Today was a good day. We are finally starting the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People class that I was pushing to get brought to the institution. If you’ve kept up with my past journal entries, then you already know that it was constantly being pushed back for one reason or another. Anyway, we start next week. I’ll be leading a group of 6 “core group members” who are going also to be taking the class and taking part in some extra responsibilities when it comes to grading quizzes, leading table discussions, and doing reviews at the beginning of the class. I have experience with that because I already went through this process while at FCI Florence and went on to become certified to actually teach the class myself. There’s only a very small amount of guys in the BOP certified to do that, so I’m excited to give my insights and use my experience to help this core group and the class, in general, get to a good start. Also, I’ve been fortunate enough to have dropped my points from low security to minimum security and am now just waiting to get my transfer request accepted and get designated to a new prison. I’m hoping I can get back home to Colorado where there are two minimum-security camps. One in Englewood and one in Florence. Although it will be bittersweet to leave, now that we’re finally starting the class and I have come to like the core group of guys I’m working with, it is just another step in my journey of growth. When I first arrived at the BOP, I went to FCI Florence, which was a place that was violent and oppressive. The tension started as soon as they unlocked your door every morning. It was like stepping through a minefield everyday trying to avoid all of the negative interactions, whether it was staff or other inmates. I thought that I wouldn’t end up being able to drop my points because something was bound to happen. In prison, one can do everything under their power to control themselves and their situation, but you still cannot control the behaviors and actions of others. Thankfully, I stayed away from all the problems there and even began to flourish. When I finally dropped my points to low security from medium security, I came here to FCI Thomson. Although it certainly hasn’t been perfect here, the environment is nowhere near as oppressive and violent as the medium prison I came from. That in itself is worth any sort of inconvenience or issues this place comes with. Now, I have dropped my points further to minimum security and I hope to begin a new part of my journey, at a lower security, where I can be even more productive in preparing myself to get out of prison and succeed by getting financial stability and helping others.
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