Ronald Greene, a Business Management student with Central Georgia Technical College (CGTC), has a lengthy record.

As a formerly incarcerated citizen, one might presume that to be the case, but it is his post-incarceration list of accolades that have earned Greene the award of the fall 2019 Re-Entry Scholarship for Educational Transition (RESET).

Greene, president of the Georgia and CGTC Phi Beta Lambda Chapters, motivational speaker, pastor, and youth mentor made it out of a life of addiction, but not before having to serve time for a series of what he called “bad decisions, frivolous and mischievous acts”. Georgia released Greene off felony shoplifting charges in May 2012.

Now, poised and positioned to redefine the course of his life, he is grateful to the College for creating a scholarship for the type of student he represents.

“When I heard about this award it made my day,” Greene said. “I am a firm believer that my past is definitely a part of my future; I accept what I did and I can and have moved forward to better my future. This scholarship seems to be exactly for students like me.”

The Central Georgia Technical College (CGTC) Foundation announced the RESET scholarship for students before the spring 2018 term at the College. The Office of Re-entry Services, led by executive director Dr. Brittany Lucas, worked with the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) to establish the $250 per semester award for an actively enrolled student in good academic standing who has been previously incarcerated in a Georgia public or private corrections facility, and has applied to college within five years of release.

The CGTC Foundation on behalf of Re-entry Services awarded Greene the scholarship during its Fall Awards Day Ceremony in December.

“Ronald’s enthusiasm for what technical education has done to transform his life positioned him perfectly to be recognized as our scholarship winner,” said Lucas. “I am convinced that his leadership qualities, character, and wisdom will be of great value for his education, but also to the student organizations he serves in the College.”

As a former Marine, Greene has witnessed stellar leadership, organization, and communication; it is coming to the Business Management classroom at 56 where he is challenging himself to apply hands-on skills to soft skills he already possesses.

His encouragement to the downtrodden formerly incarcerated citizen is to push past obstacles.

“There was no delusion,” he said, about what it takes to come out of incarceration. “I looked in the mirror and said, ‘that is you, Ron. No one else is responsible for your actions.’”

“So to anyone like me, you cannot let a door being shut be the end-all for you. Search to find the next door.”