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Josh Stevens entered DMACC in 2011 with plans to move on to Iowa State University, about 13 miles away.
This month he received some big news that could expand his plans by about 1,000 miles, trading ISU for Ivy League.
Stevens was named a winner of a the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. The $100,000 award is among the highest scholarships that an undergraduate can receive.
When news of the scholarship came, Josh expanded his transfer college search to include institutions like Cornell University in New York and Notre Dame University in Indiana.
“[My plan] was set up that if I got the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship and I was accepted at Notre Dame, then I’d go to Notre Dame. If I got the scholarship but wasn’t accepted at Notre Dame, then I’d go to the University of Iowa or Cornell University. If I didn’t get either of them, then I’d go to Grinnell College,” Stevens said.
He received the scholarship on April 10, making him the first Iowan to earn the scholarship. Stevens said he hopes to use the scholarship to major in pre-med.
In the long run, he said he wishes to obtain a doctorate and become a family physician.
According to the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation website, scholarships are awarded to “exceptionally promising students who have financial need.” According to Stevens and those who know him, he was exactly what the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation was looking for.
Stevens spoke of his financial needs, hard work and what he hopes to use the scholarship for.
“It takes away that question, if we can make it through. I have four children. I have three boys and my daughter, and we wonder sometimes, month to month, where the money is coming from and how we’re going to make it happen,” he said.
Stevens said that he is the first member of his immediate family to go to college and that he wants to set a new standard for his children. He is engaged to April Sorbo, who cares for their children, Justice, 7, Logan, 6, and Anya, 16 months old, while he is away at school and work.
He works as a part-time wellness coach and group fitness instructor at the Boone County YMCA. He said he makes about $6,000 per year. Stevens said that there have been times when he has had to sell personal items to deal with house payments, go to school and pay for gas.
“Even here at college I’ve had people reach their hand out to me and help me with gas money at times. That’s how tight we run,” he said.
Stevens said the $30,000 in annually renewable scholarship money would relieve a lot of stress and allow him to focus on his studies.
Stevens has a GPA of 3.98. He is an active member of DMACC Boone’s Phi Theta Kappa chapter, takes part in the new DMACC Honors Program, volunteers his time with youth sports and is a staff writer for the Banner News. Stevens has also attended Leadership Iowa University, a week-long program of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry Foundation.
Although Stevens has been successful during his time at DMACC, he expressed regret for not being a better student in high school. He described himself as somewhat of a “slacker” in high school. Stevens retraced his past from growing up as the “stitches kid” and graduating from Sheldon High School in Souix City, Iowa, to winding up homeless in Indianapolis, Indiana, and having to hitchhike his way home, from joining the U.S. Air Force to working long hours in a meat packing plant.
He said he found his way to DMACC Boone to be closer to his oldest son, Hunter, 13, who was living with Stevens’ ex-girlfriend in West Des Moines. He explained that his original plan was to attend DMACC for a short time and then transfer to Iowa State University as soon as possible. Stevens said that social science instructor Sean Taylor convinced him to graduate from DMACC before moving on to a four-year institution.