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Alumna gets wish granted on "Three Wishes"

By Lori Runkle
Greenlee Web Team

Television viewers of the new NBC reality show “Three Wishes” watched Greenlee School alumna Stephanie Kobes’ student loans of about $28,000 go up in smoke and dust on Oct. 14.

The momentous day for Kobes, an aspiring dancer and a 2005 journalism and mass communication graduate, was July 19 when Iowa State's Storms Hall and Knapp Hall, part of the Towers, were reduced to rubble. “Three Wishes” camera crews were on campus to film Kobes' reaction to her wish.

Carter Oosterhouse, a “Three Wishes” cast member, made sure Kobes' student loan file was placed in her old dorm room in the Towers. When the residence halls were destroyed, the burden of her educational loans drifted away like a bad memory, allowing her to continue her dance career in New York City with one less financial worry.

Kobes jumped high into the air, as only a limber dancer is able to do, after the Towers were razed.

“Three Wishes” also made it possible for Kobes to audition with the Parsons Dance Company in New York City where she landed a scholarship to return to the company for an intensive two-week workshop this summer.

Courtesy Photo by Vernon Windsor Stephanie Kobes was featured on NBC's "Three Wishes" hosted by Amy Grant. The show aired Oct. 14.

According to the “Three Wishes” Web site, helping deserving people is the television program's goal.”

Kobes, whose parents died when she was a teenager, is now in New York City working as a dancer.

The Le Mars native's mother died from a leaking aneurism in 1999, and her father committed suicide a month later. The day her father died was only four days after Kobes' 17th birthday.

“I lived with aunts and uncles and put myself through college,” she said.

“She graduated in May, did a four-week internship in public relations for a dance company, and not knowing a soul, she packed her bags for New York,” Greenlee Lecturer Erin Wilgenbusch explained.

Without the help of the “Three Wishes” program, Kobes auditioned for the Ailey Studios production of “The Dancer Who Wore Sneakers and Other Tales” and will perform with the company Dec. 2-4 in New York City.

“She arrived in New York in the middle of June with nothing. Her first professional production is in December. That shows how good she is on her own,” Wilgenbusch said.

Courtesy photo by Vernon Windsor Stephanie Kobes, a Greenlee School alumna and aspiring dancer, had a wish granted on NBC's "Three Wishes."

“She went to the casting call [for “Three Wishes”] with a friend, but she has never been a person to ask for handouts. I truly believe in my heart of hearts she would have continued to do amazing things even if her wish had not been granted,” Wilgenbusch said. “She is amazing and smart.”

Three stories from the Le Mars area were featured on the program hosted by recording artist Amy Grant.

According to an ISU News Service release, the "Three Wishes" crew visited Le Mars last July to grant wishes to three deserving community members …”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Last updated: October 17, 2005
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