Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

After 30 years away from school, Stephen Zeller finds his worth in nursing

Story by Misty Bouse. Photos by Ric Getter.

Stephen Zeller, who returned to college after more than 30 years away from the classroom, did not believe the email at first.

The Southeast Portland resident had been named to the All-Oregon Academic Team (AOAT) and selected as a speaker, representing Portland Community College. However, he thought someone had made a mistake when he was asked to complete a survey for an awards luncheon this spring. He wrote back to say they had the wrong person.

Then the official notice arrived.

“I still didn’t believe it,” Zeller said.

As he prepared his speech for the luncheon, though, Zeller began to understand why others saw him as someone worth honoring.

“That’s what this honor has meant to me,” he said. “It meant that I had to look inside to find my own worth.”

Zeller, a Columbia River High School graduate from Vancouver, Washington, previously attended Clark College and is in his second year at PCC studying pre-nursing. He plans to enter the Nursing Program in fall 2027. He also plans to apply to Oregon Health & Science University, where he currently works in oncology. His goal is to become a registered nurse.

For Zeller, nursing is deeply personal. In his AOAT speech, he opened with a truth that shaped his life and his purpose.

“Hello. My name is Stephen Zeller, and I am an addict and an alcoholic,” he said.

Growing up as the youngest of six children in an alcoholic home, Zeller said he often had to fight “to be seen, to be safe, and sometimes even to stay alive.” He once believed college would be his way out, but his working-class family did not view higher education as necessary. He joined the military hoping it would provide a path to college but was discharged after nearly two years for being gay.

He later completed two terms at Clark College with a 4.0 grade-point average, but addiction pulled him away. For decades, he said, he lived in and out of addiction and alcoholism, sometimes finding success but not purpose.

His sobriety date is Feb. 4, 2021.

Two years later, Zeller endured a devastating six-month stretch: the deaths of his sister, nephew, best friend and former partner; his son’s incarceration; a job loss; a car crash; and a cancer scare.

“Any one of those moments could have taken me down,” he said in his speech. “None of them did.”

Instead, Zeller leaned into recovery, service, music and community. He served as president and chair of Oregon Crystal Meth Anonymous, sang with the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus and began rebuilding a future he once thought impossible.

At 56, he enrolled at PCC.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Zeller worked in an intensive care unit as an administrative assistant and watched healthcare workers fight to keep patients alive amid fear, illness and political division. Their example strengthened his decision.

“I want to be just like them,” Zeller said. “I want to be the light for someone else who feels trapped in the darkness.”

Returning to school after 30 years away from in-person classes was intimidating. Zeller wondered whether his brain would still absorb new information. Instead, he said, his life experience has made him a stronger student.

At PCC, Zeller said academic advising and disability accommodations have helped him manage ADHD and maintain a 4.0 GPA. When he broke his arm, the accessibility office helped him finish the term with A’s. He joined Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.

“PCC has given me purpose,” he said. “It has given me direction. And it is helping me build a life I once believed was impossible. What I found at PCC was my own value.”

For Zeller, college is more than school — it is hope and healing, he said. 

“I want to be that for the next person who is struggling,” Zeller added.