Q:Analyze your current mindset: How can shifting your focus from merely serving time to actively preparing for the future change your life?
So I am currently 5 going on 5.5 years down & I can definitely say that I have my “routine” down when it comes to just keeping my mental in a healthy space (working out, writing music, going to church etc..). When it comes to preparing for one’s future, the first thing that comes to mind is EDUCATION. It can be pretty hard for people serving a good amt. of time to get enrolled in classes or programs. Typically, they go based on your release date but as you said, why wait until the last minute to program or educate myself preparing for my release? I am currently on the waiting list for 15 different classes (such as Parenting, Anger Resolution, Trauma in Life, Women’s Foundations) just to name a few. It can be discouraging at times, but here lately I’ve become so impatient with waiting on these classes that our prison provides, that I’ve decided to shoot for an outside education through some college correspondence courses. I didn’t complete school until I got incarcerated receiving my G.E.D. which literally took me short of 2 weeks because I tested out. How simple it was just putting in the effort but now I’m ready to “shift my focus” completely to fully educating myself & walking out of here certified with a degree. That is the key to changing my life. While the programs in here are nice on paperwork when it comes to my status points & seeing my unit team every 6 months, I want something that’s going to hold some weight when I get out of this place. It’s going to change my life by giving me options.
READ NEWSLETTER ARTICLE HERE: https://prisonprofessors.com/journal-entries/opportunity-costs-success-and-failure-upon-release/
