Hello Prison Professors and anyone reading my blog. I wanted to write a quick update on the things I’ve been doing since I last posted. After getting a short story published in one of my school magazines several months ago, I’ve been exploring the idea of writing as something I can do for fun but also something I could possibly use in the future to make money. I just received a letter in the mail from another university magazine in Colorado asking for submissions for their magazine. I’m working on a new short story now that I’m going to send in. I’m very excited about it and it will be the perfect way to spend my time right now since I’m kind of in between classes. I have just finished the last batch of courses that I signed up for and I’m waiting a couple weeks until I sign up for the next ones. With these most recent classes finished I’ve completed 40 credits so far and have a 4.0 GPA. Hopefully this is enough to get me that scholarship!
We also recently finished the 7 habits book club we started about 8 weeks ago. We’re still waiting for the actual class to begin, but after so long waiting for it most of the people have lost any sort of hope that its actually going to start. As the book club we started technically doesn’t give you any ” First Step Act credit”, only a handful of the guys who signed up for the class actually did it. I’m glad its done and proud of everyone for the follow through. That’s one thing that you don’t see much of in places like these. People following through with something. We did and its a good feeling having finished it. Next on the programming agenda for me, aside from the Bachelors degree I’m pursuing, is the personal training ISSA certification vocational class. I signed up for it several weeks ago and was admitted to the first class. We’ve been waiting for it to start but they keep delaying it a week at a time. I hope its not like the 7 habits class, but I’ve heard from people that have been here a while that this is usually what happens with classes they offer. I have my fingers crossed
Other than that, not much is going on here. We’re on lockdown again because the administration found somebody’s contraband outside. We’ve been limited to 2 five minute phone calls a day and 5 emails a month. They have also banned the outside recreation. I don’t know how limiting contact with your family is not cruel and unusual punishment, especially when the BOP has conceded that good family ties reduces recidivism. I can hear the frustration in everyone’s voices as they get cutoff from their 5 minute phone call with their loved ones, usually mid-sentence. I’m blessed and grateful that I have no family emergencies going on right now that would require me to talk for more than 5 minutes a day, twice a day. Unfortunately not everybody is that lucky and its an injustice that some people have to deal with this mass punishment when the majority of the population here has done nothing wrong. Unfortunately, it seems like being punished for the wrongs of others is a recurring theme everywhere I’ve been to in the BOP.
