January 28, 2026
January 28, 2026: Wednesday
Alumni Page
Today I want to share why we built a new feature on the Prison Professors website: the Alumni page.
Our engineering team invested significant time and care into this project. They didn’t build it as a showcase. They built it as a resource for our community—no matter where someone is on the justice journey.
Each Alumni member can publish blogs in different categories. Below I’ll give a sample of the categories, and the content a person can publish.
Letter Category
We ask participants to do a lot of work in building a personal profile. That work encourages each participant to read, write, reflect, document, and plan. We ask them to do this work in environments that are often uninspiring, with limited tools, and under significant stress. Many are dealing with the complications and collateral consequences that follow a criminal charge long before the case is resolved.
Some may wonder the value of doing all this work.
We built the Alumni page to show the result of building an “extraordinary and compelling” adjustment strategy. They should know what intentional preparation looks like at every stage of the journey.
With our Alumni page, members of our community can see the highlights of individuals who made deliberate decisions to prepare for success—before being charged, before sentencing, after sentencing, while incarcerated, and after release.
When someone reads those stories, they get to read about the process of pursuing excellence, and the results that follow. They see strategy. And they see proof that preparation compounds over time.
Anyone can build a profile on Prison Professors. Each profile should advance the individual as a stronger candidate for the highest level of liberty at the soonest possible time. That doesn’t happen by accident. It happens through values-based, goal-oriented work that each person documents consistently.
I strive to live as an example of this strategy that we encourage members of our community to accept. It helped me grow through 9,500 days in prison, and helped me build successful ventures after I concluded my obligation to the BOP, on August 12, 2013.
Even today, I think carefully about challenges ahead. I know that not everyone agrees with the work we do. Some people prefer a more punitive system. Some don’t believe in creating pathways for people to earn freedom through merit.
That’s exactly why we continue building this platform. Our platform, and our community, is a part of our advocacy, a part of our ministry.
We offer free lessons so as many people as possible can begin strengthening their case to show capacity for change, responsibility, and contribution. Profiles, journals, book reports, and release plans are not busywork. They are tools to help people think clearly, plan strategically, and present themselves as law-abiding, contributing citizens.
The Alumni page shows what happens when people adhere to this strategy over time.
My hope is that it helps members of our community engineer mitigation strategies that work for them—strategies aligned with their values, their goals, and their circumstances.
This is about learning to live as if you are the CEO of your life, regardless of where you are today.
That mindset changes outcomes.
Reflection Category
Think Differently
I remember the day authorities arrested me, on August 11, 1987. I was 23 years old, and I had never been incarcerated before.
After processing, they locked me in the Special Housing Unit. I was told that I faced a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. I didn’t understand what that meant, or how I had reached that moment so quickly.
I had a lawyer, but he told me what I wanted to hear rather than what I needed to hear. He explained that there was a big difference between an indictment and a conviction. I clung to that distinction instead of facing reality.
The truth is that I was guilty. I sold cocaine. Despite that, I chose to go to trial. I took the witness stand and made another terrible decision. I committed perjury. I lied and said I didn’t do it.
Those choices influenced the outcome. The judge sentenced me to 45 years.
At the time, I didn’t understand the system I was in. I didn’t understand how decisions compound. I didn’t understand that denial only makes consequences worse. I learned those lessons the hard way.
During that first year in solitary confinement, something began to change. I was isolated, with almost nothing to distract me. For a long time, the only book I was allowed to have was the Bible. I read it from the Book of Genesis to the Book of Revelation. Then I started again.
I hadn’t been religious before. But the Bible taught me how to think differently.
Certain stories stayed with me.
- The story of Joseph helped me understand endurance and purpose in suffering.
- The Parable of the Talents taught me responsibility for how I use time.
- The story of the Prodigal Son showed me the possibility of redemption, even after profound mistakes.
Those ideas stayed with me through more than 9,500 days in prison.
They shaped how I chose to live inside. They shaped how I prepared for release. And after I returned home, they influenced my decision to build Prison Professors as a free resource for others.
I can’t change the decisions I made at 23. But I can share what I learned from them. My hope is that others will make better choices, understand the system earlier, and begin thinking differently sooner than I did.
That shift in thinking can change an entire life.
Lesson Category
The Straight-A Guide is the foundation for everything we teach at Prison Professors.
It isn’t a motivational slogan or a theory developed in a classroom. It’s a decision-making framework I built while serving a long federal prison sentence, during a period when every choice I made carried consequences that could affect my future for decades.
Anyone can take the course, and benefit from the lessons, with the following link:
When people face a criminal charge or incarceration, uncertainty becomes constant. Fear, misinformation, and short-term thinking often drive decisions. I know that firsthand. Early in my case, I made choices without understanding how they would compound over time, and those decisions made my outcome worse.
The Straight-A Guide was my response to that reality.
It’s a ten-part framework designed to help people think like the CEO of their own life. Instead of reacting emotionally or focusing only on immediate discomfort, the guide encourages people to define what success means to them and then make decisions that align with that definition—today, months from now, and years into the future
At its core, the Straight-A Guide teaches people to:
- Clarify what success looks like.
- Set goals that support that vision.
- Maintain the right attitude under pressure.
- Aspire to contribute beyond self-interest.
- Act consistently with stated values.
- Measure progress through accountability.
- Stay aware of opportunities.
- Show authenticity through documented effort.
- Recognize incremental achievements.
- Live with appreciation and gratitude.
This framework helped me navigate more than 9,500 days in prison. I used it to plan my time, evaluate decisions, and prepare for release long before release was possible. I continue to use the same framework today as I build programs, advocate for reform, and work with others who want to create better outcomes from difficult circumstances.
The Straight-A Guide applies at every stage of the justice journey:
- Before being charged.
- Before sentencing.
- After sentencing.
- While incarcerated.
- After release.
The course helps participants align values, goals, actions, and documentation.
The full Straight-A Guide course goes deeper into each principle, with exercises, examples, and practical tools to help people apply the framework to their own lives.
If you’re willing to slow down, think strategically, and document your effort, the Straight-A Guide can help you build a stronger case for the future you want—no matter where you’re starting.
Advocacy Category
Returning to Prisons to Advocate for Merit-Based Freedom
In February, I’ll be traveling to the East Coast to continue our advocacy work with the Bureau of Prisons.
The itinerary includes visits to multiple facilities:
- Fort Dix, East Side
- Fort Dix, West Side
- Fort Dix, Camp
- Fairton, FCI
- Fairton, Camp
- Petersburg, Medium
- Petersburg, Low
- Petersburg, Camp
At each stop, I’ll be meeting with staff and participants to listen, learn, and share how people are using Prison Professors resources to prepare for success upon release.
The highlight of the trip, however, will be a live demonstration of the Prison Professors website for senior leadership at a Bureau of Prisons conference. I’ll have the opportunity to walk leaders through our platform, including the leaderboards, the courses, and the free tools people in prison use to document their preparation.
Advocacy is not abstract for me. I could be using my time anywhere in the country. Instead, I’m returning to prisons—places I once lived—because meaningful reform requires presence, consistency, and evidence.
We’re not advocating through slogans. We’re advocating through data, documentation, and demonstrated effort. Our platform shows how people who engage in self-directed preparation are building release plans, maintaining positive adjustment, and positioning themselves as law-abiding, contributing citizens.
That evidence supports a larger goal: opening pathways for reform that incentivize responsibility, discipline, and excellence rather than idleness.
This work is ongoing. It’s personal. It’s a ministry rooted in gratitude for the opportunities I’ve been given and a commitment to extend those opportunities to others through merit-based systems.
I’m grateful to every member of our community who reads, documents, supports, and contributes to this mission. Your work travels with me into every institution and every room where decisions are made.
Advocacy begins with preparation.
Preparation becomes proof.
Proof creates the foundation for reform.
Curriculum Category
Why We Built the Prison Professors Profile System
The Prison Professors Profile system exists for one reason:
- to help people document their preparation for success in a way others can understand, verify, and respect.
Most people impacted by the justice system are judged by a single moment in their life. A charge. A conviction. A sentence. That snapshot rarely reflects who the person is becoming or the work they’re doing to prepare for the future.
Profiles change that.
A Prison Professors profile is not a résumé and it is not a marketing page. It is a living record of effort, accountability, and growth. It allows people to show—over time—how they are thinking differently, making better decisions, and preparing to live as law-abiding, contributing citizens.
Anyone can build a profile. What matters is how intentionally it’s developed.
The Purpose of a Profile
A strong profile helps accomplish several goals at once:
- It forces clarity about values, goals, and priorities.
- It creates structure during uncertain or difficult periods.
- It produces verifiable documentation of effort.
- It helps others—staff, employers, advocates, family members—see progress, not just promises.
Profiles are especially powerful because they apply at every stage of the justice journey:
- before being charged, before sentencing, after sentencing, while incarcerated, and after release.
The earlier someone starts documenting, the stronger the record becomes.
How to Build a Profile
Every Prison Professors profile is built from the same core components. Each section serves a specific purpose.
Biography: This is where you explain who you are, what happened, and how you are choosing to move forward. A good biography is honest, accountable, and forward-looking. It shows reflection without excuses.
Journals: Journal entries document how you think, learn, and respond to challenges over time. Consistent journaling shows discipline, emotional regulation, and growth. It also creates a timeline that reflects sustained effort.
Book Reports: Reading alone is not enough. Book reports show comprehension, critical thinking, and application. They demonstrate how you are using ideas to change behavior and decision-making.
Release Plan: A release plan explains how you intend to live responsibly in the future. It addresses work, education, health, relationships, and service. Strong release plans are realistic, detailed, and aligned with documented behavior.
Testimonials: When appropriate, testimonials allow others to speak about your effort, character, and consistency. They add credibility to the work you document yourself.
Each entry—no matter how small—adds weight to the overall profile.
How Profiles Are Used
Profiles are not built for one audience. They may be viewed by:
- correctional staff,
- employers,
- volunteers,
- advocates,
- family members,
- or policy stakeholders.
That’s why clarity, consistency, and authenticity matter. A profile doesn’t need to be perfect. It needs to be truthful and steadily developed.
We also aggregate profile data through leaderboards and facility views to show patterns. Those patterns help support advocacy for reforms that reward preparation, responsibility, and merit.
Keep It Simple. Keep It Going.
The most effective profiles are not created in a weekend. They’re built gradually.
- Write regularly.
- Read with intention.
- Document honestly.
- Adjust as you learn more.
If you’re unsure where to start, begin with a short biography and a single journal entry. Momentum follows action.
This post introduces the purpose and structure of the Profile system. Our full course goes deeper, with step-by-step guidance, examples, and exercises to help you strengthen each section over time.
Preparation becomes proof when it’s documented. Profiles are how that proof is built.
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