Written by Selena
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As a member of both the bachelor’s degree program and Liberation at the Margins (LAM) Collective, I had the opportunity to speak at the National Conference of Higher Education in Prison (NCHEP) over teams alongside two of my peers. I am used to speaking publicly in front of crowds, but the feeling of speaking about my education as an incarcerated woman to professional people of the education system was more nerve wrecking than I would have imagined.
My confidence when speaking to crowds is typically high and especially in an environment that I am familiar with, but what I have noticed is that since my new environment is prison my confidence runs much lower when I am speaking to people who are physically free. I think that is because my embarrassment or lack of self-esteem as someone who is incarcerated drives the mental car in those times. The great thing about the audience members of NCHEP is that they spoke, listened, and provided feedback that had no relation to my environment or my carceral status and that offered me a huge sense of relief. The questions they posed proved their sincere curiosity and interest in our topics that we covered and their feedback did not offer any pity nor attention to the environment I was in. Every moment of every day I am reminded of the physical space that I occupy and having the opportunity to be heard and seen took me out of such a space of misfortune and brought me into a space of light and educational echelon.
The experience of speaking at the conference in my hometown made me realize that the work I am striving to do will soon prove fruitful. It is not typically easy to see the light at the end of the tunnel so to say, but being one of the speakers at the conference confirmed to me that everything that I am doing through my studies with OPEEP is lighting up my path to freedom and that feeling is not one I will let go of. I will continue to free myself through education and continue to freedom dream not only within the classroom but especially in my everyday walk. Even on the days when my walk feels a little bit longer and a little bit harder. The National Conference of Higher Education in Prison gifted me a sense of purpose and passion. I am thankful for all the women and men that showed up to support the work that we are doing.