By EMILY SPARACINO / Staff Writer

COLUMBIANA – A graduation ceremony signaled a fresh start for a group of 21 graduates at the Alabama Therapeutic Education Facility on the morning of May 6.

“When I first got here, I was thinking this wasn’t for me,” graduate Trimez Usher said in his speech. “Being in this program wasn’t as hard as it seemed. It changed me in so many ways.”

Usher thanked the ATEF staff and said the program made him feel like he had another chance at life.

Graduate Reginald Ollie echoed Usher’s sentiments.

“I can truly say I am a survivor,” said Ollie, who received the Outstanding Leadership Award. “God bless you all and thank you for your time.”

Ollie, Usher and their fellow graduates completed the program at ATEF, a residential reentry facility at which rehabilitative services and cognitive-behavioral and vocational training are administered to help individual offenders prepare for reintegration into the community.

Rep. Connie Rowe, who represents Blount and Walker counties in District 13 in the Alabama House of Representatives, spoke to the graduates about the difference choices can make, for better or for worse, in one’s life.

“It’s about choices. The choices that we make, in totality, is who we are,” Rowe said. “When you make a mistake, you have to pay a price. Once you pay that price, you have a grand opportunity to make good choices.”

As a proponent of prison construction, Rowe said the ATEF is the “finest example” she has seen of a program aimed at helping people get out and stay out of prison.

“I’m very impressed with this facility,” Rowe said, noting its “positive vibe,” uplifting messages displayed throughout the building and supportive staff members ready to assist program participants.

Rowe emphasized the responsibility the graduates have to their successors of leading productive lives and applying what they learned at the ATEF after they leave.

“It is all about you,” Rowe said. “For the 24,000-plus prisoners in the state of Alabama, you carry a great responsibility. Your success is their success.”

Gary Hetzel commissioned the graduates to be “trailblazers,” and said he was proud of them.

“Know where you come from, but you have to look ahead and know where you’re going,” Hetzel said. “You have to get up every morning and decide if you’re going to be the man you’re supposed to be. You have the responsibility of the people that follow you. Don’t take it lightly.”

Each graduate was awarded a certificate.

Music at the ceremony was provided by the ATEF Band.

A reception was held for the graduates and their guests following the ceremony.