Today’s guest lecture was great, I really appreciated how Rachel began by describing the program and calling it a college program but also a community network for people. I’m not that knowledgable about prison educational programs, but I was shocked to see how many facilities did have educational programs which I think is amazing. I also found it really interesting, that all the materials that are brought into the facility have to be checked, it makes sense, it’s just something I haven’t thought about. Furthermore, the classroom facility looked really welcoming and open which I think creates an environment that is more conducive to learning. I also didn’t expect to see that Wallkill had that many rooms in the facility as well as the fact that there is a computer lab. It is interesting to see the boundaries between what is allowed for learning and what is considered a security risk and not allowed.
It was also really interesting to hear Jerry’s perspective. He said “prison doesn’t change you, you have to change for yourself” and how he saw the program and wanted to get involved which is amazing. It is also cool to see that Jerry took the skills he learned in the program and uses that in his job. It was also cool to hear how Jerry acclimated into NYU and how the diversity of the campus was a breath of fresh air for him. It was also great to hear how welcoming people were when he got to campus. It really gives you a new perspective of how we take our education for granted and that a lot of people in the world don’t have the same utilities and materials that we have access to because we go to NYU. It was also interesting to hear about his time getting used to an iPhone and his Chromebook. It also shocked me about how even though, they now had tablets, they still had to pay money to send an email or something else. It also depended on how long your email was, plus they were only getting paid $0.75 an hour at the most. Moreover, it’s so sad to hear about how prisons are handling COVID-19. It was also interesting to hear about how one prison is making sanitizer, but they aren’t letting the prisoners use the supplies that they are creating.