What does “making it” look like in prison?
Success is defined differently by everyone. There are a lot of people in prison who define success or “making it” as being able to bust a spending limit, or live comfortably with all the things they need, whether those things are from commissary, the dining room, laundry, recreation, safety, or wherever. Every department offers different things, so if you can have whatever you need from those departments, then you are comfortable and you need nothing. Other people might define making it as walking around the compound with the newest items from commissary or items that no longer are sold or are sold only at other institutions and thus labeled “exclusive.” Some people need to stunt in prison to show that they were not reduced to nothing by the feds, not when they took away all their possessions, not when they took them from their homes or families, not when they talked about them like dogs in court, they’re still the big ballers they were on the street. They’re still the shot callers they were on the block. Some people need that.
I define success differently. I think success is about being able to follow your dreams and pursue your goals, being able to go to the staff, tell them what you want to do and then the staff not only support you, but help you make it happen. Or the staff have ideas on classes or ways to improve the daily situation of every prisoner and they come to you for your thoughts or suggestions on how to make it happen. It doesn’t happen often. You have to have a good rapport with the staff, a reputation – if you will – that can only be developed over many years of good behavior, minding your business, staying out of drama and working to make people better. It doesn’t involve kissing ass or snitching, but rather proving you’re a good worker, proving you’re not a thief out to steal everything possible when their backs are turned, proving you would call for help if they fell or hurt themselves, proving that you can be trusted to teach the right thing to people who don’t know better or just got to prison. And the only way to prove things with correctional workers is over time. Over the years you have to be working toward a good rep with the staff but that also means you have to have a good rep with the inmates, too. You can’t be a snitch, or an Uncle Tom type. You have to be respected amongst your peers just as much as you’re respected amongst the staff. Only then are you “making it.”
