Impact Of A Scholarship: Jordan Steffy

When Jordan Steffy first stepped foot on the campus of the University of Maryland in 10th grade to attend a football camp, he immediately fell in love with the school and knew it was where he wanted to spend his college years. 

“I remember the first time I walked on campus, it felt like it was home,” said Steffy, who was a quarterback for the Terps from 2004-08. “While I was open to other colleges, I felt so welcomed and wanted and those things led me to choose Maryland.”

Growing up in a small community in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Steffy never imagined that he would one day play college football as a student-athlete at Maryland. 

“I grew up with an amazing mom who was extremely supportive and was willing to do whatever it took for her son to have the most opportunities possible,” Steffy said. 

A star quarterback at Conestoga Valley High School, Steffy would ultimately receive a scholarship from Maryland, which he says meant everything to him and helped change his life.

“College for me without a scholarship wouldn't have existed and getting a full scholarship changed the trajectory of my life and my kids’ lives forever,” said Steffy. “To get to know Barry Gossett, Ed and Kelly Woods, who all have such big hearts for the university and student-athletes as people both on the field and off meant everything.”

Steffy was quick to credit the donors who paid for his scholarship for the financial burden that they lifted from his shoulders.

“They don't know the reach of their generosity. For me to be able to follow my first purpose after college and just graduate, all of those things were made possible from donors,” Steffy said.

“Knowing people who didn't have the same fortune at Maryland and watching them have to delay their dreams and them having to delay their purpose because of student loan debt allowed me to pay it forward quickly.”

To say that Steffy has simply paid it forward since he graduated from Maryland in 2008 with a degree in Kinesiology would be an understatement. 

Steffy founded an organization called Attollo Prep, which is centered on empowering juniors and seniors in high school as they think of their next steps in life after graduation.

According to Steffy, Attollo Prep has served well over 1,000 students since the organization was founded in 2008 and there are “north of 700 more students” currently being served by the organization.

The inspiration for Attollo Prep actually came from something Steffy heard a professor say during one of his classes at Maryland. The quote, Steffy said, was, "You should teach something shortly after you learned it while you still remember what it's like to not know it.”

There isn’t just one type of student who can receive the benefits of what Attollo Prep offers. Steffy looks at psychographics, rather than demographics, when accepting students to the program and describes the students that Attollo Prep works with as “a very diverse and hopeful group that is willing to work.” 

Some of Attollo Prep’s core pillars are resiliency, sacrifice and accountability and these pillars have been displayed throughout a rough 2020 for the organization.

“Every year we have a major fundraiser and this year it had to be cancelled but more importantly some of the students we served were in some of the most vulnerable populations to the virus,” Steffy said. 

“We really saw things change through COVID-19 and our responsibility through COVID-19 was to help them first navigate essentials like food, then things like the class on the internet.”

Steffy made it clear that none of his work that he’s done with Attollo Prep would have been possible without his scholarship from Maryland and the subsequent experiences he had during his time as a Terp. 

“Being from a small town and having the opportunity to go to a major metropolitan area like the University of Maryland and be exposed to other people was truly transformational,” Steffy said.

“To see entrepreneurs for the first time and to see real leadership were some of the parts of the experience that were so valuable. Being a first-generation college student, a lot of things are overlooked but for me it was my first time experiencing it and being exposed to someone who started a company from the ground is great.”

Steffy didn’t just receive life-changing exposure to entrepreneurs during his time at Maryland as his scholarship also helped him develop life-long relationships with plenty of fellow Terps.

“When I think of Maryland, I think of exposure and access to some amazing teammates that I had, the coaches that I had and the greater Maryland community that I met over the years and being able to rub shoulders with so many amazing people and be able to build those relationships,” he said.

For Steffy, aside from football games, enjoying nights on McKeldin Mall were some of his favorite memories during his time as a student. He even began dating his future wife while he was a student at Maryland.

Steffy took his daughter to Capital One Field for a game last season and was excited by all of the new construction developments on-campus. “To see how they are developing is awesome.”

Ultimately, Steffy made it clear that Terrapin Club members should know the effect that being a scholarship student-athlete at Maryland had on his life. 

“I graduated in 2008 and to think of me now running an organization,” he said, “I know for a fact that the inspiration and belief in myself came from seeing others at Maryland.”