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 .
Zachary 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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