Today my wife had lunch with Dr. Joan Petersilia, a distinguished professor at Stanford Law School. I’m thrilled that Carole had an opportunity to meet with Joan because I anticipate that she will play a role in helping me overcome some of the obstacles that await my release. She has been an inspiration to me for longer than a decade and I feel privileged that she supports my efforts to contribute to society.
I read about Professor Petersilia much earlier in my term, when I was studying America’s prison system through graduate school at Hofstra. She was then a professor at UC Irvine and a leader at the Rand Institute, a think tank in Santa Monica. What intrigued me about Professor Petersilia was her keen interest in prisoner reentry. She recognized a link between education and lower recidivism rates, concluding that it was both wise and cost-efficient to educate people in prison.
Last year I began a correspondence with Professor Petersilia after she invited me to contribute a chapter to a new book she was coauthoring with another professor. Then I read When Prisoners Come Home, her book on prisoner reentry. Since then she has extended a formal invitation for me to speak at Stanford Law School upon my release, and I’m eager to address such a distinguished audience.
Cultivating mentors from the academic community has been an important part of my adjustment. I have always anticipated the resistance I would encounter upon release because of my lengthy prison term. That awareness inspired me to take action. I reached out, inviting people I respected to join my support network. It was a good strategy because it resulted in my finding numerous mentors, including some of the world’s most distinguished penologists to guide me.
I encourage the other prisoners around me to think about the challenges that await them. Prison is only a temporary problem. The real struggle awaits each prisoner’s release. That is when he (or she) must face an unforgiving public and cynical employers. I’m always thinking about such challenges, and I feel well-prepared to confront them successfully. All of my decisions relate to my preparations for the career I want to lead upon release. Such aspirations influence every part of my day: the time I open my eyes every morning, the work I do throughout the day, my daily exercise, the books I read, the sentences I write, the people with whom I converse, and the time I close my eyes to sleep. All of my choices are deliberate because I’m well aware of how my lengthy imprisonment will influence the rest of my life. I’m determined to succeed in spite of it, and success will not come by accident.
Ran 10 miles / 5,480 miles in 614 days
500 pushups / 89,700 pushups in 2010
Wednesday, 18 August 2010
PDF 
