It’s been a while. Here’s what I’ve been up to lately. I do plan to write here more frequently in the future. Thanks for subscribing.
I walked into a prison last week. And it wasn’t the first time.
It all started when I raised my hand and volunteered as a board member for The Clinton County Foundation. It seemed simple enough. There were six board meetings a year and maybe six more Zoom meetings if I joined a committee. That seemed doable.
So, I joined the board, went to an orientation, and met some other new members, who were all great. One day, after a meeting, I ended up talking to another new board member, a Wilmington College professor. He told me that in addition to teaching on campus, he also taught classes in a prison.
It turns out that Wilmington College has provided academic programs in prisons since the early sixties. Unfortunately, funding for prison education was cut in the nineties, and the college had to suspend the program.
When funding was restored a few years ago, Wilmington was one of the first colleges in the country to get its program going again. The small, private college offers a business bachelor's degree program to incarcerated students who meet the requirements.
The day after my conversation with my fellow board member, I happened to see a plea on LinkedIn for someone to teach a marketing class in Wilmington’s prison education program. So, I raised my hand, and now here I am, teaching Marketing Research at the Lebanon Correctional Institution as an adjunct.
The first class was last week. I’m happy to report that it went great.
I was informed initially that incarcerated students were typically more engaged than regular students. That was certainly true. I don’t know if it’s because they’re older or because of their experience, but I found them all to be quite bright and highly engaged in the course material.
I expect this week to be just as interesting.
So, if you’re thinking about raising your hand for something. I recommend you do it. No adventure or worthwhile thing happens without stepping out first.