You might forgive John Urbach for finding himself a little lost during his senior year at Kissimmee’s Gateway High School. He struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic, with his grades suffering and tensions increasing at home.
A dream of earning scholarships to go to college to study medicine seemed shattered. His father told him to move out and fend for himself. He was working as a Circle K clerk to scrape out a living.
“It was just a very difficult time for me,” he says.
Then school officials called for an unexpected assembly, one that played out for the Class of ’22 throughout Osceola County. The school band was there, along with school district and county officials. What they said took a minute to sink in: You can get a tuition-free education at Valencia College or Osceola Technical College under a new program called Osceola Prosper.
Once it was clear that the offer was legitimate, “It was instant — this is what I’m going to do,” Urbach says. “It filled me with so much hope. This was exactly what I was waiting for my whole life.”
He didn’t know anything about college, but Valencia College set him up with staffers to help him figure out what courses he needed to pursue an associate’s degree in health sciences, something he’ll complete this month with a 3.5 GPA and multiple appearances on the president’s list. It’s the first step in a rekindled dream of becoming a doctor. Valencia College’s “Direct Connect” program guarantees his admission to the University of Central Florida.
Osceola Prosper “really just changed the whole trajectory of my life,” says Urbach, 22. A self-described introvert who had trouble making friends, Urbach works 32 hours a week at the Prosper office, making sure current students are filling out their financial aid forms and meeting the program’s required 2.0 GPA and minimum 12 course credits per year. He also does outreach to show high school students how to follow in his footsteps.
Working for Osceola Prosper has provided its own education, he says. “I couldn’t write a formal email when I started working here. I was very closed off. I was very introverted. I didn’t like speaking to people.” Now he says he doesn’t get nervous before public speaking.
He’s back at home with his mother, a Honduran native working at CVS and Publix to make ends meet, and his two younger sisters. Siannah, 21, also is at Valencia College via Osceola Prosper. Sarah, 18, will join them this spring semester.
The program has altered the prospects for the entire family. Siannah wants to get a psychology degree and work with autistic children. Sarah dreams of going to law school.
Getting that first college degree with no debt “is huge” for them. “I know people that have put their education on their credit card and now they’re $15,000 in debt. They have to transition into adulthood with that. I don’t have to and my sisters don’t have to. That’s a big deal.”