First in his family to attend college and graduate, one Wyandotte County student plans to continue his education in the fall at law school.
Josh S. Gillihan-Young of Kansas City, Kansas, graduated with a Bachelor of Social Work degree this spring from the University of Kansas, and plans to start classes in August at the University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Law. He is also a 2016 graduate of Johnson County Community College.
A native of Kansas City, Kansas, who grew up in a mobile home park near K-32 and Speaker Drive, Gillihan-Young is a Washington High School graduate. He noted that he originally started high school at Wyandotte, but the flood of 1993 destroyed his family’s home, and he changed schools, graduating from Washington in 1996.
After high school he entered the U.S. Air Force, and served as a technical sergeant in the military police for 14 years, including five Middle East deployments. Two tours were in Saudi Arabia, two in Qatar, and the last one, in Afghanistan, was the most dangerous, he said. He’s been out of the military service almost six years.
Justice is an important value to him.
“What I like is that everybody is equal under the law,” GIllihan-Young said. “The law treats everyone equally. That’s huge to me.”
Gillihan-Young credits his military service in the Air Force with installing a “go-get-’em” mentality, making it possible for him to achieve success in college. Also important was his family’s influence.
“We grew up pretty poor,” he said. “Dad, a Marine, always raised me to do the right thing.”
From a military family, Gillihan-Young has ancestors who fought in the American Revolution and for the Union in the Civil War, he said.
Gillihan-Young said he enjoys researching his family history. His family has lived in Wyandotte County for five generations, he added.
“I love Wyandotte County, I hope to stay here the rest of my life,” Gillihan-Young said.
His dad’s mother’s parents immigrated from Mexico in 1916, settling in the Argentine area of Kansas City, Kansas, in the 1920s, he said. His great-grandfather worked for the Santa Fe Railroad, living near 7th and Metropolitan.
When he completes law school, Gillihan-Young would like to either work in the prosecutor’s office or start his own practice, he said.
And he would like to be a role model for young people, telling them that they can achieve their dreams.
“Growing up, there were not too many options for kids who looked like me,” he said. But he wants youth to know that they do have options, and they can succeed.
“This is America, you can accomplish a lot if you do the work,” Gillihan-Young said.
