Final Time at Bon Air

This last visit was filled with surprises and interesting stories. We showed up today without Professor Dolson again and our 4th member, Gamez, finally joined us. We split up into groups to get our partners stories and a quote that we were going to use for the book, and then reconvened and talked about our experiences as a whole.

I almost lost my partners trust today because of my persistence with getting the story from him. I had asked him last week to prepare a story but expected that he wouldn’t have one. When I told him to think of one that I could write down right there he tried to side track the conversation and get away from talking about a story. I tried to naturally bring it back to the conversation about thinking of a story. After a few minutes of this he told me to stop fronting because it was annoying him. I had to gain his trust again and eventually did get his story which although sparse with detail it was the longest one he’s told me.

After the story I talked to him about his plans once he’s released next week. He said he was starting high school immediately and then we talked about his family. He is very close with his grandparents and brother and hope that they will provide a nice strong base for him when he gets out. Unfortunately, he also talked about his plans to get off parole and start smoking again which I was adamant about him not doing. He realized his issues with alcohol and had told me he was staying away from it which I was glad about, but the smoking I feel could be an issue for him in the future.

Leaving Bon Air for the last time I got a little reminiscent and realized how great of an experience this was for me. I really liked talking to the guys, and this helped break down some pre-conceived notions I had in my head and made me realize how subconsciously I sometimes judge before I know. This experience has shown me that sometimes my thoughts and ideas about things are wrong. Overall, I loved this experience and am very proud to have done it.