‘If I Can Do It, Anyone Can’: Former Inmate Graduates With Honors From Cal State Long Beach A Long Beach man who spent more than three decades in prison recently graduated from Cal State Long Beach this month, with honors. He is now awaiting acceptance into a master’s program in social work at the same university. Joseph Valadez spent half his adult life in prison, but he’s not letting that stop him from improving his future prospects. “There’s a misconception about guys like me that I want to break,” he shared on social media. “If I can do it, anyone can.”