Stefanie DaCosta, of Calumet Park, was sworn in as Moraine Valley Community College’s 2024-25 student trustee during its April Board of Trustees meeting. DaCosta represents the student body as an active member of the Board of Trustees through April 2025.
DaCosta earned an associate degree in 2019 and returned to Moraine Valley in 2023 to begin the Nursing Program. She believes combining her past experiences as a student leader with input from various student organizations will have a positive impact at the college.
Stefanie DaCosta (left) takes the oath of office as the new student trustee at Moraine Valley Community College from Beth McElroy Kirkwood, chair of the Board of Trustees, at the April board meeting.
“I’m really excited about any type of changes I can make that would benefit the students, and I just can’t wait to begin implementing some things and speaking on behalf of the student body,” DaCosta said.
One of her initial goals is to increase resources at the Education Center at Blue Island, especially relating to anatomy and physiology structures. “There are a few other ideas I have, but I will talk with students, especially in the groups I belong to, and see what is needed,” said DaCosta, who is a member of Moraine Valley’s Black Student Association, Multicultural Student Affairs and Trio Program.
Drawing on her experiences as a student leader will complement her new role at Moraine Valley. “When I was in high school, which was many years ago, I was one of the students chosen by the administration to be the voice of the students. If we ever saw any issues with any of the students, we would report it or if we thought there were opportunities for the students to engage in other activities, we would voice that. We acted as a liaison between the student body and the administration and faculty. It was fun, and I thought this [student trustee] would be a good opportunity to re-enact what I did then,” DaCosta said.
DaCosta was working as a nutrition technician at a hospital, engaging with pediatric and NICU nurses, and witnessed the challenges nurses were facing during the pandemic. “I just felt like the degree I had wasn’t earning the wages I wanted, so I decided to pursue my dream of nursing,” she said. “I saw how strained and stressed they were, and I was wishing I had the credentials to help them. I’m also a cuddler. I would hold the babies because sometimes it was a challenge for parents to get in to have that skin-to-skin time with their baby. I just wished I could do more.”
As a returning adult student, DaCosta believes she will be able to do more to help in the medical field with her nursing degree and that she is setting a good example for her three daughters. She’s also setting a good example for other adults to return to school to pursue their dream of earning a degree and for current students to become involved in campus life.
Excited about what the next school year has in store, DaCosta is happy she returned to Moraine Valley to pursue her new career. “There are a lot of great people at this school,” she said. “It has been a really good experience for me.”
For news media inquiries, contact Jessica Crotty, assistant director of Communications, at (708) 974-5281 or crotty@morainevalley.edu.
