Month: March 2024 Page 1 of 2

The fourth visit J and I discussed our favorite music. My partner liked rap which was reflected when he would sing out lyrics to teh sing from heart, and did so really well.  Although we talked about music the most productive aspect fo conversation was on his artwork. Since the booklet idea was introduced to the class, I asked J if he enjoyed art. He told me about one of the paintings in the classroom that he painted. He painted a canvas of Mohammed Ali/or Mike Tyson winning a boxing match. The painting was incredible and he shared that he had another painting in progress.  It was exciting to know he enjoyed art because of our plans to make the booklet.

This day was also the first time I shared my written copy of J’s story. Based off of his facial expressions and eagerness to listen carefully to his story he seemed to appreciate having his story told. He liked how I captured details of his story by showing and not telling. We made a few additions to the story but iverall he was very dedicated towards making his story as realistic and reflective of his past.

This last visit felt much more casual than the rest. Both myself and my partner were exhausted form the previous day and little sleep but were able to discuss for a bit about our favorite season. He shared that his favorite season was spring because it reminded him of baseball and being outside. We discussed the birds singing signaling that spring has come and both of our struggles with allergies.

My partner and I went over the first initial prompts quickly and then began to talk about college life. He was very excited to tour the campus. He was especially interested in the gym and basketball courts. We ended up talking about working out. Based off talking with J it seems that him and the other inmates enjoy taking care of themselves physically while at the detention center. J shared his favorite workout exercises, those being pushups pull-ups and sit ups.  After sharing that I worked out in the gym he seemed interested. It had been awhile since he had used weights and machines. I felt like this conversation was a full circle moment from our first visit. Thats when Nick G. and I were with some of the detention center kids doing pushups and other exercises. Its awesome that J and the other juveniles take care of themselves physically even when they’re limited in what they can do throughout the day.

An interesting question that J asked me was “how did you guys from the outside think of us? Or at least something along those lines. This was a touching question because it shows that J understands the preconceived notion that anyone in a detention center is dangerous or strange or something along those lines. I told him that we thought it was a great opportunity to get to know him and his other peers in the detention center and that we loved getting to share stories and learn about each other.