Lesson 16: Veni, Vidi, Vici
– The phrase “seek first to understand, then to be understood’ means to me that you first must truly understand a situation. The why of each situation that occurs. The how about a situation and then to finally put it all together to fully understand your situation. Once you understand it inside and out; you then have the power to explain it to others. with your full understanding of situation you are much better able to explain that situation so that others can then also understand. Until you understand you cannot be understood.
– When I came to prison I observed a lot of hopelessness. People tend to give up and then try to adjust to the society inside. They don’t focus on what they will do once released, instead they focus on how they will advance the ladder within the prison. Finding people who want to focus on what they will do after is difficult to find. I also noticed a lot of mental health and drug addictions with little hope for rehabilitation. People tend to struggle with self advocacy and eventually give up. Reestablishing hope for success upon release is something that is desperately needed within the society inside a facility.
– Thoughts I have for preparing for higher levers of liberty while I serve my sentence is I think it is imperative to prepare. If you are unable to set yourself up for r success no one is going to do it for you. Upon release you will be faced with many challenges; if you cannot prepare for these challenges you will be placing yourself in a difficult situation when you are released. With no plan success will be more difficult and with no plan you will be more likely to fail.
– From the beginning I would have defined success as being prepared for what you will face upon release. Having a plan is vital to success upon release.
– The goals I put in place to advance my prospects for success are to learn the basics of the Spanish language, to increase my confidence with public speaking, to complete at least one journal article on prison culture and reform, to write a book and to increase my knowledge on reform.
