Fighting fires, rescuing victims from deadly car crashes, directing airplanes on an aircraft carrier— Stephen Thomas Schmidt has done them all. He is a young man who is also not afraid to show his love and concern for children. Steve Schmidt entered the University of Idaho as an elementary education major in fall 1994. Having “started out as an uncle at an early age,” he decided to focus his career on serving as a teacher to children. In fall 1996, Schmidt met Janice Fletcher, a professor in the University of Idaho College of Agricultural and Life Science’s School of Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS). He discovered within the College’s Child Development/Family Relations option a variety of career choices that combine many of his loves—including children.

Above: Stephen Schmidt combines past experiences in service to children.

Schmidt entered the U.S. Navy immediately after his high school graduation and sailed the seas on the USS Kittyhawk, on which he was an aircraft director on the flight deck, and where he learned firefighting skills. When a two-year military stint was over, he enrolled at the UI and joined the Moscow Volunteer Fire Department. Between classes, he sandwiched in Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training, and then advanced EMT training. Seven years later, he still volunteers four days a week as an ambulance driver and, as a volunteer firefighter, he is on duty full time.

As a senior in FCS, Schmidt was able to participate in a Child Development Laboratory practicum and knew he had found his niche. He applied for admission to the FCS graduate program, but was encouraged to take a statistics course and gain some practical experience first. He enrolled in courses and landed a job as the lead teacher at Community Child Care Center in Pullman, WA and “learned what being a real pre-school teacher is like.” His job in Pullman taught Schmidt how to operate successfully in a world less perfect than a practicum, experience that paid off. His second application to the FCS graduate program was accepted, and he resumed formal studies in fall 1999.

Schmidt’s application letter stated that one of his goals in pursuing a graduate degree was to “focus as much of my learning as I can on children’s lives in hospitals.” As an EMT and FCS major, he not only prepared himself for future service to children in hospitals, he is enabling others to achieve similar goals, as well. Schmidt’s master’s project, under the supervision of Fletcher, was to develop an on-line course for FCS entitled Introduction to Child Life. Child Life is the title given to those who work with children and families in medical settings who are not doctors or nurses, but specialists trained to ease the anxiety of medical experiences for children. His online course was offered in the fall of 2001.

Planning for his future, Schmidt continued to take military science courses in graduate school. “The military was good for me when I was young,” Schmidt says. “I wanted to see what I could do for it in return.” In May 2001, Schmidt accepted an Army award for leadership, was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant, and graduated with a master’s degree in family and consumer sciences. In his continuing military career, he plans to be an Army social worker specializing in service to children and families. His education in the UI School of Family and Consumer Sciences has laid much of the foundation for that.

© 2002 University of Idaho, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.