Stepinac Valedictorian Set for CUNY BA/MD Program

When Archbishop Stepinac High School valedictorian Joshua Kurian graduates Saturday he’ll be one step closer to the scrubs and stethoscopes that have always intrigued him.

“It’s like House, it’s that kind of detective work involved with diagnosing people that interests me,” said Kurian, 17, of Greenburgh. “AP bio showed me that and I liked it.”

Kurian will begin a combined bachelor’s and doctoral program at CUNY Brooklyn this fall. Although he doesn’t know what type of medicine he wants to specialize in, Kurian said watching surgery was one of the highlights of a nurse apprentice program he did at the White Plains Hospital last year.

“It was sort of like you were a nurse tech, you shadow nurses,” said Kurian. “One day I got to be in the operating room.”

When Kurian wasn’t studying, running track, or participating in News 12’s Jeopardy-like Challenge competitions during high school, he was at the St. Mary’s Orthodox Church in the Bronx. He is an alter server and vice president of the youth group at his church.

“Our church was one of the first of its kind in America,” said Kurian. “A lot of Indian people started coming there then, and then they started making more money and moved out to the suburbs. But they’re still friends, and they still all go there.”

Kurian has helped the youth group organize charity events, such as a recent clothing drive that benefited the Part of the Solution charity down the street from his church. He is also behind a July basketball tournament that his church league basketball team will host.

It took a little bit for Kurian to adjust to the all-boys student body at Stepinac. However, now he says he’ll miss it.

“I came to this school and I only knew one other person so it was a process just to make friends,” said Kurian. “I plan to spend time with friends this summer, but I’ll miss them.”

Frank Adamo said Kurian was one of the most motivated and dedicated students he’s taught.

“It’s amazing that he’s found a subject that he’s passionate about, normally that comes later in life,” said Adamo, who taught Kurian AP biology in 2009. “Even with all of his academic success and his achievements he still gives a lot of respect to his teachers and his classmates. It’s nice to see someone who has done so much maintain some level of humbleness in all that he does.”

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