In another lifetime, both Tyler Fielstra and Tom Attard-Manché relied on their bodies in the performance of their jobs. In those days, they’d honed physical skills and talents which brought them success, for Fielstra as a building contractor and for Attard-Manché as a ballet dancer.
Then their lives changed.
For Fielstra, the disruption was sudden and traumatic. He fell and suffered a debilitating spine injury. Paralyzed from the waist down at first, he slowly recovered, but even still the physical demands of contracting were no longer possible.
For Attard-Manché, it was a desire to explore new intellectual interests, apart from dance, that gradually led him in a new direction.
This month, Fielstra and Attard-Manché, both members of Yale’s Eli Whitney Students Program (EWSP), graduate from Yale College. They’ve reinvented their careers and their futures: Fielstra with a degree in environmental studies and Attard-Manché with a history degree.
“This switch never would have been possible without this specialized program,” said Fielstra, a father of four and an outdoors lover who plans to launch his own ecological restoration business.
Created in 1981, the Eli Whitney Students Program is designed for individuals who’ve been out of high school for at least five years and want to earn a college degree. And during the past 44 years, it has drawn students from a range of backgrounds to the Yale campus: They’ve included military veterans, entrepreneurs, community and social activists, health care workers, artists, and athletes.
Enrollment in the program has grown 300% since 2015. There are currently 85 students, with 12 graduating in the Yale College Class of 2025.
Risa Sodi, the program director and associate dean of academic affairs and director of advising and special programs for Yale College, described Fielstra and Attard-Manché as “remarkable students and human beings.”
Attard-Manché, a citizen of the U.S, the U.K., and Malta, was 11 when he began performing with the English National Ballet, and during a career in dance he would go on to produce and direct his own ballet gala in London. But while ballet took him around the world, he found himself increasingly fascinated with American history and government.
He’d seen friends at the New York City Ballet attend university while dancing professionally, and he decided to do the same.
“The opportunity to learn about a range of different subjects and broaden my horizons appealed to me,” he said. “Dance will always be in my bones, but new interests developed, and I’ve been fortunate, thanks to Yale’s belief in me, to be able to explore them.”
While at Yale, Attard-Manché interned with the offices of U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal. His next step is law school.
“Tom’s trajectory from the international ballet world to the U.S. political system shows the transformational effect that higher education — and a Yale education — can have,” Sodi said. “He took advantage of Yale’s resources and proved an outstanding student and well-regarded member of the community.”
After his accident in 2017, it took Fielstra three months to regain mobility. He took his first unassisted steps at Gaylord Specialty Healthcare hospital. At the time, one of his daughters was just a year old. “We learned to walk together,” he said. “She took some of her first steps at Gaylord.”
As a child, Fielstra had been homeschooled before going “straight into construction.” But now, encouraged by his wife to pursue a college degree, he enrolled at Gateway Community College in the fall of 2018.
A friend had gone through the EWSP, and after Gateway, Fielstra applied. At Yale, he found a new calling in land conservation. “Whatever I did, I knew I needed to work outdoors,” he said.
As a Yale student he advocated for land trusts and more sustainable land stewardship practices. He also held several land conservation summer internships.
Today, Fielstra considers himself about 80% recovered from his accident, though he still manages nerve pain. “I’ve regained a ton of function,” he said. “I live with constant pain, but if I’m doing something I care about, I notice it less.”
Fielstra credits his family, medical providers, and the support of his church community as keys to his recovery. “I don’t own my story alone,” he said. “It’s a shared experience. People all over the world were praying for our family.”
His older daughter, a high school senior, will be graduating this spring, along with her dad, a coincidence that makes Fielstra proud.
“Tyler is just as passionate about his family as he is about his studies,” Sodi said. “Their support for him is as palpable as his love for them. Tyler just radiates a positivity that has left a lasting impact on our program.”
