More to Life

By JAYNE VARGHESE

Steve Thomas, 28, is a systems specialist and helps schools in Nassau County comply with heath regulations. Though he is described as being “serious, reliable and patient” by his aunt Jessy Chacko, it wasn’t until a serious injury did he learn to take on responsibility. Now aspiring to be a professor in public administration he enjoys hanging out with his family, reading and traveling.

As a kid Thomas tried to get away with a lot of things. “He just left me there,” recalls his brother Stanley Thomas. When the brothers were young Steve was supposed to be watching Stanley when they decided it would be fun to watch a metal spoon melt over the stove. When the tissue around the spoon caught fire and fell to the ground, Steve ran to his father while the linoleum tiles were erupting in flames. Luckily Stanley did not get hurt but he did get blamed for the fire.

When Thomas was in first grade, afraid to show his low graded spelling test to his parents, he decided to forge his mother’s signature. He thought it would be simple, but instead of signing “A. Jacob” he printed “A. Jack.” Not only did he realize how bad his spelling was, he also learned an important lesson: “You can lie, but eventually you’ll get caught, " he said.

Thomas’s college years were filled with even more mischief. He and his friends rearranged dorm furniture to frighten a friend who believed in ghosts. The joke went on for hours until their religious Muslim friend realized that there was no djin (ghost) in his room and that it was just a trick.

“Getting into Stony Brook was one of my best experiences because it made me more independent,” recalls Thomas. Though college was filled with many important changes his accident was the one that had the greatest impact.

“I was playing basketball, running to take a charge. I hyper extended my knee, heard a loud pop, and fell backwards. I had to drive back home (from college) for an hour because I wasn’t sure if I would be covered if I went to a hospital here. The ride home was extremely painful because I felt every single bump in the road. My knee kept getting more swollen. It was terrible.”

After going to the hospital he found out that he tore his meniscus and that surgery had to be preformed. “There was a lot more to life than basketball,” Thomas discovered during his weeks of recovery.

Now life is different for Thomas. “He’s goofy, funny at times, smart and knows a lot about politics,” says his wife, Raimol. He wants to become a professor in public administration. “I think I could teach students very well,” Thomas says. “I was a teacher’s assistant and it was a lot of fun.”

“I would also like to build at least one house with Habitat for humanity. I would like to do something positive, helping people,” says Thomas. “Something local, people always talk about helping in Africa. I would like to help the people of New York. Now I just have to wait for them (Habitat for Humanity) to get back to me about my application”.