Travis Cowsert, Grossmont College, A.A. Business Administration, 2008

Works for the federal government through The Lighthouse for the Blind Inc., combat veteran, Marines

Grossmont College, A.A. in Business Administration in 2008

Travis Cowsert would have dropped out of college after he had a stroke – and missed out on the great job he has today – if it hadn’t been for the counseling staff at Grossmont.

Cowsert was working on an associate’s degree in business when a freak accident left him paralyzed for six months. He had been helping his brother cut trees while on vacation in Missouri when one fell on him and drove him into the ground, leaving him with massive head injuries, blood clots in his brain and a left arm that was broken in 14 places.

“I went back to Grossmont in a wheelchair,” said Cowsert, a former corporal in the Marine Corps. “I worked in the Veteran’s Affairs Office and my professors gave me incompletes for the classes I had been taking so I could stay on track and graduate in 2008.”

He now leads a team of low-vision employees, working through The Lighthouse for the Blind Inc. The group closes contracts for the Navy, anything from a $40 time-stamp to a $54 million galley service at a military base. “Any time the government procures an item, there is a contract,” he said.

Cowsert helped other veterans – he served in Iraq with the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion – to make sure they utilized their educational benefits correctly.

“The biggest thing any current or prospective student needs to know is what the school has to offer,” Cowsert said. “Don’t give up hope even in a bad situation. Grossmont was pretty good to me. I was able to make up the time and the rest is history.”