Hi everyone, my name is James Andrew Reed. I spent five years incarcerated at Columbia River Correctional Institution, and during that time, the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program became one of the most meaningful parts of my life. I took five semesters of Inside-Out classes,m worked as a teaching assistant for other incarcerated students, and showed up every chance I had. Once I got a taste of what real education and real community felt like, I couldn’t get enough.

When I think back to the version of myself who walked into that first class with Professor Reiko Hillyer, it feels like a different lifetime. Something shifted in me that day, a kind of hunger woke up. I wanted more: more learning, more connection, more purpose, more life. From that moment on, education became my therapy and my anchor.I enrolled in every program available, pushed myself to grow, and worked relentlessly to rebuild the parts ofmy life I had broken.

Today, I have the privilege of continuing that journey as a free person. I get to share my story not because it’s perfect, but because it’s real. I hope that someone struggling with addiction, incarceration, or deep hopelessness might hear it and believe that change is possible for them too. If anything I went through can bring even one person a little light, then none of it was for nothing.

This program didn’t just help me, it transformed me. I am here because people showed up for me when I didn’t know how to show up for myself. The students and faculty from Lewis & Clark, the instructors at PCC, the counselors at CRCI, my family who refused to give up on me, and the incredible friends I’ve met along the way. They all held me up until I learned how to stand again.

I’m living proof that people can change. That healing is real. And that sometimes, all it takes is one open door, one classroom, or one person who believes in you to start rewriting your entire life.

Change is always possible. Always.