2018 Commencement

“Prior to being institutionalized, I felt that prison would be the last place to find one’s blessings. However, the Prison University Project has been just that, a blessing. The staff opened students’ eyes, and my own to my many flaws. In my case, my flawed parenting skills. Child Psychology changed my eternal connection to my children; it gave me tools to see deep-rooted cultural problems that have existed through generations of my family tree, to see where I fell off the tracks with my children. More importantly, it showed me how to get back on track. I realized I had been practicing the same ideology on my kids that my father had practiced on me. I wrote letters to all of my children. There was a time that my children did not know how to feel about me. Now, they aren’t scared of me like I was of my father. Today I am identified as father and grandfather. The healing started with three words, I love you, words that I never was able to use comfortably before.”