From Prison to Grad School: A Tale of Two Brothers
From Prison to Grad School: A Tale of Two Brothers
Education is the Destination
It is often said in the urban community that crime pays. I'm here to challenge that thought and let you know it does not. Jay and I were very close. To lose someone you love for 19 years did not pay, but cost me and my family time that we will never get back. People always wondered why I was so good in sports but what they didn't know is that my drive came from something that foreign to most people that grew up with me. See, unlike most kids, I've never been to Cedar Point, Six Flags, Disney Land and whereever else kids go. My weekends were spent in one of the many State of Michigan Correctional Facilities. I honed my skills at Martin Luther King Park. I was nothing for me to score 4 touch downs in a game or drop 25 points on opposing teams. My drive was different. My struggle might have mimicked some, but my mindset about it was different. Things didn't pan out at Michigan State University. Things didn't pan out for me anywhere as it related to sports. The hopes and dreams I had of becoming a professional athlete were crushed. The thought of having millions to be able to support my brother when he finished his 19 year sentence....gone. That was a fantasy. Injuries, family problems and adjusting to life as a first time college student proved to much for me to overcome. I was at a crossroads.
With my back against the wall, I began to focus my attention on my education. Although I partied and had fun as a college student, most of my weekends were not spent partying with my teammates or other college kids but rather traveling to the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) to see my brother. We talked all the time. We talked on the phone. We talked via letters and we talked during my visits. Its what we did. I didn't talk about it much with close friends and schoolmates. Some barely knew I had a older brother. Education became my back-up-plan. See with football, I could not control what went on, who started, who made the traveling squad, etc but what I could control was how I performed in the classroom. I was a triple threat in the classroom. I was Book Smart-Street Smart-and had-Common Sense. Once I mastered how to be a college student, finding success in college came easy. I hear the statistics now days that tell the story of so many African American Males...but I remember those very same statistics when I was in High School, Undergrad and Graduate School. Those very same statistics served as my motivation. Believe it or not, I was determine to prove the data wrong....As a natural competitor, football was not quite working out as planned. I needed something to compete against. I needed a challenge. The statistics that described African American students and how we are the statistical leaders in every category of failure had my undivided attention. Its funny when I think about it, but I remember shredding all of my classes in undergrad and graduate school. Everything except Stats. Math was not my thing. But every other subject I aced with ease.
Most folks had a 19 year head start on Jay. It amazes me to see how far he has come in just a short amount of time. He is doing better than 90% of people I know who have never did a day in prison. His drive is remarkable. His focus is like none I have ever seen. I am proud. I am one of the most happiest for him and his success next to my mom. I always told him to never let his past dictate his future. Not only has he not let his past effect him, most folk don't even know or believe that he spent the past 19 years in prison. It is now 4 years since he was released from prison. I can only imagine all he will accomplish in the next decade.
Comments
Post a Comment