2008 Woodie Awards
Student turns troubled past into positive future
By Mike Mallory
Rocket Editor-in-Chief
Issue date: 12/2/05 Section: Life
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One SRU student has paved his own way.
Joseph Stephen Lustick III, 20, was born Dec. 4, 1984, in Abbington, Pa., a small town outside Philadelphia.
Currently a junior at the university, Lustick is a Cadet Second Lieutenant in the Reserve Officers Training Corps (R.O.T.C) and soon will become a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army when he graduates from SRU. He said it's been a longtime goal of his to become an officer in the military.
"For me, becoming an officer in the U.S. Army and the respect that comes with that job is what I need," Lustick said. "I want to be part of something great, something powerful and something I'm respected for."
The 5-foot-5-inch Lustick said college surpasses any other time of his life.
"I often think about the friends I've made here," Lustick said. "Hopefully, I'll leave having touched some people's lives."
Lustick is currently a member of the SRU honors program. He is also a community assistant in Bard Hall. He's served as an orientation team member, as well.
"I'm going to take away all the leadership skills I've learned," Lustick said. "I'm just really driven by being the best that I can. If you're not passionate about something, then there is no point in living."
Looking confident, Lustick said college has made him ready to tackle the next phase of his journey through life in the military.
"The older I've gotten is the realization of the task at hand," Lustick said. "I want to travel around the world. I want to serve my country. I want to use my mind to defeat the enemy. I want to become a military intelligence officer."
But Lustick, whose future is presently so bright, has weathered a storm that spanned nearly two decades.
From an unstable beginning, to an emotionless childhood and uncertain adolescence, Lustick said it has taken a great deal of effort to become the independent, respectable young man he is today.
"I was never respected for who I was," Lustick said. "Nobody ever gave me respect for what I was good at. The biggest thing that has made me independent today is that I kind of feel adrift in the sea of the unknown."
