Yucaipa Dad Receives Crafton Hills College President's Award

Publish Date: June 1, 2016

By Catherine Garcia, CHC Staff Writer

When he enrolled at Crafton Hills College, Wes Stevens wanted to have the quintessential college experience. He was able to have it — all while balancing life as a husband and father of three children.

The 35-year-old Yucaipa resident served as a tour guide for prospective students, president of the Alpha Gamma Sigma Honor Society, secretary of the Geology Club, a volunteer for numerous events, and a strong voice on the Inter Club Council. A mining engineering major, Stevens earned statewide recognition from the Honors Transfer Council of California for his research on the need to mine asteroids, and his abstract was published in the corresponding publication.

"I wanted to have the college experience I missed out on," he said. "I started joining clubs, and helping out at events. I wasn't aware of just how much there was to offer at a community college, and I got way more out of it than I thought I would."

He credits his wife, Tracy, and children Rhys, 8, Evan, 6, and Gwen, 3, with keeping him going all the way to graduation, and his parents for their support, "Their example as I was growing up is largely why I work so hard,"he said.

"I would not have been able to accomplish all of this without my family's support, or the support services at Crafton," he said. "My son hates that he can't complain about homework at all, because I've been doing it for hours. At the same time, seeing me going back to school gives them a good role model, and I feel it's a good example for them."

Stevens enrolled in Crafton in fall 2013, after earning his GED. He was on welfare and having a difficult time finding employment, and decided it was time to go back to school. His father enjoys prospecting and panning for gold as a hobby, and Stevens also got into it, so much so that it turned into a "bit of an obsession," he said. It made sense for him to turn his hobby into a course of study, and he took advantage of the different programs and extracurriculars available.

"The geology field courses were my favorite, with Prof. Hughes," he said. "We would go on three or four day trips to national parks, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, and study geology there for the weekend. I did every trip they offered."

After having to give a speech in the quad as part of the honors program, Stevens discovered that he doesn't mind public speaking. When it came time for graduation speaker auditions, he decided to try out, and was ultimately selected.

"I wanted a chance to try and inspire and encourage people to keep going and remind them of what all we've accomplished here," he said. "This is my last chance to give everybody a little bit of encouragement and push them to keep going and to thank everybody."

He received another honor, this time at the Scholars Convocation. After meeting with President Cheryl Marshall, he was chosen as the recipient of the President's Award for Outstanding Service & Scholarship.

"Wes really epitomized outstanding service to the campus," Marshall said. "He was involved in numerous clubs and groups, often in leadership roles. Several faculty and managers said that they had Wes on speed dial because he was dependable and always willing to help."

"I was up against some stiff competition," Stevens said. "There are a lot of good people here, and I was a bit overwhelmed and very honored to receive it. A lot of people work hard at this school to make a difference, and I was surprised and overwhelmed with joy. It's really nice to receive recognition, and I spent a lot of time here every day for meetings with one club or a group of people. Even if I don't have class I'm here doing something."

Stevens is the youngest of his siblings, and the first one to finish any level of college. His entire family is "ecstatic" about his achievement.

"They are very happy and very proud," he said. "Several of them are wondering where all of this came from, because this doesn't resemble how I was in high school."

He is already looking ahead to the next stop in his educational journey, and is going through the application process for the University of Nevada, Reno. In 10 years he hopes to be working for Planetary Resources, an asteroid mining company, or own a goldmine. For now, he's thrilled with everything he's done over the past two-and-a-half years.

"I'm proud of coming back to school at this age, and being able to accomplish as much as I was able to accomplish," he said. "For me, it's a very tremendous personal accomplishment that I've done all this."