. >> reporter: 34-year-old simon garcia still has seven more years at this state prison in ellsworth, he hopes he is paying his debt to society. >> i've been in prison. i've been incarcerated all my life, since i was 12 years old. that initially was gang-related and aggravated assault. i thought that i was the king of my world, and i had it all going on. but i was so broken and messed up inside. >> reporter: and he admits he was no angel in lockup. just a short while in he added ten more years to his time when he was trying to hide a knife and shoved a corrections officer off a balcony outside his cell. do you regret any of that? >> of course i do, man. i'm rhett rest are getting it. 20-something years in prison i'm going to be regretting. [ applause ] >> reporter: but today -- >> frank -- >> reporter: on this warm afternoon. >> vernon faulkner. >> reporter: he is more than just prisoner 95846. >> simon garcia, associate in general studies with honors. >> reporter: he's graduating from college while still in prison, and all because of the pell grant. >> i went from one class a semeste