Homegrown Excellence

Trustee Scholar and Proud Turlock Son Shines in the Hometown Spotlight

By Lori Gilbert

Colin Bethishou spent his first year at Stanislaus State studying, working at the restaurant Table 26, and devoting time to Mar Addai Parish, the Assyrian Church he began regularly attending a couple years ago.

He served a summer internship working full-time at Turlock Irrigation District in the information technology department, directing calls from the power provider’s multiple offices to service technicians.

Now in his second year at Stan State, Bethishou is devoting more time to being a business administration student with a concentration in computer information systems, thanks to being named the University’s recipient of the California State University Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement for 2023.

The Trustees’ Awards, presented to one student at each of the 23 campuses, are based on superior academic performance, personal accomplishments, community service and financial need.

Bethishou, who was named the Steve Relyea Scholar, exemplifies each of these criteria.

A Turlock native, Bethishou shook his head when his friends at Turlock High asked if he didn’t want to get out of town and attend college somewhere else.

“I’m staying here. I’m going to Stan State,” he told them. “I don’t want to leave Turlock. I love it here. The people here are awesome. I want to give back. The ultimate act of selflessness, what people have done for me and my peers, the resources they offered, the help they offered, the advice, the mentorship, that’s what I want to do.”

At 19, Bethishou already has developed an appreciation for those he’s encountered in his nearly 20 years of life.

Whether its coaches at Turlock High School, who shared stories about the history of his town, church leaders who shared some of the region’s rich Assyrian history, or Katrin Shahbaz in Stan State’s financial aid office, who suggested he apply for the Trustees’ Award, Bethishou is full of gratitude.

Bethishou is a sponge, happy to soak up whatever those with greater experience are willing to share. Someday, he would like to offer similar words of wisdom.

“I’d love to create an organization in Turlock that teaches kids or teens these skills, of how you get into the professional world, how you get to college, how you stay focused, how you choose the right path to be beneficial to the community in the long run,” he said.

That’s a goal for the future. For now, Bethishou is busy.

After his first semester, he realized computer programming wasn’t for him and switched his major to business with a concentration in

computer information systems. He’s more comfortable using computer programs to help run a business than designing the programs themselves.

With some $7,000 in financial assistance provided by the Trustees’ Award, he’s dedicated to growing his skills and learning how to apply his knowledge to help local businesses and organizations.

Much of his spare time is devoted to Mar Addai Parish. Although raised in the Assyrian Church, which he said dates back 2,000 years and was one of the first Christian churches established after the apostles spread the word of Jesus, Bethishou wasn’t a regular attendee.

That changed a couple of years ago. He found something inspiring and meaningful in the services, which are recited in Aramaic. He was ordained as a sub-deacon, which is a deacon-in-training.

“My goal is to work up to learning the liturgies and language and mass and one day be ordained as a deacon and continue my role there,” he said.

The Assyrian Church of the East is an important part of his culture. The Church, Bethishou said, is the keeper of Assyrian history.

As Christians, Assyrians were often persecuted in the Middle East. Assyrians and Armenians alike fled the Turkish genocide between 1915 and 1918, many taking nothing more than the clothes on their backs and a few items.

Bethishou takes nothing for granted.

Nestled within the fabric of his family’s history, Bethishou is more than just a dedicated student, he is part of a legacy. With two older siblings who attended Stan State, it felt as though he was destined to follow in their footsteps.

With a hint of nostalgia, he recalls their evening walks across the beautiful tree-filled campus. “The writing was on the wall that this was the place I’d end up,” he said.

It wasn’t just the family ties that bound him to Stan State. Among the picturesque beauty of the campus, Bethishou found a sanctuary in the newly renovated Vasché Library. A place where past and present converge, he has spent time exploring the Sarguis Modern Assyrian Heritage Collection and other texts about Assyrian history he didn’t know about before. His gratitude spills over when thinking about the administrators and librarians that make the collection possible.

“They didn’t have to do that,” he notes. “That’s kind of them, that they were willing to go to that effort for us.”

It is this spirit of generosity and sense of community — the individuals who go above and beyond — that has left an indelible mark on him. He thinks about the countless acts of kindness that have shaped his journey.

“I’ve been blessed to have all these resources, all these people doing something for me and probably other people,” Bethishou said. “They didn’t have to. I want to do that, too.

“I have an obligation to do it for the next generation of Turlock and that’s part of the reason I stayed at Stanislaus State.”

I’m staying here. I’m going to Stan State. I don’t want to leave Turlock. I love it here. The people here are awesome. I want to give back.

- Colin Bethishou