First Bon Air Meeting

Going into the first meeting, I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I was definitely a bit nervous about it, as I thought that I would have absolutely nothing in common with the person I was going to talk to. Even when I do have a lot in common, I find meeting new people quite difficult. I also had Ashley’s comment about them “tearing us down” on my mind as I’m not exactly the most physically imposing person. The first thing that surprised me was how friendly the guards were. I was expecting them to be extremely serious and formal, yet they were very kind and easygoing. The building itself didn’t really feel too much like a detention center either. It was for the most part a welcoming place. There was, however, a dead mouse on the floor in the storage room and that definitely shocked me. When I got into the library and saw the kids for the first time I was surprised by how they appeared. I think I had assumed they would look like people who had committed crimes, whatever that is supposed to look like. They just looked like regular people though. Their names were Jordan, Trenton, and Eric. While Jordan and Trenton were definitely less mature, likely given their age and experiences, I was highly impressed by Eric’s maturity and respectfulness. Eric and I were paired together. From our conversations, I learned we both have more in common than I thought we would. Both of us could easily relate with our shared slight discomfort with meeting new people. We also both moved to Henrico Country from another state just before 9th grade. Eric asked me many questions about this program and about college in general. He stated that he wants to go to college but is not sure if he can because of his mistake, which made me feel very bad for him. His maturity and friendliness almost makes it super hard for me to imagine him ever even committing a crime. He also said that he was in there for a long time, which makes me wonder what he did. Unlike the other people, he did not say why he was in there, and I took this as another sign of his maturity. I learned that he and I are both writers, and that both of us have a passion for writing poetry and reading. He said that he probably has read all of the books in the library. Overall, I was very pleasantly surprised by this experience, and am definitely looking forward to getting to know Eric. My original nervousness seemed quite foolish once this first meeting was finished.