Joseph Stephenson '17
As a student at West Point, Joe Stephenson
’17 was better prepared than most. The military
environment was highly structured and
scheduled, something that was foreign to many
students coming out of high school. But for
Joe, it felt almost like an extension of what he
experienced at Woodberry.
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“Not much changed for me when I got to
college,” said Joe with a laugh. “At Woodberry,
we learned to balance our days, making sure we
put in the work for academic success while also
participating in extracurriculars. Every second of
every day was filled, and the same was true at
West Point. It was a natural transition for me.”
Growing up in the small town of Brodnax,
Virginia, Joe had never thought much about
boarding school. Brodnax is in Brunswick
County, on the border with North Carolina.
While it is less than three hours from
Woodberry’s campus, in terms of opportunities,
it may as well be a world away. Joe’s only
connection to the school was through his
father, who worked with someone whose son
went to Woodberry and spoke highly of it. As a
talented football player, Joe was also aware of
a Woodberry alumnus who was making a name
for himself at Notre Dame.
“When I first started thinking about the
possibility of going to a boarding school, I’d
like to say it was for academic reasons, but
at the top of my mind was the prospect of
chasing a football scholarship,” said Joe. “And
at the time, Greer Martini ’14 was a fixture on
Notre Dame’s defense, and I knew that he
had gone to Woodberry. He was doing what I
hoped to do, so that certainly influenced my
decision.”
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When Joe arrived at Woodberry as a new boy
fourth former, it was more of a culture shock
than he expected. The rigid schedule was unlike anything he’d ever experienced. He had to learn to fit his own priorities into Woodberry’s
priorities. Fortunately, he felt like his parents had prepared him well for this leap.
“My parents strongly believed in placing me in
uncomfortable situations,” said Joe. “They felt
like the most important skill a person can have
is the ability to adapt. And that’s what going
to Woodberry forced me to do: adapt. I am so
grateful to have had the opportunity to practice
and build off those fundamental skills I learned
growing up in Brodnax, which in turn prepared
me for college.”
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It is not lost on Joe that his enrollment at
Woodberry was made possible by the school’s
generous tuition assistance program.
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“Attending Woodberry set me on a different
path in life,” said Joe. “The cost of going to
a school like that overshadows a potential
student’s academic ability and overall potential
to excel. However, that barrier was removed
by tuition assistance. Tuition assistance opens
the door for students who may not have the
financial means but do have the ability to adapt
and find success.”
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Joe was one of those students who did
exactly that, excelling on the football field and
in the classroom. Even when he struggled
academically, he still found a way to learn from
the experience.
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“I can remember at first really struggling with
the overlap of academics and athletics,” said
Joe. “Specifically, bombing a chemistry test with Mr. Vickers in the morning and then going out to play in a big football game in the afternoon. Pretty quickly I learned to brush aside setbacks and to just keep going forward.”
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Another new experience for Joe was the
importance of peer leadership at Woodberry,
especially in an environment with so many
high-achieving students.
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“Woodberry is a school that is filled with
leaders,” said Joe. “It’s not easy to navigate that and progress naturally and not compete with others while also maintaining a competitive edge.
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Being chosen as a prefect had a huge
impact on my life in that respect. It forced me to have tough conversations with someone my own age. It felt weird at first and was very hard, but I still had a responsibility to do my job. I learned how to separate business from friendship.”
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While he appreciates how much he learned at
Woodberry, Joe’s favorite part of the experience was the camaraderie and the lifelong friendships he established with both classmates and teachers — people he never would have met had he not accepted the opportunity Woodberry offered him.
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“That’s what tuition assistance does . . . it
brings together people from so many different backgrounds,” said Joe. “As I look back on my time at Woodberry, I can see that financial aid allowed for diversity of thought within the school and the student body, which leads to better ideas being generated. It gives all students a better sense of what the world outside of the Woodberry campus actually looks like. It’s what makes Woodberry such a special place.”