-7:30-10am ICEV class. Today I started my next class, Veterinary Assisting II! I’m so excited! Today’s lesson was surgical tools and equipment. Some things I’ve used before in wildlife rehab. I love learning about this kind of thing.
It’s all part of my long term goals.
I want to contribute to society and be an asset. This requires me to have not only a job, but a career. A career in wildlife veterinary work, which I did long before making poor decisions, would allow me to keep society safe from zoonotic diseases. I would also contribute to society in this career by contributing to conservation and giving future generations a world full of God’s amazing creatures.
In order to achieve this goal, I need to prove my value and set myself apart from so many of the other people who leave prison and either return to prison, continue to harm society, or take advantage of the government for assistance. To prove this to my adversaries, I want to receive a second Bachelor’s in veterinary studies.
In order to prepare myself for this second Bachelor’s, and possibly a Master’s, while I’m incarcerated, I signed up for ICEV classes by ATLO. I go to the Education building Monday through Friday at 7:30 and stay as long as possible. I take Veterinary Assisting classes on the laptops. Although I’m not earning a certification in these courses, my goal is gaining knowledge that will help me in preparing for that degree. I am earning certificates of completion for each course, which is nice, but not my primary focus. My focus is knowledge.
In my free time, I read anything I can get my hands on about animals. I’ve read all of the animal/wildlife-related books in our library (there’s only around 10) and any National Geographic or Scientific American magazine I can get my hands on. I write to free book organizations to receive the hit-or-miss animal books.
I see myself one day helping wildlife, living in Oregon, surrounded by friends and family.
-Ate lunch and went back to ICEV class from 12-2pm. I spent all the time we’re allotted per day on those ATLO laptops. I’m determined to succeed.
-Made a bday banner for my good friend and bunkie.
-Read Earning Freedom.
-The deaf woman I met once in Classification when she first moved here saw me and was so excited to see me. In ASL, which I took two years at university, I asked how she was and what she was doing (going to school to get her GED). I was glad to see she made some friends. It’s very hard for completely deaf people to survive and thrive in prison. My ASL knowledge has allowed me to help others feel welcomed and heard. It can be very lonely here for the deaf and hard of hearing.
Madness around 7pm. It was dinner, but they made me go to medical instead of dinner and wouldn’t tell me why. I went all the way down to Medical for them to tell me “wrong person” and sent me back. The second I walked into my dorm they sent me back. I asked about dinner, as my dorm was going and was fearful I’d miss being fed, which has happened a few times, and they said “NO DINNER.”
I went back to Medical and was told to go to Triage. There were no nurses. No one was in the hallways. It was a ghost town. I asked the infirmary officer and told her I hadn’t eaten dinner. She berated me to go sit back down in the empty hallway. There were no nurses. No officers. No inmates. The officer mocked me about my stress towards not getting fed. For someone in her line of work, she should be able to identify someone with trauma, which I have in regards to not getting fed. I wanted to cry, but prayed instead. God answered and sent my nurse who was instructed to give me my allergy shot before she went home. God blessed me by letting me get into the chow hall to eat dinner afterwards, but the stress made me tired. I returned and read my book to relax.
