Day 37 Share

This entry comes quite late as I had some time to reflect on recent events. The question for the day asks who I am to share my personal story with. After I read this chapter, I wasn't sure who I was supposed to share my story with, or if I even had one at all. When I think of sharing stories of life, I think of people who go from living on the streets to becoming CEO's of multimillion dollar corporations through hard work, faith and perseverance. People who have stories that can be examples of rags to riches or going from darkness to light, are people that go from one extreme to another. They often write books on their lives or have movies made about them. My life hasn't been on either side of those extremes, but somewhere in the middle. I didn't think anyone would be able to benefit from anything I had to tell them.

Days after reading this chapter, as part of a leadership program I am enrolled in, I along with my classmates made a visit to a county jail/prison. We toured the facilities and heard from several speakers on programs to help current inmates and ex-convicts become productive members of society. Our visit to the jail also included speakers (I will discuss in another post- entitled Babies in Jail: The Plight of Young, Troubled Youth).

After the tour and speakers, we were told that we would also visit a nearby detention center for youth offenders, and be given the opportunity to speak with them. As we were informed of this, a feeling of apprehension came over me. I had no idea what to say to these kids. I had no idea what to expect of the living conditions, and I honestly did not want to go. As we drove to the detention center, the feeling of apprehension grew.

When we arrived at the detention center we were greeted with friendly administrators, that proved to really care about the children. We were then given a tour of the facility. As we had our tour, we could see the children in the television room. I didn't expect them to be happy and cheerful, after all they were in a detention center. What I didn't expect what to see them look so lost and hopeless. The more the tour continued, the more I wanted out. After our tour we finally were able to speak with the kids. As everyone sat down to speak with them, I walked towards the end of the dining hall with my head down, trying to avoid what was in front of me. One of my classmates called me over to sit with her and the kids she was in conversation with.

At first, I just sat and listened. I listened to their likes and dislikes, what they liked to do for fun, and their hopes for the future. While they seemed to enjoy our conversations, one kid bothered me. As he spoke of his hopes for the future, he let out a sad sigh; it was almost as if he didn't believe in his own dreams. We then left the center and want back to our daily routines, but the visit bothered me as much then as it does now. It was after this visit that I realized who I had to share my story with . While I have never been to prison or even jail, I realize that with he temper I had as a teen, one wrong turn could have landed me there. I won't go into my life story now, as it wasn't meant for you, but for them.

God really does work in mysterious ways. I originally had no interest in the program that led me to the detention center. In fact, I only went out of spite, because someone told me I could never be a leader and didn't want me in the program. I decided to prove them wrong and piss them off. I realize now what I am meant to do. Maybe I won't be able to volunteer at this particular center, or any other, but I know now that I am meant to do something with kids in the criminal justice system. While I thought about becoming a mentor to at risk youth, I have now decided to focus my time and attention particularly to kids that have been through the system. They need to know that regardless of what they've done people haven't given up on them.