Charles Schuelke

My journey has been shaped by my personal resilience for sure, but just as much by my new community here at TCC, which was there for me every step of this process."

I’ve always felt adrift, unsure of what I truly wanted out of life. Growing up, school felt like a distant chore, something I couldn’t connect with or care about. I lacked the drive to try, to push myself, or to believe I was capable of more. Instead, I took the easiest path I could find—the one that asked the least of me.

I found myself drawn to a lifestyle of fast money and the fleeting highs that came with it, numbing the desire to see where life was taking me. Life seemed easier, simpler that way. I was living day to day, paycheck to paycheck, one score to the next. Everything was dominated by the cycle of addiction, and although it took over 15 years for all of it to catch up to me, when it did, I was hit hard. I was sentenced to 136 months in prison, and I walked out of that courtroom completely numb, more than all the years before combined.  

The first program I was assigned to was the bakery at Clallam Bay, where I learned to bake, but it was the reward of eating the baked goods that sparked my interest. And before I knew it, the bakery program ended, and I found myself diving into courses on bookkeeping, math, accounting, and business—subjects I’d never imagined I could succeed in. For the first time, I experienced learning as something empowering, not defeating, and slowly, I began to believe that college success wasn’t just for others—it was possible for me too. With a lot of help from the T.E.A.C.H. program I earned my first AA degree, then another, each one a step closer to a future I had only dreamed of. And dream I did, countless hours lying on my bunk, staring at a paint chipped cinder block wall, dreaming about one day walking through the campus of UW in Seattle and finally becoming the person I was meant to be.

Upon my release, I had one goal: education. From my first day at TCC, the community welcomed me, guiding me through enrollment, securing funding, and connecting me with opportunities. I was offered a work-study job at The Center for Student Advocacy, I joined MESA, the student senate, started a social justice club, and eventually became the Re-entry Navigator and Peer Advocate here at TCC. I now help others transition from prison to college, removing the obstacles that I faced on my journey, and offer them the same sense of belonging that transformed my life.

Looking to the future, I plan to transfer to the University of Washington, Seattle, where I’ll pursue a degree in Materials Science Engineering. As I am currently filling out my transfer application, it seems surreal that this idea that was a prison daydream just a few years ago has finally become reality. My journey has been shaped by my personal resilience for sure, but just as much by my new community here at TCC, which was there for me every step of this process.