- #1
JimmI_Hendrix
- 24
- 0
I've been to prison twice in my life, both times for robbery. The first time i did about 15 months, the last time i did 10 years! I was a drug abuser from a very young age.I started smoking pot at 14 or 15 and doing cocaine at 18. Iamb in my 30's now. going to prison for ten years has change my life. while behind bars i discovered that i love math and science. so while i was incarcerated i used that time to educate myself. i came from a ged level education to college. i learned a lot of math on my own. my family would send me textbooks and i would spend all the time i could studying. i was into books so much that the some of the other inmates used to tease me about it. i read voraciously too everything from Alexander Solzintsyn and George Polya to Noam Chompsky and Toni Morrison. i love intelectual things! Now I'm an undegrad (I was released on 10/1/03) studying engineering and possibly i'll double major in mathematics too. my question is who in the world is going to hire me as an engineer? I'm an african american and a convicted felon that's a double whammy! I excell in school and I'm always among the top students in any class that I've taken. but i can't help but envy the squeaky clean white guys that are barely passing but when it comes time for a job i'll be overlooked for them. I'm expecting to graduate with above a 3.5 average but with my record i don't think that that wil make much of a difference to most employers. what can i do to improve my chances of landing an engineering job? what i did was wrong but i paid for it. believe me I've paid dearly! now i just want to be a normal tax paying citizen like everyone else.