Garry Riedemann, senior in psychology, has been called a “model student.”

“He showed up early for lecture, took good notes and intelligently contributed to class discussion,” said Ann Jones, lecturer in anthropology.

“I wouldn’t mind having Garry in any of my classes.”

Riedemann’s grade point average is upward of 3.7, and he’s only 12 credits away from graduating with distinction.

However, Riedemann has been denied jobs, professional licenses and now admission to graduate schools. His bills are stacking up, and in Riedemann’s words, “The way [things are] right now, I will always be denied.”

So what keeps him from an occupation that he enjoys and that will pay his bills? Riedemann is a convicted felon.

Beginning in 1989, just weeks after his 19th birthday, this ex-con turned honors student made a series of “bad decisions.” Riedemann was arrested on multiple counts of grand theft auto and quickly found himself in a medium-security state penitentiary. He served a full year before being let out for “good behavior.”

After his release, Riedemann made an attempt to turn his life around.

In 1991, he took odd jobs as an electrician to pay the bills, although it wasn’t his dream occupation.

“I’d always grown up with the idea of being in the helping profession,” he said.

Then, in 1993, Riedemann trained to be a paramedic. However, some states wouldn’t license him, and he had difficulties finding a job.

It was about that time that Riedemann turned to martial arts. He started practicing with the ISU Hapkido Club and was suddenly surrounded by a different crowd of people.

“Everybody there [at Hapkido training] was very educated,” Riedemann said. “Most of the upper-ranked instructors were Ph.D. candidates or already had their doctoral degree.”

These instructors inspired Riedemann to “educate [himself] to a point where [he] could no longer be denied.” Hapkido also gave him the “moral foundation” he said his childhood had lacked.

In 2001, Riedemann went back to college.

He had enrolled 10 years before and failed out, but this time he had a clearer sense of purpose.

In the fall of 2001, he also organized a fundraiser that brought in approximately $1,600 for victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“It was such a pull on everybody’s heart, and we wanted to do something to give back,” he said.

Riedemann’s desire to give back didn’t stop there. He works as a night monitor at a home for troubled children. He has also opened Masa Katsu Dojo, a formal training hall, where he teaches martial arts to students of his own.

Joel Britson, senior in microbiology and student of Riedemann’s, said since he started training at the Dojo, he’s found more direction in his life.

“I’ve been thinking about what I want to do when I’m doing things and giving a little more purpose to it,” he said.

But despite Riedemann’s turnaround, he still can’t completely overcome his past. His current battle is getting accepted into graduate school. He said one school in Minnesota denied him the opportunity to even send in an application. Another school in California changed its admission policy to exclude applicants with a prior conviction after receiving Riedemann’s application.

“It’s like every time I get another step on the ladder, someone kicks the bottom out from underneath me again,” Riedemann said.

However, he has no doubt he will eventually achieve his goal of getting into graduate school and becoming a licensed chiropractor.

“I will get where I’m trying to go whether the establishment is helping me or not,” Riedemann said.

Phillip Caffrey, associate director of admissions, said Iowa State does not automatically restrict applicants with prior convictions.

“At Iowa State, [answering yes to a criminal conviction], means the perspective student’s application then gets reviewed by a conduct committee,” Caffrey said. “It’s determined after that whether or not the applicant poses a dangerous threat to the campus.”

Caffrey said the review process is not entirely infrequent and that students with a previous record still can get into the college. Although he couldn’t be sure about other schools’ policies, he said Iowa State’s procedure wasn’t unusual.

Michael Levine, legal consultant for the dean of student’s office, said a prior conviction doesn’t mean rejection.

“There may be schools that say right up front, ‘We won’t take you if you have a felony conviction,’ but is there a law somewhere that says they have to not take you? I’m not aware of any such thing,” Levine said.

Levine remembers other clients he’s represented who have been successfully admitted to graduate schools, law schools and even medical schools.

Levine said admittance and successful completion of a professional program doesn’t necessarily mean the obstacles are over, however. He said he’s known clients who have completed the prerequisite education but are then denied license to practice by the state.

Riedemann is aware that his future is uncertain, and he’s prepared to keep trying until he accomplishes his goal.

“When I say I’m doing one thing, that’s plan A, but I also have plan B, C and D, if [plan] A doesn’t work out,” he said.

Even more than he wants to go to graduate school, Riedemann wants a chance to prove himself as a decent person.

“Unless something changes, unless my story is heard, there will always be things that will come to haunt [me] – even when I’m collecting my Social Security,” Riedemann said. “I would like the chance to get my honor back.”

If he could do that by helping people as a chiropractor and being able to take care of his wife and children, Riedemann said he would count himself a lucky man.