When Steven Poillon walked across the stage at Germanna’s Spring Commencement in May 2025, diploma in hand, it was more than the culmination of two years of hard work. For him, it was proof that a life once derailed could be rebuilt—with determination, faith, and the support of those who believe in second chances.
Steven, now 33, graduated with an Associate of Applied Science in technical studies and a Career Studies Certificate in electrical technology. Today, he’s apprenticing with Wire-it EST in Northern Virginia, putting his classroom knowledge into practice as he builds a career in the electrical trade.
But his path to graduation was anything but straightforward.
A Stafford County native and Mountain View High School graduate, Steven admits school never felt like a place where he belonged.
“I was a bottom-of-the-barrel student,” he says. “Not because I didn’t have resources, but because I made bad decisions. I didn’t like going to school, and I didn’t feel challenged.”
Like many of his peers, Steven was swept up in the opioid epidemic. College plans faded into the background as substance use took over his life.
At 19, he found himself entangled in drug- and alcohol-related trouble that ultimately led to a six-year prison sentence.
It was during his time at Haynesville Correctional Center that Steven discovered a new side of himself. Rappahannock Community College offered night classes inside the prison, and acceptance into the program was selective.
“In order to participate in the program, you had to have a high school diploma and couldn’t be viewed as violent. Only a few of us were selected, and since I was one of the chosen few, I felt honored and wanted to make the most of it.”
Steven thrived in the program, graduating with a 3.97 GPA.
When Steven came home in 2023, he had plans to leave his pre-prison surroundings behind and move to Florida, hoping to start anew and stay on the road to recovery. But an old friend offered him carpentry work, and a mentor he met on the job encouraged him to look into the trades. That’s when he found Germanna.
“I immediately planned to go to school,” Steven says. “And my family agreed to help and support me while I pursued my degree.”
Enrolling in August 2023, Steven had to adjust to a very different learning environment.
“In prison, I used printed media for my classes—thesauruses, dictionaries, encyclopedias—and wrote papers by hand,” he says. “So, online classes at Germanna were tough at first. But my professors were super understanding and helped me out.”
Education wasn’t the only anchor in Steven’s new chapter. He has been in recovery for nearly nine years, staying active in a 12-step program and connected to Choice Baptist Church.
“It’s essential to my recovery that I stay involved in my group,” he says. “When I came home, I knew I wasn’t going to hang out with the same people I hung out with before. Being active in my recovery group gave me the chance to make new connections and friendships.”
Steven credits his relationship with God, his family—including his three brothers and his parents—and his fiancée Allison, a Germanna alumna herself, for standing by him.
Now engaged to be married, working steadily, and building his future, Steven’s goals are straightforward: start a family, sit for his journeyman’s license, and continue learning his trade.
He’s quick to remind others that change is possible, no matter how long it takes.
For Steven, that place was Germanna—and beyond that, the steady hands of people who refused to let him give up on himself.