“I didn’t think I’d live to see this age,” says 22-year-old Korey Russell, Germanna student and president of the Student Government Association, as he reflects on his life journey.
A young man who spent years drifting between states, struggling to fit in, and losing sight of his education, Korey’s not just rebuilding his life—he’s inspiring others to believe in second chances.
“Because without them,” he says, “I wouldn’t be in the position I’m in today.”
Korey grew up in North Carolina, where his father was stationed due to his military service. “All of the military kids were in the same school so that made it easy for me,” he says.
After 12 years, Korey and his family moved to Rhode Island, a complete change in culture and atmosphere.
The move to a new state also forced Korey to adjust to new gymnastics coaches, a sport he competed in throughout his entire childhood.
The drastic change took a toll, and before long, Korey’s grades began to slip. “I was in 8th grade at the time, and everything came to a head. The new educational system, new gymnastics coaches, a new environment. And the hardest part was that I had no friends.”
Korey longed for the friendships he’d built back in North Carolina, craving a social life more than he wanted to succeed in school.
And when he entered high school, making friends was even harder.
“Once I got to high school, I was the only black kid. Everyone around me was white. So, I dealt with a lot of racism and inequalities because of my skin color.”
By his sophomore year, Korey’s family was relocating again—this time, further south to Florida.
Having to acclimate to his new surroundings again, Korey found himself in the same predicament as before—yearning for a sense of belonging.
“My grades continued to go down as I became more interested in the social aspect of school rather than academics,” he recalls. “And whereas Rhode Island’s educational system was advanced, Florida was very behind. The courses I took in Rhode Island didn’t translate and a lot of my credits were lost.”
Because of this, Korey checked out, hoping he’d be able to rely on his gymnastics skills to secure a successful future for himself.
He graduated high school in 2020 with a 1.5 GPA, and though pursuing an education wasn’t a top priority for him at the time, he decided to enroll in a local community college. But after a year and a half of juggling school and work responsibilities, Korey could no longer manage.
He left school behind and moved across the country to Arizona, hoping to carve out a fresh start. But starting over wasn’t easy. Living alone for the first time, Korey found himself juggling three jobs just to scrape by, each day blending into the next in a blur of exhaustion and survival.
Then, everything came crashing down. A traffic violation spiraled into something far more serious, landing him behind bars.
“To sit in jail with no escape—it was a hard realization that I’d messed up,” Korey admits. “I thought to myself, ‘I’m a military child, I did gymnastics, I did my schoolwork—I did what I was supposed to do, so how did I get here?’”
This was a turning point for Korey. He decided to get back on track and prioritize his education again.
Korey moved to Virginia, where his family had recently relocated, and he enrolled in classes at Germanna. Today, a year and a half later, he’s pursuing an associate degree in liberal arts and making a lasting impact on campus as president of the Student Government Association.
“It’s crazy to think about how far I’ve come in such a short amount of time,” he says. “But I’m proud of myself and grateful to be here.”
As SGA president, Korey’s main role is to advocate for the Germanna student body—something that doesn’t go unnoticed by his peers on campus.
“The most rewarding part about being at Germanna is having people come up to me and acknowledge the work I’ve been doing at the College. I don’t necessarily feel like I’m making an impact, I’m just creating a space that I would want to be a part of. But the fact that people appreciate that is incredibly rewarding.”
His role also affords him opportunities to sit at tables and participate in conversations he never thought possible.
As he heads into his last few semesters at Germanna, Korey looks forward to a future career as a criminal defense attorney.
“I want to have a career where my job is to advocate for people so they can turn their lives around and be who they were destined to be,” he says. “I think everyone deserves second and third chances.”
And while he is proud of how far he’s come and the hard work he’s put in to get him to this point, Korey attributes his success to his parents, who he says are his biggest support system.