Website: FromPrisonToProfessor.com
My background.
In the Spring of 1993, I was convicted (at trial) of possession of marijuana and sentenced to ten and a half years. I did six years, three months and four days in Hell-on-Earth known as the Arizona Department of Corrections. I was paroled on December 4th, 1998, I left prison with no marketable job skills, no education other than my high school diploma, I was broke and I was almost forty years old. This was not an enviable position to be in.
On day four of my parole (Dec 7th, 1998), "a day that will live in infamy", I signed up for Information Technology classes at a local Vocational School. These classes and this opportunity allowed me to change the course of my life after prison. Surprisingly, the federal government provided me tuition funding for the Information Technology classes. This was done under the WIA Program (WorkForce Investment Act). They gave me ten thousand dollars for tuition. This was the break I needed.
- When the opportunity comes will you be ready, willing and able? -
The Information Technology classes I took led to a faculty position at the vocational school I attended. I had no teaching experience and I only recently began the process of learning the software I was going to be teaching. I was stunned when the school offered me a faculty position. This was Chicago. There were over eight million people within an hours drive and they want me? I was in no position to turn the job down so I became a teacher. - Best decision I ever made -. This in turn lead to college and three degrees in Information Technology. After grad school I was recruited to Washington DC, to work on a Presidential Directive and granted security clearance. Life was changing and I was at the helm.
It felt as if I accomplished the impossible after prison and all it took was working 60 to 80 hours a week for ten years. Surprisingly, the work I did after prison was filled with joy. I could not believe how much I enjoyed the process of rebuilding my after prison.
I am interested in finishing my education with a Doctorate in Education. I would like to teach software to convicts for my Doctorial work and I’d like to turn my doctoral work into a documentary about life after prison and the importance of education for ex-cons. I spent six years three months and four days in prison playing basketball and running the track. Of course I did quite a bit of reading and writing while in prison but no opportunity to obtain marketable job skills while sitting in prison staring at the Fucking Walls for 6.25 years!
The book, Conversations With God by Neale Donald Walsch had a tremendous impact on me. This book became my "bible" so to speak.
After completing my doctorate and my documentary about life after prison, I will be focusing on creating a reality TV show about teaching software skills to convicts. The class for the convicts would run eight hours a day five days a week or three months. This would be a bit of a pressure cooker for the convicts/students in the class. There will be no shortage of drama for the class and that will make for compelling TV. Convicts and software (working title) will be the most compelling program on TV.
I am seeking a talented and skilled director/producer and financing for these projects
Interested parties should submit a resume with personal and professional references
