FEATURE
STORY
Addicts often struggle for years to free themselves from substance abuse. There are three common outcomes for addicts: Recovery, incarceration or death: We work toward recovery, but incarceration is not the worstcase scenario. -Professor Eddie Williams, Ph.D.
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achary Kleisley is among many students whose path to Pasco-Hernando State College has been anything but traditional. One day, his father, a retired law enforcement officer who relocated to the area, drove by the College’s Spring Hill Campus digital entryway sign. On a whim, he pulled into the campus for a closer look. Impressed, he encouraged his son, a recovering addict and an assembly worker at a Tennessee factory, to apply to PHSC and move to Florida for a fresh start. Now the picture of health, Zach is a bright, selfassured prospective graduate of the Bachelor of Applied Science program with a specialization in finance. The 31-year-old is also the first student to serve on PHSC’s District Board of Trustees (DBOT). While the position is honorary, Zach,
Student Trustee’s Succe Follows Decades of Challe In Frankfurt with Pasco County Commission Chair Kathryn Starkey. Zach studied Germany’s economy and dual education system with a coalition of Pasco County officials in October 2021. Photo submitted by Zach Kleisley.
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