Week 11
Week in Review
Monday June 20, 2016
After a quick prayer it is time to get the day started. Not just for me but for all my PEP brothers. We are now ready to face the challenges of every day, and trust us we are faced with many challenges in here especially with all the negative characters surrounding us. We as PEP members are different so naturally people will judge us for being different. However it is a good difference. We are also faced with challenges in the PEP room. We are mainly here for change and with change come obstacles. It is not easy but not impossible.
Let me paint a picture of a Monday in the life of a PEP brother. They say that people have three main fears in this world; going to prison, dancing, and public speaking. Guess what? We have done all three. This is the Prison Entrepreneurship Program, so we definitely dance and on Mondays we speak. On Mondays we have Toastmasters, which is basically a course on public speaking. We have a total of 10 speeches to deliver, but that is not the most terrifying part. We have to be evaluated on these speeches by our peers. If we receive a sub-par evaluation for not meeting specific objectives we do not get credit for the speech. It sounds awful, but in reality it is not. Our brothers have good intentions. Would you let someone walk out of the bathroom with toilet paper at the bottom of their shoes? Our brothers would not either. That is why we take Toastmasters seriously. We never know when we will be presented with the opportunity to deliver a speech. With Toastmasters under our belts, it should be a breeze.
Juan P. (a.k.a. Sweet Sherry the Ferry)
Tuesday June 21, 2016
Tuesdays are Book Club day. We are going over a book called Living in the Village. It is basically a book that has tips on how to manage debt – this is much-needed information, both for someone as young as I am and for some of my brothers that are “on their way out the door.” With that useful information it is yet another tool that can be used to stay away from financial traps that can cause us to come back to prison. Brian T. does a great job of presenting the subject, but of course he is the master of getting off track, and it would not be a complete class period if he did not. For reasons unknown to us, it was an early release day from class. The extra study time is much needed. Of course I took advantage of the time since Thursday is the test on Company Structure. Rumor has it that it has 100 questions; there is only one way to find out. In either case, with this extra study time I am sure we will all be ready.
Amando P. (a.k.a. Sweet Fez)
Wednesday June 22, 2016
Wednesdays are usually set aside for computer lab, however today was different. We’re currently reading Integrity Selling for the 21st Century and preparing for our Integrity Selling event on June 30th. Instead of having Brian T. go over the book with us each pod was assigned three chapters and had to prepare a presentation for the rest of the class. H-pod, being the best pod (just a little friendly PEP rivalry) started off by discussing the introduction and Chapters 1-3. Daniel A., Mark Anthony R., Michael N. and I were chosen to represent H-pod. Of course our brothers wouldn’t let us just start our presentation by walking to the front of the class – we all had to start at the back of the room and dance our way up to the front! That’s one example of the fun we have in PEP. We all did an awesome job on our presentations. Next it was J-pod’s turn to present Chapters 4-6. They also did a great job and even incorporated a few skits with their presentation. Of course, we could not end the day without some words from or leader Brian T. He closed by giving us a summary of the six chapters and filling in some details we had missed to get us ready for Integrity Selling. He also gave us some tips of his own.
Sayasone P. (a.k.a. Sweet Corner Store Lady)
Thursday June 23, 2016
Everyone in class anticipates Thursdays. Why? Because that’s test day. Right now we’re studying our entrepreneurship book, and it’s a week long ordeal studying and cramming for the chapter test. We cram all the way until it’s test time! We’ve all studied, but the pressure is still on. For an added bonus we were also given a pop quiz on our 10 Driving Values. No one is particularly happy about the pop quiz, but we also understand that it’s important to know the 10 Driving Values, as it is the glue that holds the PEP program together. So, we must execute!
These are values and morals you can live by. Each day PEP tries to ingrain these principles into us. As time goes on, you can see the change in my classmates and me for the better as we embrace these ideals.
Michael P. (a.k.a. Sweet Rhianna)
Expressions
Although my name will appear below this journal entry, the content of it pertains to something bigger than me. That comment in itself speaks volumes, because until recently I could not think of one thing more important to me than me. Here in PEP with its demanding, frustrating and stressful curriculum I was asked to “Protect the Program.” At the time I did not understand the significance of such a statement. That was over six weeks ago. I understand now. I began this journey for one reason: to educate myself on how to start and operate a successful business. The truth of the matter is that my motives were selfish and inherently impossible to see through to success unless I was willing to make changes in my character and establish relationships with a whole network of people from one end of the spectrum to the other. What is more important is that I must protect those relationships. I can say that I have definitely benefited from PEP’s character building and accountability process. No doubt it is going to help me protect those relationships and the program. It will also help relationships with my “families,” both immediate and my new extended one. So I will ask my PEP brothers and all whom we may impact and interact, as I have been asked, that we all strive to “Protect the Program” and this chance we would not have had otherwise.
Sean Q. (a.k.a. Sweet Alfalfa)