Homework

Journal entry...

5-13-2011

Day 26

  Well I tried to get my homework out of the way but the area of our workbook that was assigned requires some type of group discussion that never took place. So unfortunately, those pages never got done! Although, I did manage to get all of the other homework finished that was assigned to us and isn’t due for another week and a half. That makes me feel good, but I wish I could feel some sort of relief from the stress of the non-stop homework. I don’t even have much time to socialize or work-out anymore.

 ~J.Doe

My T.V. is BACK!!!

Journal entry....

4-22-2011

Day 5

  After speaking to my mother on the phone I was quite relieved to find out that my T.V. could still be exchanged after it is tested by someone at the distributor. I was given contact information to have forwarded to the Property Officer to arrange for it to be picked up. I spoke with the unit officer who told me to write the info onto an interview request form and that it would be a while before anything would likely happen. I’m okay with that. Today I spent a short while making a list of possible subjects for my autobiography chapters. I feel slightly overwhelmed with all of the writing I have to do between writing back family and friends who have written me, daily assignments, and our ever-extensive autobiography. Not to mention I signed up to start my nine week employment module to start next Tuesday. I hope things begin to fall into place soon.

~J. Doe

A Change Never Hurts

MSDF and those running the E.R.P. were nice enough to allow some of the author's assignments released. They came on a nice 3.5" floppy which is rare to come by these days. It makes me wonder, do the computers have any USB ports? lol. Kidding aside, I think they could take a step forward from 3.5's (considering there is funding available, if not, maybe they should adjust.)

One of his assignments was a personal daily log which works great for the current trend of this blog. The second of the two assignments may be even more interesting than the redundant life that prison can be. The second assignment was an autobiography. I can't remember the minimum length that it had to be but the issue that Jon Doe is, on average, half the age of the others in their group may make more detail to who this person is, where did they come from, and what makes them tick. I have honestly not read a word of it yet though I have known them their entire life.

To keep track of what entry is what (because I am going to mix both the log entries and autobiography between posts but during publication) you can look on the first the first line in Italics to determine.

Thank you all for still following,

~"3rd Person"

You Have an Assignment: READ THIS!

Received on July 8, 2011

  Another assignment for each of us in the ERP is displaying a quote that we find applies to our program. This quote is put on a paper banner and hung up for the whole unit to view for the week. During that time, we also have to write a reason for our choosing of the quote. Following is the one I chose:

I drank for happiness,

   And became unhappy;

I drank for joy,

   And became miserable;

I drank for social ability,

   And became argumentative;

I drank for sophistication,

   And became obnoxious;

I drank for friendship,

   And made enemies;

I drank for sleep,

   And woke up tired;

I drank for strength,

   And felt weak;

I drank for relaxation,

   And got the shakes;

I drank for courage,

   And became afraid;

I drank for confidence,

   And became doubtful;

I drank to make conversation easier,

   And slurred my speech;

I drank to feel heavenly,

   And ended up feeling like hell.

-Author unknown

  The reason I chose to quote this poem is because I believe that any one of us can relate to this. Even if you don't feel as if you have an issue with alcohol, the drinking can be replaced with the use of your drug of choice. I, personally, can see myself in every aspect of this poem at one time or another, and I truly believe that if anyone has EVER used drugs or alcohol in their lifetime, and they have an open mind, they too, will find themselves relating to it also.

Until later.....

~J. Doe

Alleviate the Budget and Costs Over Time

Received on July 5, 2011

   As part of the ERP, one of our assignments is to do a review on some current event in the paper each week. This article deals with prisoners such as myself, involved in an early release program, and the review that I submitted in my program.

The article can be viewed here: http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/121683799.html

   In comment to this article, I'd like to add a short quote from “Save My Son”, a book by Maralys Wills and Mike Carona. “One in every thirty-four adult Americans is incarcerated or on probation or parole. Eighty percent of all convicted criminals, nationwide, have a drug component in their crimes. Twenty-one percent of the inmates in California jails are there for drug offenses alone. So what's the solution? Build more jails? Mandate longer sentences? Or attack the problem at it's root?”

  I personally think we could save our state more money by using the money that is being spent to assess, evaluate, and observe the inmates under the Act 28 guidelines, and INSTEAD use this money for rehabilitating our state's growing drug and alcohol problem. If we could minimize the source of the problem, we could then minimize the need for overpriced institutions, overpaid corrections workers and other staff, and ultimately alleviate the budget and costs over time.

Until later....

~J.Doe

Nearly Terminated

Written on May 1, 2011,

   Well, it's been a really stressful week with all of this homework. I've been getting my daily assignments done just fine, but have been neglecting my autobiography. I have been pondering whether I should be continuing this blog while in the program. There is someone else in the program who was nearly terminated from the program due to writing a blog. His blog has been linked to mine and his can be found here. (Or, if you'd rather, the URL is http://lifewps.wordpress.com though he has chosen to put his writings on hold due to unfortunate issues with in the Wisconsin Prison System he has PLENTY of content to view.  ~ "3rd Party") Now the other day a Unit Sargent asked me how she could find my blog. I was honest and told her how to find it. I don't have anything to hide really. I did sign confidentiality agreements though. So I won't be able to talk too specifically about what goes on in my group. Just about my personal experience.

   I'm in program hours Monday through Friday, from 8:00 A.M. - 11:00 A.M. and again from 1:00 P.M. - 4:00 P.M. If we aren't in group we are expected to be doing something program related. I'm hoping that after I talk to my Social Worker tomorrow about using the computers, possibly he can work out something for allowing me to type my daily logs on them as well. I'll have to find out then.

Until tomorrow...

~J. Doe

Moving On Up!

Written on April 23, 2011,

   Well, I actually was moved to the program floor on Monday, April 18^th. I finally started my program that day. I met everyone who was in my group and slowly, throughout the day, I met the other 30 inmates that are in other groups. There are four groups with ten inmates in each group. So far we have watched two movies in our group and had to write “Reaction Papers” on them. How we can relate to the movie. Then we wrote a three page paper on “Why we are in the Earned Release Program and what we expect to get from it”. To top it off, we also have to keep a Daily Journal. We were taught the difference between a diary and a journal and given examples of things to write about in our Journal. We also have been assigned our big assignment. An autobiography! Not just a typical, quick, run-through of our lives chronologically, but an alphabet autobiography. Basically, we have to use the twenty-six letters of the alphabet, come up with subject words that begin with each letter, and write a chapter for each letter. Our Social Worker that runs our group expects us to be thorough but wouldn't give us an exact number of pages to be it. He only said the average number of pages has been 67 pages in his past groups. I'm the second youngest member of any of the groups he has had here, so I hope he has kept this in mind. I have half the timespan to write about! I don't doubt I could write hundreds of pages about myself, but with everything else I have to do, I don't know if I have enough time. I'll write more tomorrow, I promise. The lights just went dim since it's 10:00 P.M., so it's hard to see.

Until tomorrow...

~J. Doe