Cory McCullough was at the skate park, watching several of his and his fianc茅e Ashley鈥檚 six children roll around.
While taking a break from studying sound wave propagations, he explained how he had become a UC Merced Ph.D. candidate, a 吃瓜头条 mathematics instructor, a convicted felon, a father and a drug addict, all by age 33.
But not in that order.
McCullough鈥攚ho now teaches statistics for the robust 吃瓜头条 prison education program called Rising Scholars鈥攖old of how he鈥檇 served roughly a year in prison, covering several stays for burglary, which had financed his drug habit.
鈥淎nd then I didn鈥檛 figure out how to get off of the drugs until I was 26,鈥� McCullough said. 鈥淚 kept thinking if I just had more money or whatever, my life would get better.鈥�
McCullough finally found a way to improve his fortunes when he got clean and enrolled at 吃瓜头条 in 2012.
He originally wanted to get an HVAC certification so he could work right away to support his family. Then he heard it would be 18 months before he could earn money, and stopped going to class.
McCullough tried again in 2014, this time as an addiction studies major. Like many recovered addicts, he wanted to counsel addicts, but then realized he鈥檇 need a bachelor鈥檚 and a master鈥檚 degree to become a licensed counselor.
So McCullough switched to human services to do social work. But while taking Guidance 30 that semester, he took an aptitude test that revealed he was better suited to become a forest ranger, a photographer or an engineer.
鈥淪o I鈥檓 thinking, 鈥極K, no to forest ranger,鈥� because no one is gonna give a convicted felon a gun,鈥� he said. 鈥淣o to photography鈥攁nd no offense to photographers, but how am I gonna feed six kids on that starting salary?鈥�
Engineering seemed interesting. Sure, trying to become an engineer would require McCullough鈥攖he same guy who paid a Dos Palos High classmate to do his algebra homework so he could finish his high school diploma鈥攖o learn a lot of math. But the median starting income for someone with a bachelor鈥檚 in engineering was nearly $90,000.
Bingo.
McCullough did great in his math courses, changed his major and, on his second attempt at college and his second chance at life, took to it like a baby bird to flight when shoved out of the nest.
McCullough finished his credits at 吃瓜头条 in 2017, winning scholarships and entr茅e into both the Phi Theta Kappa and Alpha Gamma Sigma honor societies. Then he transferred to UC Merced and completed a bachelor鈥檚 in data science in 2019, and then immediately started the Ph.D. program in Applied Mathematics.
It was pure coincidence that he reached out to 吃瓜头条 English Professor Jennifer McBride鈥攕he coordinates Rising Scholars鈥攍ast year to share a name. McBride emailed back with a question, 鈥淗ow鈥檇 you like to teach math to inmates?鈥�
That鈥檚 how McCullough returned to prison as a number-slaying success. It didn鈥檛 save him having to re-learn his way around.
鈥淚 used to think that I understood where [the inmates] were coming from, and now I realize I don鈥檛,鈥� McCullough said. 鈥淚 was inside for a few months at a time, and we鈥檙e talking about guys who are doing decades.鈥�
Still, they see McCullough as a comrade who knows the daily grind of prison and still found a good life. McCullough, in turn, looks beyond their mistakes and sees their potential.
鈥淚 tell them that they are some of the smartest students around, because they have life experience,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 tell them some should already have degrees. 鈥� I know they鈥檙e super smart. And if I tell them, they know I鈥檓 not BS鈥檌ng them.鈥�
McCullough is a great example of for people who have served time, like reduce recidivism, raise employment rates, improve racial equity and decrease the financial burden on the state.
As an instructor, McCullough works for both 吃瓜头条 and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, so he has opinions on prison education.
鈥淲e鈥檙e the 鈥楻鈥�,鈥� McCullough said of the rehabilitation offered by programs like Rising Scholars. 鈥淭he 鈥楻鈥� doesn鈥檛 happen without something like that going on. Without that 鈥楻鈥�, without something for them to work towards, all they鈥檙e doing is teaching inmates how to become better criminals.鈥�
On the outside, by completing his Ph.D., McCullough will again prove to himself he is on a good road. Other former inmates can do the same.
鈥淐ertain people might be appalled hearing that their tax dollars are paying for an inmate鈥檚 education when so many college students are out here with college debt,鈥� McCullough said. 鈥淏ut there are people who made one horrible decision, and that changed the entire direction of their life. That reality is lost on people sometimes. They don鈥檛 realize prisoners often want to do something with their lives. They don鈥檛 want to just sit there and rot. That鈥檚 important to know, too.鈥�