I put in for a transfer from Miami Low to Jesup Low. This was so I could get closer to my parents, who, in their 80’s, can only travel short distances. Getting closer would have helped give them the ability to visit, something for which they had been asking.
The BOP instead sent me to Coleman Low. It is closer, but not close enough for them to travel without having to break the trip up. But we adapt, persevere, and overcome. We find a way to maintain positive connection as a family. In the mean time, I’ve been making the transition in a new place. I’ve gone through this about 10 times over the course of my 24 years in prison. It’s like starting over from scratch. It does get easier, though never easy. I like the “training” it creates, so to speak, as it helps with being comfortable in a transitional state of discomfort, which ensures that I don’t get institutionalized. And time has made friends with others in my situation. The BOP being a “small world,” I’ve been able to reunite with a bunch of them, which helps with the transition.
Because I worked in the past in the office for the Unicor factory as a computer clerk, this translated into me getting a job right away in the office here. One of the primary motivations for me getting back into the office is because this place offers the official SAP certification. Having worked with SAP for years, it will be good to finally get the certification; especially, since that one cert will provide the opportunity for a high-paying job upon my return to society. But too the job allows me to use my Excel, Word, Adobe and other office applications in new ways, in the fields of procurement and production, giving me hands-on real-world experience of managing a factory.
Off hours I’ve also started a yoga class. Guys who knew me from other prisons who used to love my yoga classes spoke to others about those classes. Together they approached asking if I’d get something started here. Since one of my top values is to make a contribution, and I always want to do whatever I can that may translate into giving others thinking/behavior tools that could free them from criminal thinking–thus making life better for them and for society–I immediately said yes and set up days and times. I had the first class yesterday, the 2nd.
I’m also working to get some classes started in the Education Department. Unfortunately, post COVID, most Education Departments in the BOP do little to nothing to help those of us in here with the provision of rehabilitation and reentry-preparation classes. But for me this only means that I/we have to make our own opportunities. Since, as the saying goes, “necessity is the mother of all invention,” and I’ve had to contend with the BOP for so many years in getting things started, I’ve collected quite a number of tactics that successfully work getting staff interested in helping with programs. I look forward to starting once again to get programs re-established at a new facility.
One of the challenges with transferring to a new facility is waiting on the arrival of property from the place just left. It can take months. In my property is the legal documents I need to finish cases I was working on. Also I have the material of my correspondence courses. And I have the material for the writing of my book. My hope is that the property will arrive this week. Then I can complete the cases, courses, and book. These endeavors will better prepare me for success upon my reentry, something that I’m working to have occur sooner rather than later through the current appeal process.
While I wait for property, the times in between work and yoga, I read books of substance, ones that help expand the mind with new ideas. I speak with guys one-on-one, giving them: meditation techniques (for those interested) to help in their day-to-day stress management; ways to get their dreams accomplished–I’ve already helped one guy with books that will help him with his goals to become a published song writer, another person on his journey to get his book published, and a third with books that will set him up to get his certifications in the specific field of computer studies he plans to get into as a career upon his release.
I find the down time challenging, calling for me to fill more time slots with more productive work. But I know that it is a process, one that allows the development of a positive, effective routine over time. Considering how valuable time is, I don’t want any of it to be wasted.
