RIVERSIDE: RCC student set to graduate despite life’s obstacles

Press-Enterprise

For Paul Jones, graduating from Riverside City College in May with conditional acceptance to Cal State San Bernardino is a light at the end of a long, winding tunnel. Jones, now 51, had a troubled start in Akron, Ohio. Born into a dysfunctional household, he said he suffered abuse and neglect, the toll of which drove him to first experiment with alcohol at the age of 11. After struggling to graduate from high school, Jones enlisted in the Navy at age 17, just to leave Ohio behind. He relocated to California. His two years in the service, however, did not help his budding alcoholism. “Drinking and going to other countries is a rite of passage, so it was an excuse to drink,” Jones said. “It wasn’t frowned upon — it was encouraged.”

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