Homelessness, poor education during childhood and the death of a loved one have taught CSU East Bay graduate David Fuller how to use education as a way to transform his life.

Fuller was honored in September as the recipient of the CSU Trustees William Randolph Hearst Award, also known as the CSU Trustees Award for Outstanding Achievement. Each year, this award is presented to students across the California State University system who demonstrate superior academic performance, personal accomplishments, community service and financial need, according to the website.

Fuller is the winner for CSUEB, and was granted a $6,000 scholarship along with the sponsorship of AT&T. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2013 and was honored as the Most Outstanding Psychology Student of the Year for CSUEB. He is now finishing up his last year getting his master’s degree with a concentration in community mental health.

“Since I am a veteran and former presidential bodyguard in the Marine Corps, I have a lot of friends who went to war and dealt with some post trauma,” he says. “So that makes me really passionate about helping people, especially veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.”

Fuller was in the Marine Corps in the 1990s and protected President Bill Clinton at the White House and Camp David. Even though a lot of his friends suffered from PTSD, he himself was never diagnosed. He is now working as an intern at the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs office in Livermore where he counsels military veterans who have been diagnosed with PTSD. He views his internship as a way of giving back to the veteran community.

“My life is dedicated towards helping people, such as veterans coming home from war who are most subjected to post-war trauma.” Fuller said. The money this scholarship has raised is allowing me to have a lifetime’s worth of counseling for veterans.”

Fuller’s dedication to helping people who are currently suffering is inspired by his own past-trauma.

The transition from being homeschooled to going to junior college was tough on him because there were a couple of subjects he struggled with.

“I never really could understand math and science on my own and it took me a long time to make up for that,” he says. “When I got out of the Marine Corps and went to junior college, I basically just had to start all over with my whole education.”

While in college, Fuller was hired by the Oakland Police Department. However, he broke his ankle due to a motorcycle accident in 2004, which forced him to change to a career path that did not require having to run. He was always passionate about mental health, so he decided to pursue a career in psychology.

Around the same time of his accident, Fuller’s brother was murdered. That tragic event was paralleled with the excitement of the birth of his first daughter.

“He was my best friend,” he says. “I was really emotionally distraught over the death of my brother and really scared about becoming a new dad and having a messed up ankle and not being able to run. Being able to focus on psychology gave me a new direction in my life.”

Fuller was honored along with the 22 other scholarship recipients from the other CSUs. He described the experience as ‘humbling’ and encourages students to fight through the hard times they face.

“I’ve learned so much through this process that it really hasn’t slowed me down at all,” he says. “I still go to class, show up, do my internships, I do my work. We can really do anything we set our minds to.”