From the outside, Andrea Clustka ’22 (human development and family science) seemed like any other student. In 2016, she transferred to the University from Western Nevada College, preparing to navigate campus life and make plans for the future. But beneath the surface, she was struggling with a difficult relationship that led to heroin and opioid addiction.
After experiencing multiple drug-related arrests, time in prison and attempts to get clean, Clustka walked into STEP2, a Reno-based nonprofit treatment program for women. She wasn’t just seeking to recover. She was looking to reclaim her voice.
Clustka knows first-hand that addiction can happen to anyone, so she is open about sharing her story, in the hopes that it can help others. “My mantra is, ‘There is no face to drug addiction.’ This should be something that people share because there are so many going through it.”
Recovery was slow. “It took years for my brain to heal,” she said. But in 2021, Clustka returned to her studies, completing her bachelor’s degree the following year.
In 2023, she began working as program director for the Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada, leading their family violence prevention program. Andrea saw how further education could amplify her work. “I thought the MBA program went hand-in-hand with everything I was doing.
In the back of her mind, she had also been thinking about establishing her own nonprofit, an organization that could help people transition from incarceration to stable, purposeful lives.
“Beyond Bars really was born in my addiction, in my jail cells, where I was by myself, thinking, ‘This isn’t for you. What type of life do you want, Andrea? What can I do better? How can I be better?’”
While she originally had no intention of building Beyond Bars in the MBA program, the support she received from faculty and fellow students helped bring her dream to life.
Matt Westfield, resident advisor entrepreneur at The College of Business, sees Clustka’s story as a model of resilience. “Being from a family with addiction issues, I know first-hand that many addicts do not recover,” Westfield said. “Her transformation is a testimony to the willpower and dedication she developed to change her life after falling into addiction’s cycles and overcoming the odds.”
Through her courage in sharing an honest picture of recovery and her compassion for those who are still struggling, Clustka is rewriting her own story, and working hard to co-author a better ending for others.
Discover how Andrea’s journey reflects an overarching effort shaping Nevada’s future — and beyond.