(DNAINFO)  Gustavo Solis — Selina Fulford spent her 30s going in and out of prison and the next two decades of her life in and out of classrooms.

Since being released from a state prison in 2001 after spending two and half years for selling drugs, Fulford, 56, earned a bachelor’s degree, two master’s degrees and is currently trying to earn a third.

Each degree is proof that Fulford, who went on to teach at the College of New Rochelle after her release and now works at the Bowery Residents’ Committee, is a lot more than a former drug addict who got locked up, she said.

“I’m trying to fight the stigma of being a felon, of being a convict,” she said. “That’s why I’ve gotten so many degrees.”

Source: Organization Helps Formerly Incarcerated Women Go to College – Central Harlem – DNAinfo.com New York