A former inmate at San Quentin State Prison graduated from Cal State East Bay on Sunday.
"Walking across that stage today was a proud moment for me," Forrest Jones said. "It's a milestone. I dreamed. I dreamed even while I was incarcerated about getting my college degree, my bachelor's."
Jones' delayed path to a degree was unorthodox but a true triumph.
He never knew his mother. She died when he was an infant.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
A rocky childhood led to a drug addiction, then stealing to fuel that addiction and ultimately a long prison sentence under California's three strikes rule.
While behind bars at San Quentin, Jones became an activist and journalist.
When he got out in 2018, he enrolled in Chabot College and then transferred to Cal State East Bay, where he earned a bachelor's degree in sociology.
Local
During his time at Cal State East Bay, Jones also helped launch Project Rebound, a program that seeks to reintegrate more formerly incarcerated students into school.
Jones now plans to earn a master's degree in social work.
