Someone once said “you grow where you are planted.” I was planted on a level four maximum-security prison, but I could choose to grow despite my dangerous and deadly environment.
Who says that prison has to be a place where I, or you, or us become worse instead of better? Once upon a time, if someone had suggested I could use my time in prison for self-growth, I would not have believed them. I would have accused them of lying and dismissed the thought, especially since I was sentenced to a life without parole term. With a sentence of “the other death penalty” I was expected to get worse and continue in criminal behavior.
For many years that is exactly how I spent my time incarcerated. I made my situation worse, my time was harder than it had to be, my days were unproductive, and I repeated the same mistakes. It was not until I was assigned to a self-help program that my perspective about my life changed and I began to think differently about how I spent my time.
Someone once said “you grow where you are planted.” I was planted on a level four maximum-security prison, but I could choose to grow despite my dangerous and deadly environment. While I don’t profess to be a model prisoner yet, I do insist that I made a positive conscious choice about my future. A choice that scared me and challenged me because it was out of my comfort zone. I enrolled in college.
This year I will be graduating with an AA degree in Communications. I am very proud of the degree, but I am equally proud of the discipline, consistency, and commitment I learned while earning it. When I put on that cap and gown, I suspect I will feel like anything is possible.
