What drew you to Concordia?
I was recruited to run track out of Riverside High School in Milwaukee. The coach was the most active in recruiting me, he wanted me to go here, called me a couple of times and I really felt wanted. The Cross Country coach found out I was coming and he welcomed me too, he was excited about having me as an athlete. I talked to him through the summer before my freshman year and ended up joining Cross Country too. When I looked at it, it’s not only the athletics but academics too. I really liked what they had to offer. It’s not in Milwaukee, but it’s close and I can get the one-on-one attention, with both academics and athletics.

What was your first day like?
I came ahead of time for training camp so I knew a few people from the team already, and I knew a lot of upperclassmen, that helped. I didn’t know what to expect coming from a public school and going to a Lutheran school. I’m Christian, but not Lutheran.

Getting into the classes, the professors were so nice. You see these huge classes on TV but it’s not like that here. The professors make an attempt right away to know you by name. You’re able to get comfortable with everything and everybody pretty quickly.

On academics
I’m in the business school on the CPA track as an accounting major. Because of the classes I’ll need and the credits, I might declare a double major, it’ll make sense. I ended up switching my major to accounting pretty early on because I liked this one professor so much, and I just clicked with him. It was one of my harder classes, but I was doing well and I thought I’d be a better fit. Once I made that decision, I was even more focused. It was my favorite class. There’s a lot of good, open discussion in the classes too. Particularly in our management and marketing classes, people jump right in.

Josh’s Do’s and Don’ts
Don’t take classes for granted. There was one class I wasn’t taking as seriously as I should have, but whatever it is, it still counts as a credit and is still a part of your education. I wasn’t working too hard in this class but my professor reached out to me. He knew I wasn’t a bad student, he just knew that I wasn’t working as hard as I should have been. After we talked and I got refocused on it, he gave me a chance to make up some of the work I missed. It showed he cared.

Do get involved in something. Athletics take up a lot of time for me. Whatever it is, getting involved makes everything more memorable. Don’t always keep your head in a book, and don’t just enjoy yourself all the time either. You have to find a good balance.

What was the biggest adjustment you had to make for college?
At first, it was adjusting to the type of environment I was in. I went to a public school in downtown Milwaukee and, although I’m a minority, I was in the majority in school. Coming here, I had to get used to being a minority in my everyday environment. It’s something I’m getting used to. I want to try to get involved with the Christian Athletes Association or a black student union. Regardless of your differences, everyone is so welcoming here that you know you’re in the right place.

Also, I remember in my first semester, I had between 12-15 papers, more than in a full year of high school. The workload, it wasn’t too hard, it was just an adjustment to take the time to get it done. I had a 10-page paper and I used to be a procrastinator, but I wasn’t gonna rush this. It was one thing I learned. In my freshman year, I learned that spending time in the library is a good thing. Studying there, getting my work done there, I was much more productive than in my room with a TV and a telephone, and a bed if I was getting tired. I’m definitely gonna stay in the library. For now, it’s my favorite place to study.

Josh’s favorite CUW sports memory?
Going to Memphis for track. It was about 90 degrees, we went to Beal Street and had a great experience at the meet. I did pretty well too, I came in third in my heat in the 1500.

On his Admission Counselor
Sean Cassidy, he was the first person I really talked to coming in and he was really helpful. When it came time to pick my schedule, I was on my cell phone talking about it with him. My mom talked to him a lot too, he helped us through everything so I could get all my classes scheduled like I wanted. He really set me up. Whatever concerns we had, he would help.