When Trevor Stedman sat down to write an essay for a criminal justice scholarship, he focused on his personal story of resilience and growth. "I grew up in a very rugged home and had a really rough life as a child. I know what it's like when you have no help and need it, especially legally. I'm a product of the environment where I grew up. I want to give back to my community. I got sober and I decided to take my life experiences and put it to some good."
Stedman's powerful story resonated with the judges, and on February 24 Onondaga County Sheriff Toby Shelley came to campus to present him with the Criminal Justice Scholarship from the New York State Sheriff's Institute Inc. The award is handed out to one Onondaga Community College student annually in recognition of academic excellence and dedicated pursuit of a career in the field of criminal justice. "Winning this was amazing and humbling. I got really emotional when I found out."
Stedman is a 37-year-old native of New Jersey who, when he's not in class, works as a waiter at the Noble Cellar restaurant in downtown Syracuse. He will complete his degree this May, and plans to transfer to SUNY Oswego where he will major in Criminology with a minor in Psychology.
Before that, he's about to achieve a major life milestone. "I'll be celebrating half a decade sober next week. To come where I came from, where nobody in my family went to school really, nobody ever did anything with their life, I wanted to break that generational trauma per se and do something better and do something good with my life."
