, culinary arts and cosmetology.  FTC's campuses are located in Orlando, Lakeland, DeLand, Kissimmee, Pembroke Pines and Cutler Bay. Founded in 1982 to provide private, post-secondary education in specialized fields, FTC is accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools. Program availability varies by campus. For graduation rates, median debt of students who completed the program and other important information please visit www.ftccollege.edu/disclosures.html

Contact: Maria Isabel Sanquirico
Eleven 11 Communications
Mobile: 813-420-2922

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SOURCE Florida Technical College

Related Links

http://www.ftccollege.edu