Cuttone quadruplets of East Meadow graduate from four different colleges
The Cuttone quadruplets celebrated every one of their birthdays, April 30, together — until this year, when they turned 22.
In the past, the sisters marked the occasion with a nighttime ritual at their East Meadow home. Their mother, Sue, would bring out four different cakes. The family would sing “Happy Birthday to You,” to each girl, by birth order: Victoria, Rosanna, Daniella and Julia.
Birthdays. Sweet 16s. Proms. Their graduation from East Meadow High School. They celebrated all milestone events together. But this year, they marked their birthdays virtually, on FaceTime, as their college commencements approached.
The four sisters graduated from their respective colleges, all different ones, in a span of about four weeks. Victoria was the first, on May 6. Daniella was the last, on June 3.
Victoria studied finance, and sports, entertainment, and event management at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island. Rosanna majored in psychology at SUNY Old Westbury. Daniella studied entertainment technology at New York City College of Technology. And Julia majored in journalism and sports psychology at Baruch College in New York City.
On graduation day, Victoria saw her sisters in the audience instead of next to her.
“I finally had to figure out, like, 'I have to sit by myself. Who am I going to talk to? Who am I going to laugh with?' ” she said in a recent interview with her sisters. “It was kind of weird, but it was also really nice that we each got to experience it for once on our own rather than together.”
Their 'poor mother' — and father
Rosanna Cuttone at SUNY Old Westbury graduation ceremonies at Nassau Coliseum on May 24. Credit: Howard Schnapp
When people first learn they are quadruplets, they often ask: “What was that like?” and “Do you look alike?”
No, they don’t look alike. People often mistake Julia, the youngest, as the oldest because she’s the tallest. And because they don’t have any other siblings, what they had just felt normal.
Sometimes other comments follow:
“They'll say: ‘Oh, your poor mother,’ ” Rosanna said.
“Then they realize we're all girls. And then they go: ‘Oh, your poor father!’ ” Victoria added.
Their father, Joe, does not feel “poor” at all. He feels blessed.
“I have four women, actually five, with my wife, always looking over me,” he said.
To provide for the family, Joe said he worked as an electrician, often picking up overtime and working six days a week and sometimes on Sundays. His wife stayed at home to care for the children until they went to middle school. She works at Farmingdale State College as assistant director of finance.
Then there’s support from family and friends. “Our parents helped us out a lot … bringing stuff over, diapers and all that stuff,” Joe said.
Since the girls were little, Joe said the couple put away as much as they could in 529 college savings plans. Then they refinanced their house to help pay for their tuitions, and they took out loans.
“They did well with themselves,” Sue said. “Everything I wanted for them, they achieved it and more.”
From four to one
Julia Cuttone hugs Fernanda Zamora at Baruch College graduation ceremonies at the Barclays Center on May 30. Credit: Linda Rosier
Quadruplets are exceptionally rare. Only 133 sets were born in 2021 out of 3.6 million births in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That fact was extraordinary when the Cuttones considered its statistical significance. But life is lived in interactions, big and small, day to day.
There were disputes over bathroom use and loud music, and jealousies during their teenage years. But there was help with homework, trips to get coffee, or to faraway places, and shared tears during moments of personal revelation.
When Rosanna came out as a lesbian, the first person she told was Julia, before she told the rest of the family in 2020.
“It's very hard to tell people so I just didn't really know what to say,” Rosanna recalled. When she told her sister over a break, “Julia's like, 'It's OK.' And then we talked about it later on. And then I was fine.”
Rosanna, SUNY Old Westbury
Where she lives now: East Meadow
- She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in social work from SUNY Old Westbury.
- Starting in the fall, she will pursue a master’s degree in social work at Stony Brook University.
- Rosanna created a LGBTQIA+ support club called OW RAINBOW at SUNY Old Westbury, and said she wants to work on policies or legislation supporting the LGBTQ community.
Growing up together, they were seen as a collective four. Sometimes sets of two.
High school, and then college, took the sisters on paths of their own to find their singular identities. They didn’t set out to be at four different colleges, but they believed the schools were better fits for their majors and for them.
Daniella discovered theater in high school and she was elated to have found what separated her from the group.
Daniella, New York City College of Technology
Where she lives now: New Milford, N.J.
- She earned a bachelor’s degree in entertainment technology with a concentration in lighting and video from New York City College of Technology.
- Daniella discovered her passion for theater in high school and was fascinated in particular by lighting's role in changing audience emotions.
- She will begin her job as a software support manager at ACT Entertainment on Monday.
“For like 20 years, you're just hardwired to be like: 'Oh, [I] and my sisters,'” Daniella said. “Having to rewire my brain was difficult at first, but now I'm just like: 'I'm me.' It's really cool to see, when we all meet up now, how different we've all become.”
For Julia, it was softball.
Julia, Baruch College
Where she lives now: East Meadow
- She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and sports psychology from Baruch College in New York City.
- Julia's goal is to become an athletic director at a college or high school.
- She has applied to graduate school to study higher education administration.
“My first year of college, especially on the softball team, that was the first time, I guess, I was seen by other people for talent that wasn't associated with my sisters,” Julia said. “There's no one I was being compared to. They were just seeing me as a person.”
Rosanna had that realization much earlier. Diagnosed with attention deficit disorder in fifth grade, she said she had to learn to articulate her needs in school.
“I was forced to advocate for myself and what I needed,” she said. “I always was like my own person.”
For Victoria, it wasn't until recently that she felt the sense of a full self.
Victoria, Johnson & Wales University
Where she lives now: Bowling Green, Ky.
- She earned two undergraduate degrees: in finance, and in sports, entertainment, and event management, from Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island.
- Victoria said she loves being a part of someone’s special day, be it a wedding or baptism reception. She’s passionate about event planning and wants to work at a stadium, sports arena or college.
- Starting in the fall, she will pursue a master’s degree in recreation and sports administration with a concentration in event and facility management at Western Kentucky University.
“Earlier, I was still kind of copying what everybody was doing because that's just what I was used to,” she said. “A few months ago, that's when I finally was proud and happy of who I became and what I've been doing.”
Victoria used to not tell others she’s a quadruplet. Now she tells anyone who will listen.
Their relationship, the sisters said, has matured with age and time apart. They have grown closer in adulthood. Now living in three states, they make the effort to stay close.
“It's more meaningful now than what was back then,” Victoria said. “We're more in tune with each other than we were before.”
Dandan Zou covers education for Newsday. Previously, she worked for a community newspaper in Maryland and a personal finance magazine in Washington, D.C.
