Neosho teen turns her life around

The Friday Neosho Daily News included a feature written by Wes Franklin about a Neosho High School student who turned her life around after being in trouble with the law at her former school. The article is reprinted below:

By Wes Franklin / Daily News Staff Writer

Krystil Steffen, a junior at Neosho High School, doesn't think of herself as necessarily special, but she realizes she's come a long way.

Today she received the Better Choices Award from Newton County Presiding Circuit Court Judge Timothy Perigo in recognition for having the courage and fortitude to change her life for the better.

But it's been a rocky journey.

About a year ago, while living in Stone County, Steffen found herself in more trouble than she would like to admit. Only 16 at the time, she became involved in drugs which eventually landed her in a rehabilitation center. Brazenly “escaping” with an accomplice from rehab, she stole a car but ended up getting caught.

Afterwards, when Steffen was placed into foster care with Neosho couple Kathi and Roy Stephens, she said she wasn't too enthusiastic about going back to the normal routine of high school.

“When I got here I could really care less,” Steffen related. “I didn't even want to be back in school.”

But on advice from her caseworker, Steffen re-enrolled in class. And that's when she noticed things starting to turn around.

“I've made straight ‘A's all my life, so obviously I was kind of obligated to make ‘A's, and I got into some accelerated classes that started motivating me a little more and things just kind of came alongŠ,” she said. “There's a lot more opportunities for me here than I had before so I just kind of went for them all as I get more motivated in school.”



However, education can only do so much. A negative perception on life can void whatever attributes may be gained through attending even accelerated classes. It takes a different world outlook to lift one's self up out of whatever funk they've fallen into - something Steffen said she realized soon after arriving in foster care and enrolling at Neosho High School.

“It was kind of a wake-up call,” she described. “I mean, my (real) parents were abusive so, before, I could really care less what my life was like. And then when I got here I realized, you know, life's not all crap. It can be fun if you make it and you can have a lot of opportunities thrown at you.”

Besides being involved as a tenor saxophonist in the Wildcat Band, Steffen's high grades and changed attitude about life have created a domino effect of consistent honor roll awards, a selection by a committee of teachers to represent Neosho at Missouri Girl's State this summer, an April Student of the Month award and a vote by her fellow classmates to the Neosho High School Student Council.

Applying to run for council was something she almost didn't even go forward with, but was strongly encouraged by her new friends - an example, Steffen believes, of her changed life.

“All my friends were like ‘dude, if you don't apply, what are you going to say if nobody else applies and you could have made it, a shoe-in; you're going to be kicking yourself all next year,' ” she related.“I definitely got that support system there that's like, you know, ‘if you don't do something that's going to put yourself in a better position, don't talk to us. If you're just going to be a bum, leave us alone.' I didn't like that. I wanted to keep the friends I had made here. They're really good friends.”

According to Rob Lundien, high school A+ coordinator and guidance counselor, Steffen was recommended to receive the Better Choices Award by high school resource officer Cameron Kruse, a corporal with the Neosho Police Department. The nomination was seconded by high school teachers and faculty.

“Earlier in the year, I knew this award was coming up and I kind of thought, ‘of any student in this school that I know of, Krystil is definitely a student who has made better choices,' ” Lundien said. “She's self-determined, she's self-motivated. She's very unique in the sense that she's had a period where she's made some not so good choices and she's decided she's not going to do that anymore. I think that's what that award is pretty much all about.”

Steffen said she was completely taken by surprise when Lundien called her into his office last Monday after lunch and told her she was chosen to represent Neosho by accepting the honor.

“When he told me I was like ‘oh, that's so sweet,' ” Steffen related. “I didn't really expect to be picked, you know. I'm just your average juvenile delinquent trying to get her life straight.”

After graduation next year, Steffen hopes to be accepted into the United States Army Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.