Week 4
Week in Review
Monday April 23, 2018
Today was one of our computer lab days. We all worked on our assignments in Microsoft Word, Excel and Power Point. Getting the time to use these programs is such a blessing, because in business they are very useful tools for us to know. Not to mention, it’s also pretty fun. Being in PEP, we also have to work on our public speaking, so Mondays are also our days for Toastmasters. In Toastmasters, we are broken into groups and all take our turns giving a timed speech in front of our brothers. For most of us, the very first speech was hard because many of us don’t have much experience speaking in front of a large crowd. Fortunately, we are finishing up our first speech and starting our second speech, so now we know more of what to expect. As the speeches continue, we know that we will get more comfortable and stop using notes.
The thing that we have come to understand, whether it be speeches or life experiences, is that everyone makes mistakes, but it’s what we learn from those mistakes that matters. For all of us, we should view a mistake as simply a lesson. Just by showing us all of this love, PEP does more than it knows. People place labels on us being incarcerated and view us differently now as criminals, but PEP gives us a second chance. It gives us all a shot to prove people wrong, and to prove that those labels don’t mean anything – they’re just opinions. We all have goals in life and are thankful that PEP gives us a second chance to chase those goals.
Jacob C. (a.k.a. “Baby Chin”)
Tuesday April 24, 2018
What a great day we had at the Alcon event. We were overjoyed by the whole experience. Our class started the day with a lot of dancing and lip-syncing. Our theme of the day was Wise Stewardship. We have a tradition in PEP that requires that if you want to go to the front of the room to speak, then you must dance from the back of the room.
After all the formalities, we separated into groups and, much like our Think Tank event, we got the opportunity to present our business plans to some of the Alcon executives. Everyone seemed to be excited about the feedback that they received. We also ate lunch with the Alcon executives, and this gave us the chance to actually get to know them on a more personal level. It’s amazing to find out how much in common we have with these executives. After lunch, we all returned to the PEP room and learned which executives had been here before and who was here for the first time. A few of my brothers got the opportunity to tell everyone what Wise Stewardship – one of PEP’s 10 Driving Values – means to them, and they also got the chance to thank the Alcon executives for coming out and helping us with our business plans.
After praying together, we said our final goodbyes and wished them a safe trip home. What a wonderful day it was.
Vincent C. (a.k.a. “Mucinex Man”)
Wednesday April 25, 2018
Wednesdays are the days that the entrepreneurship classes meet to go over current chapters that we are to study for future testing, and also to test on previous chapters. Today is going to be extra busy, due to our Living in the Village financial class having been cancelled Tuesday for our Alcon event. For this class, we have to have our workbooks complete. The same process applies to this class; review, study, test. When the entrepreneurship class starts we usually test first, followed by a three-hour PowerPoint review of the textbook chapters. After today’s class, we had a pray-out for one of our brothers, Joshua M. We do pray-outs for men who are getting ready to go home. They get to pick a few brothers and then record a video farewell, where these PEP brothers speak and give encouragement to the brother who is going home. This is then put on flash drive so that the one who is leaving can always go back and remember his accomplishments as well as the bonds he formed while in PEP.
After classes were finished today, we went back to our living areas and recapped on all the information bestowed on us. We covered a lot of material during class, so we needed to come back and break it down so that we will better retain it. After that, we worked on assignments that are due in the near future. Right now we are working on our two to three minute “elevator business pitches” for the upcoming Venture Capital Panel event. That is just another day here at PEP.
William C. (a.k.a. “Barbershop Man”)
<h1Thursday April 26, 2018
Today was an exciting day with my PEP brothers. We started the day off cultivating and articulating our business pitches on the path of becoming future businessmen and preparing for the Business Plan Competition. We will be given the opportunity to pitch in front of executive volunteers who believe in us so much. These wonderful executives take so much time out of their day to have an impact on us, not only to help make sure our business plans and pitches are squared off in all corners, but also so that we can be productive citizens for our families and communities. The business pitches we are working on, called the “elevator pitch,” is a two to three minute pitch giving a key overview about who you are, what you do and how can you fix a problem, while giving a quick illustration to captivate the listener and also to give the listener a better understanding of your business. We have been focusing on reciting and delivery, which is very important, followed by confidence. For most of us, this is our first time ever writing anything like this, or even pitching and selling our business idea. We receite these pitches with passion and confidence in a professional way.
Some of us today studied for the next entrepreneurship test on Chapter Five. The chapter went over mission statements, as well as the importance of a company’s mission, vision, overall strategy and goals with a competitive advantage. Today was like any other day in PEP: productive, positive and peaceful. Some of us ended our day reading a book called Living in the Village which gives great insight on being financially literate in terms of saving, budgeting and attaining (and maintaining) good credit.
Benjamin D. (a.k.a. “Secret”)
Expressions
“If you keep doing what you have always done, you will keep getting what you have always gotten.”
To me, this is one of the greatest quotes I have ever heard. It is even painted on the wall outside the chow hall. It is applicable to everyone who is incarcerated. If we continue with our negative behavior, whatever it was, we will continue coming to prison over and over again. I used this particular quote weekly when I managed a sales office in Dallas, Texas. Salespeople especially can become complacent relatively easily once they have established their skills as effective salespeople. They begin to not put in the work, effort and enthusiasm which made them successful in the first place, leading to a decline in their sales which inevitably leads to a decline in their income. If they were to maintain their enthusiasm and fire, their sales would decline – but that takes effort. These are just two of the many examples I can give as to why this is one of my favorite quotes. Training and motivating salespeople is a passion of mine. I hope you have enjoyed this journal.
Tony E. “(a.k.a. Little Caesar”)