It has been a few weeks since I have written in my journal. That is really not acceptable in my own conscious of accomplishing what I seek to achieve while I am in here. I keep reading Michael’s own entry journals, and I think that I can say that just about everything he talks about; setting goals, being pro-active, surrounding yourself with people that can be of influence – just to name a few areas are absolutely true and vital to succeeding through and in prison. I will speak for myself now because I am proof that working hard and having set goals, anyone can achieve success getting through prison. I have been in prison for 1 year and a week. I arrived at my main prison in June. Since I have been here, I nailed down a job in the first two weeks I was here, this job is considered one of the best jobs in the prison (working as a clerk in Unicor Fleet Services). This is a difficult job to get, usually reserved for someone that may have been at the prison for a while and/or even for someone that has a lot more time than me. This job, I didn’t realize at the time will earn me a year off my sentence after I complete 500 hours of work. That was amazing news to me, especially when my objective is to do anything that I can to earn extra time off my sentence. When I first started to pursue this position, I told myself that was the job I wanted, and I would do whatever I needed to do to get that job. It was no different that what I would do when I sought out a job on the outs. I made a resume, I walked into the facility and I presented the resume and myself in a professional manner. I followed up for three days, and on the third day they hired me. This job is only one part of the plan. I was officially accepted into the Adams State University Prison Program and will start in January. I’m taking classes from Victorville Valley College, and just completed The Pest Management Program from Purdue University. I have signed up for about 12 FSA classes to earn time off my sentence. As well, I’m a volunteer tutor, and volunteer my time for suicide watch. On top of that I work out for about three hundred hours a week. All of the things I do in here I choose to do, not only do I feel good about the knowledge that I’m gaining, I feel good about knowing that I’m earning extra time off my sentence. I’m pro-active and I make things happen. Michael Santos talks about these things all the time, and what he says is true. Of course, because he did it himself. There is so much more to succeeding through this time in prison than just accomplishing things in here. there must be some balance with family and friends, and making sure that all of these people have a clear understanding and the same objective of what it will take to succeed when I come home. It takes work, communication and dedication to succeed but I’m proving like Michael Santos proved it can be done. When I read Michael’s book “My 46 Year Prison Sentence,” that book absolutely changed my life and the way I viewed how I was going to do my time. I’m grateful for Michael and what he wrote in that book. It probably has saved my life and most certainly has given me the ability to be grateful and happy in my life. I stronlgy reccomened to anyone in prison or out of prison to read that book! William Kragthorpe
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