48 re-entry grads now ready for ‘triathlon’
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A class of 48 celebrated its graduation from the Lycoming County Re-entry Service Center program during a transition ceremony Tuesday at the Community Theatre League -- the largest class since the program's inception in 2014.
Before handing out certificates of completion, several guest speakers expressed their pride in the gradu
ates and offered advice for what's to come.
"Life is like a triathlon," said county Judge Marc F. Lovecchio, referring to the need for people to have many different skills. "Follow these five rules and you'll be able to do that triathlon. Prove the naysayers wrong who looked at you at one point and put that scarlet letter on your chest."
Lovecchio's five rules are:
• "Get rid of your egos," he said.
• "Get rid of the rocks in your backpack," he said, referring to regrets that weigh people down.
• "Be honest, with yourself and others," he said.
• "Catch yourself falling before you fall; catch yourself using before you use," he said.
• "Reach out for your supports," he finished.
Multiple graduates stood before the audience of family and friends simply to thank the program staff, probation officers, judges and many others, who they said helped them to be where they are today.
"It wouldn't be right if I didn't come up here and say thank-you to everybody who made me do a 360 in my life," said graduate Aaron Day.
Graduate Tina Brown said she "wouldn't be on this earth" today without her parole officer, Luke Ellison, who she credits for putting her into the re-entry program.
"I have accomplished a lot. I have a lot of goals now, and I want to keep going," Brown said. "I have a beautiful daughter who I have to be here for."
Graduate Joshua Hicks shared how much his life was changed by re-entry.
He started doing drugs when he was barely a teenager and eventually dropped out of high school. Driving intoxicated in 2009 led to a DUI and probation, and was a "near-death experience."
"It should have been a big eye-opener then," he said, "but my addiction did not let me get away at that point."
Over the next several years, he "did everything I could wrong and tried to get away with it," he said. A third DUI last year led to a 90-day stint in prison, which gave him plenty of time to think about what he wanted out of life, he said.
"I knew who I was, I knew how I was," Hicks said. "I don't ever want to be that guy again."
Now, Hicks said he is 486 days clean and sober -- the longest run of clean time he's experience since before he started using drugs as a teenager. He "healed a lot of damaged relationships," he said.
"What I did yesterday has nothing to do with what's going to happen tomorrow," Hicks said. "Re-entry opened another door for me."