Colorado State University Athletics
Amazing Grads: SteveO Michel
5/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
2014-15 CSU student-athlete graduates
By Tony Phifer
It's difficult to imagine a more unlikely college graduate than Steve Michel.
He's one of eight kids raised in a single-parent home -- and that parent could not read or write English. He could barely read himself going into high school, and his freshman grade point average was 1.8. And he's not just the first in his family to attend college -- he's likely the first person in his impoverished Orlando, Fla., neighborhood to do so.
"If someone had told me eight years ago that I would be graduating from college I would have thought they were crazy," said Michel, 22. "That thought never even crossed my mind growing up."
For much of his youth, it appeared Michel was going to be just another statistic from a poor neighborhood. He was selling drugs, smoking pot and getting away with whatever he could.
"I probably should be in prison -- or dead," he said. "I just thank God I was able to get out of that before it was too late."
A talent for football and some caring mentors at Jones High School helped Michel -- call him SteveO, by the way -- create an opportunity to change his life by attending Colorado State University on a football scholarship. As a result, he will graduate from the College of Health and Human Sciences with a degree in social work -- and he will have earned that diploma in four years.
Malcolm Scott, an assistant professor in CSU' School of Social Work and faculty adviser to student-athletes in the program, said college has been anything but easy for Michel. The early papers he wrote for classes needed a great deal of work, and he lacked study skills.
"The great thing about Steve is he was willing to be mentored, and he's just as tenacious with his academics has he is on the football field," Scott said. "To see the growth he's made, I'm absolutely thrilled. I'm very, very proud of him."
Michel's CSU football career has been solid. A linebacker and defensive tackle, he has recorded 53 tackles to date, and he's a likely starter this fall.
He would love to play professionally but realizes education is a better bet. Fittingly, he has already been accepted into the master's program in social work at CSU.
"I want to be a role model -- someone kids can look up to," he said. "I want to be able to tell my story so I can help other kids do what I've done."     
