New Beginnings

New Beginnings

When I was arrested in 2019, I had an irrefutable love for photography/videography. I had my own business and had a group of classmates who all contributed to my love for the art. However, it was all taken away from me in a flash.
I was arrested shortly after arriving at my high school to begin my studies for the day. From that point, I was taken into custody at the age of 17 and housed at the local juvenile detention center. One thing that I remember while I was housed in juvie was when I was talking to one of the staff members about my hobbies. The topic of photography/videography was brought up and I remember one of the staff members restoring hope and telling me that I would someday be able to continue to do what I love, no matter what was going to happen in my case.
My sentence was read to me 2 days after turning 18, and after hearing it, I was deflated and could not believe the amount of time that I received. I did not know what I was going to do. The detention center staff member’s comment popped into my head while I was being transferred to prison (along with a variety of other thoughts/fears). I thought there was absolutely no way that I was going to be able to do photography/videography ever again. That thought was quickly abolished when I arrived at my current facility and saw that there was a room in the school dedicated specifically to what I love to do. I quickly jumped into the line of fire and began volunteering to do projects for the facility.
A project that I recently completed was creating a video series for a class that is offered called ‘pre-release’. This is a class that is required for all incarcerated individuals in Idaho to complete before they are released. With covid putting a halt to in person classes, the facility administrators jumped at the idea to produce an eleven episode series on a variety of topics that we could put on the unit computers so individuals could still be eligible for release while minimizing risk for contamination. There are also a variety of projects that are in the works, including a prison version of ‘American Idol’.
Not only have I been able to do these projects, but I have found that I really enjoy helping people be successful in their school work. I have been actively aiding in the tutoring of multiple people who need to get their G.E.D. I have also been working with dogs in the dog program at my facility. Whenever I feel down, there is a dog to support me and lift me up. So while at first I thought I would never be able to do something, I have found a multitude of different things that I enjoy to do, while still being able to do what I loved to do on the streets.

4 thoughts on “New Beginnings”

  1. Hi Cory,

    I would love to talk to you more. I live in Sweden though so maybe hard to communicate through post mail. I don’t know how this works, never done it before 😊 and how can I send a photo of me so you also can se me?

    I hope to hear back from you.
    Have a good day,
    Jessica

    1. You can download the app Jpay or go to jpay.com. Set up an account with them, add Cory with his doc # and state, buy some stamps and then write away. You can also send pictures over Jpay. It’s easy and it doesn’t matter where you live 🙂

        1. Det är som email fast det kostar en liten summa och meddelandena läses av institution. Till de flesta stater kan du inte skicka fotocollage, utan bara enkla bilder eller visa för mycket skinn

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