"If you don't know where you're going, you may end up where you don't want to be and may not enjoy getting there. In other words, aimlessness can cause you to drift and eventually miss your best possible life."
My name is Midnight and I'm a prisoner at Green Haven Correctional Facility, which is one of the maximum security prisons in the state of New York. This is my story about how I ended up in prison serving thirty-three and one third years to life for murder and also what I'm doing to get my life on the right track.
My family is from the Dominican Republic but I was born and raised in New York City along with my two sisters and my brother. My father was sent to the Dominican Republic to be raised by our maternal grandmother because out mother feared he would be negatively influenced by me.
Our mother had to work really hard to provide clothing, food, a roof over our heads and an education for my siblings and myself. Since my mother always had to work to provide the necessities of life for us, our paternal grandmother basically raised us but it was quite difficult on her.
By the time I was fourteen years old I had dropped out of school and began associating with individuals that were older than me and involved in the street life! They taught me all the rules in order survive on the streets. I learned how to hustle drugs and guns as well as protecting myself. Before I knew it I was in too deep in a life of crime! I started to get high and partying heavily in night clubs. I thought I was the King of New York but I was totally wrong and way over my head in "the game."
By age sixteen I had a son, I named him Michael in honor of my father. My son is now fourteen years old and doing very well in school plus he has a nice little girlfriend to keep him company.
One day my ex-girlfriend, and I were in my father's room listening to a song that brought me fond memories of my dad. A strong feeling overwhelmed me. It was at that moment I realized it was my time to retire from "the game." I explained to my ex-girlfriend that I was fed up with my lifestyle, I wanted out and to be able to start a new life on the right track. I wanted to go to job corps and leave all the madness behind. I decided to take care of some unfinished business before going into retirement. She urged me to forget it and leave with her but I was drawn to my last mission like a moth a flame. I told her I would be back soon but that was not to be. It is said that "there is a time in every human life when a decision one makes helps carve the path to his destiny. It is at that crossroads, without knowing what lies ahead, that a choice is made which influences all events to follow." At that point my life became derailed and I was now a long term resident of a place I never thought about. Prison!
I decided to continue with my goal of getting and staying out of "the game" by obtaining my education as well as working hard on my case to recapture my freedom. Since I couldn't read or write too well it made it very difficult for me to work on my case plus the fact that criminal law is quite complex did not help my situation. I attend ESL classes (English Secondary Language) in the prison plus I help my ESL teacher teach some of the Asian prisoners how to speak English. She never gave up on me and inspired me to write this paper.
I know there are a lot of young people that are involved in the same things, if not worst, that I was involved in so I hope somehow my story may deter them from the path that led me to the misery of prison. Contrary to what you may see on music videos or in the movies, prison is not fun! Prison is worst than death but prison is also the realistic consequence of a wild life.
My name is Midnight and I'm a prisoner at Green Haven Correctional Facility, which is one of the maximum security prisons in the state of New York. This is my story about how I ended up in prison serving thirty-three and one third years to life for murder and also what I'm doing to get my life on the right track.
My family is from the Dominican Republic but I was born and raised in New York City along with my two sisters and my brother. My father was sent to the Dominican Republic to be raised by our maternal grandmother because out mother feared he would be negatively influenced by me.
Our mother had to work really hard to provide clothing, food, a roof over our heads and an education for my siblings and myself. Since my mother always had to work to provide the necessities of life for us, our paternal grandmother basically raised us but it was quite difficult on her.
By the time I was fourteen years old I had dropped out of school and began associating with individuals that were older than me and involved in the street life! They taught me all the rules in order survive on the streets. I learned how to hustle drugs and guns as well as protecting myself. Before I knew it I was in too deep in a life of crime! I started to get high and partying heavily in night clubs. I thought I was the King of New York but I was totally wrong and way over my head in "the game."
By age sixteen I had a son, I named him Michael in honor of my father. My son is now fourteen years old and doing very well in school plus he has a nice little girlfriend to keep him company.
One day my ex-girlfriend, and I were in my father's room listening to a song that brought me fond memories of my dad. A strong feeling overwhelmed me. It was at that moment I realized it was my time to retire from "the game." I explained to my ex-girlfriend that I was fed up with my lifestyle, I wanted out and to be able to start a new life on the right track. I wanted to go to job corps and leave all the madness behind. I decided to take care of some unfinished business before going into retirement. She urged me to forget it and leave with her but I was drawn to my last mission like a moth a flame. I told her I would be back soon but that was not to be. It is said that "there is a time in every human life when a decision one makes helps carve the path to his destiny. It is at that crossroads, without knowing what lies ahead, that a choice is made which influences all events to follow." At that point my life became derailed and I was now a long term resident of a place I never thought about. Prison!
I decided to continue with my goal of getting and staying out of "the game" by obtaining my education as well as working hard on my case to recapture my freedom. Since I couldn't read or write too well it made it very difficult for me to work on my case plus the fact that criminal law is quite complex did not help my situation. I attend ESL classes (English Secondary Language) in the prison plus I help my ESL teacher teach some of the Asian prisoners how to speak English. She never gave up on me and inspired me to write this paper.
I know there are a lot of young people that are involved in the same things, if not worst, that I was involved in so I hope somehow my story may deter them from the path that led me to the misery of prison. Contrary to what you may see on music videos or in the movies, prison is not fun! Prison is worst than death but prison is also the realistic consequence of a wild life.
*The work displayed in Links Not Chains belongs to the authors exclusively and the content reflects the opinions, feelings, and observations of the respective author only. Some of the names have been altered in order to respect privacy.
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