I love that I can tell my family the good news of my accomplishment and show my son that education is very important.
I am almost on my way toward being released from Lawrence Correctional Prison next year, and I am proud to share that I have finally completed my GED after attempting to acquire it since the start of my ten-year journey.
My journey started in Cook County in Chicago, Illinois, where I was incarcerated from 2016 to 2019. I was enrolled in the GED program but was never able to complete the class before receiving my sentence and being sent to the penitentiary. I have been enrolled in three different prisons but was always transferred before ever being able to take any of the necessary exams until now.
I knew I had to stay focused and buckle down in order to finally achieve the goal I have been chasing for almost ten years. I remember Brad, a good friend I met in here who has been incarcerated for 20 years, helping to keep me motivated by reminding me to never miss school unless it was an emergency. I love that I can tell my family the good news of my accomplishment and show my son that education is very important. No matter how troubling a situation might seem, never stop trying to learn. Like Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world.”
A Great Friend
I remember hearing the song “I Need a Favor” by Jelly Roll, where he says, “I only talk to you when I need a favor.” I feel like I relate to that song a lot because most of the time when I prayed, I was asking God for a favor. But when that favor did not come, I felt like I lost faith. That was my usual way of thinking for most of my life, but I am learning that is not the way faith works.
I give a lot of credit to my good friend Brad, who has been helping me reconnect with my relationship with God. Seeing how he has been able to keep his faith strong even through hard times is inspiring. I was raised Catholic by my two parents, and they always taught me that God speaks to you through the people He puts around you.
Brad has given me a lot of good advice and has been very encouraging. He gifted me a Bible when I told him I had never read the complete Bible. We have even spoken about how I would love to be a great father to my son, but it has been very difficult because I do not have a good relationship with his mother since we split up. Brad helped me understand that I do not have to get along with someone to show them respect.
I enjoy hanging out with Brad because there are always positive vibes whenever I am around him. Whether we are on the yard or inside, he will give me a certain Bible passage to check out, and then we talk about it later or discuss future goals. He has been a really good mentor in helping me understand the Bible, and I truly believe he would make a great youth counselor someday because of his positive thinking.
He is the one who told me about Humans of San Quentin, and that motivated me to write this letter so others can know how good of a person he is.
