I woke up at my usual 7 a.m. and hit the gym for deadlifts. I pulled 275 pounds for 4 sets of 5 reps, an improvement from last week’s 4 sets of 4. My strength gains lately have been moving fast, and I think it’s largely because I’ve been locking in my calorie surplus every day without missing. Consistency is paying off.
After lunch, I went over to the Education Department at 12:30 p.m. to help with the summer ACE open house. While I was there, I signed up for the real estate class that my friend will be teaching. The turnout was strong, and it was refreshing to see people genuinely excited about learning. The Education Department has a different energy compared to the rest of the compound. The staff there are more focused on rehabilitation and genuinely want to help inmates improve. And the guys who make their way over there aren’t just killing time, they’re actively choosing growth, knowledge, and self-betterment over the usual distractions like drugs, mindless TV, and prison politics/drama.
In the evening, I relaxed and read another 100 pages of Earning Freedom. Santos has just been sentenced to 45 years and arrived at USP Atlanta. What amazes me is how quickly he decided to take control of his life. It took him a little over a year to completely shift his mindset, even while facing nearly half a century in prison. I know how it feels to have your future wiped out. I had a much shorter sentence and still took longer to get my head on straight.
Now in the book, he’s spending most of his time in the library, deliberately avoiding the violence and chaos around him in the penitentiary. He’s made it his mission to stand apart from the prison population in order to petition the judge that he’s worthy of a second chance. To do that, he’s decided to write a book and enroll in college courses through Ohio University. He just got his first course materials in the mail and describes himself as feeling “giddy like a kid on Christmas morning.”
I know I should get to bed early so I can hit the gym tomorrow morning, but honestly, I can’t put this book down!
