College Student From Wildomar Setting High Standards

A college student who hails from Wildomar is aiming high.

Mt. San Jacinto College student Joseph Stacy plans to major in neuroscience or biophysics while completing his undergraduate studies at UCLA or UCSD before going on to medical school. To help along the way, he has been awarded the 2012 Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. 

Stacy is one of only 60 community college students nationwide to be awarded the $30,000 multi-year scholarship that can be used to cover educational expenses including tuition, living costs, and books for the final two to three years necessary to achieve a bachelor's degree. 

Stacy isn't your typical community college student. In 1999, the Wildomar resident graduated from Escondido Adventist Academy and it wasn't until 2009 that he began his college career at MSJC.

Starting late paid off. He earned a 3.8 GPA while serving in multiple student leadership positions at MSJC, including president of the MSJC chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honors Society, student representative on the Honors Enrichment Program Faculty Committee, president of the Inter-Club Council, vice president of Mu Alpha Theta Math Club, and vice president of Student Government, according to a news release from the community college.

While at MSJC, Stacy also organized and participated in community-centered events such as a Low-Tech Challenge, where students give up a piece of technology for one week as a way to stimulate awareness about the role of technology in contemporary society. He also participated in the Holiday Food and Toy Drive, where 44 families in need received gift baskets of food and toys. 

He has also been employed as a student tutor and supplemental instructor in the fields of math, chemistry, Spanish, and biology. 

As a student, Stacy completed original research that he presented at an Honors Research Conference at the University of California, Irvine where he won second place for his poster presentation on "Is Boiled Water Toxic?" 

This summer he plans to travel to Kenya through a Loma Linda University Summer Program where he will be working at a medical clinic.