You don’t have to be an adult or of legal age to be a productive influence in someone’s life. Whether someone you know or someone you don’t know needs help, remember that the things we do live long after we do. How we act and carry ourselves speaks volumes. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “actions speak louder than words”? well, it’s a lot more accurate than we want to admit. It took me a long time to come to this realization, but it was like a light turning on when it hit me. And let me tell you, it may sound crazy, but it did not hit me until about 5 years ago when I was 30. Hopefully it doesn’t take you that long to figure things out. I’ve not been a “model” inmate, I’ve had a lot of issues to deal with: anger, resentment, depression, self-esteem issues and a big ego. I’m not perfect, none of us are, but building our lives and character is always a work in progress. We can never improve enough. Be patient with yourselves, allow yourselves to grow and learn, and be patient with others as well as they don’t know what you’re going through. If you can do this, or learn to do this, you’ll be able to do great things in life. I am going to close this with a quote: the true color of a person’s character is directly related to the amount of time they spend in the pursuit of excellence. Keep your chins up and always strive for excellence.

Junior