or get busy dyin'. College in prison. Brooks Hatlen smiles sadly. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2019/11/21/ken-burns-college-behind-bars-explores-inmates-access-pell-grants/4202246002/
I have mixed feelings on this. When I left the private sector and transitioned to education, it was initially teaching within the prison system. It was an incredibly rewarding experience that helped me grow, I found great joy in it, and earnestly saw change occur with people. To this day, I still semi-regularly receive correspondence from former students that obtained success after incarceration. With all of my heart, I believe that effective education can help change lives. Unfortunately, my feelings are mixed when it comes to the reinstatement of Pell grant eligibility, as I saw far too many programs that were ran as shambles and simply viewed as cash cows by collegiate administrations. After my first month in education, I was on the verge of resigning after realizing the lack of support and how the system treated prison education programs. Instead, after conversing with a former mentor, decided to use it as a blank canvas to essentially do what I wanted and had good results until I essentially burned out. Was able to turn it into the top performing, by metrics available to us, program in the state prison system. One major regret, is I didn't have the time or the support to build a system that was sustainable after I left.
