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During Political Economy Days at Palomar College on April 11, 2018, Martin Leyva, Gregory Mendoza, Jose Juarez and Patty Petersen (left to right) participated in a panel discussion about life and education after incarceration. “I wish they had a Ph.D. for marginal education, because I learned on the margins, and I brought those margins into the classroom with me,” said Leyva, who now teaches Sociology at Palomar.<\/p><\/div>\n
This summer, 22 students entered the inaugural Transitions program, which Sebring described as a learning community specifically for the formerly incarcerated. They showed up Monday through Thursday for two courses and participated in peer counseling and team-building activities on Fridays.<\/p>\n
\u201cTransitions helps us make sure they have a student support group here on campus as soon as they are released,\u201d said Sebring. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of wrap-around support available to students in the program.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of the 22 who entered the summer program, 19 finished and transitioned to enroll in their first fall semester, and 15 are enrolled full-time.<\/p>\n
Among them is Lawrence Morris, 60, a parolee who lives in Escondido and rides his bicycle 40 minutes each way to Palomar every day.<\/p>\n
Morris said that, as a younger man starting a life sentence, he quickly realized how important it would be to pursue his education while behind bars. He recalled a telling moment while he was serving as a GED tutor years ago: \u201cAt Soledad, I knew a grandfather, father and son from the same family who were all in prison at the same time\u2014under circumstances that could have been broken by education.<\/p>\n
\u201cEducation is the only way to break the incarceration cycle,\u201d said Morris, who hopes to transfer to Cal State San Marcos and ultimately earn his Ph.D. in Sociology. \u201cOur society\u2019s built a pipeline for marginalized people to go to prison and stay there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ashley Flores, who is currently serving as the President of the Transitions student club at Palomar, echoed Morris: \u201cI honestly think education\u2019s the key,\u201d said Flores. \u201cI knew to succeed in life I needed to come to school and get an education. If you want to, you can change. And education is the key because it opens doors.\u201d<\/p>\n
For her part, Sebring said she was \u201cvery excited\u201d with the results of both the Vista jail classes and the Transitions efforts on campus.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany people are putting a lot of time and effort into this, and the students themselves were just saying this changed their lives,\u201d said Sebring. \u201cHaving these programs, with faculty and staff who are welcoming, is so important to these students. It gives them the extra support they need to feel like they can do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many formerly incarcerated students set high goals for themselves. Morris, for example, has his sights set on a doctorate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to be able to say, \u2018Good afternoon, my name is Lawrence and my first name is Doctor.\u2019 And I want to change the world a little bit at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"