A recent letter from a College Guild student:
My name is Ruben R. I’m 40 years old. I have been imprisoned since 2007 and I’m serving a life sentence. In 2012 through 2013, I was sent to the SHU (Segregated Housing Unit), and I did most of my time working out. It wasn’t until 2013 that a friend next door to me called over and asked me if I was studying anything through correspondence. My quick response was “No” because all I did with my time was work out. He suggested that I take College Guild courses to expand my mind. I was receptive to the idea because I didn’t have much going on with my life at the time. So I enrolled.
It was then that I got to learn more about College Guild and appreciated their true intentions towards helping educate us prisoners. The first course that I took was Creative Language and it was great! College Guild even issued me a free dictionary to help me out with definitions and spelling. My eagerness to learn quickly grew and being a natural born poet, I chose to take Poetry Club 1 and 2 next. Those courses really helped me excel in poetry! I then encouraged myself to publish some of my poems and even got help to publish my small poetry book entitled “Poetic Reflections from Within.” This, in all reality, couldn’t have been possible without the further knowledge that I acquired through the College Guild writing courses.
My family was amazed at my transformation 'cause not only was I physically fit, but mentally. I became more social because I now had different topics to converse about. And now 2019 is here! And I have now completed Drama Club, Precision Drawing (which has helped me become a better artist), and Philosophy (which has helped me see different perspectives and explore the love of wisdom), and I’m currently taking Captivities (which helps me see that I’m not alone).
I’m thankful for College Guild because it has been a dear friend to me and has kept me busy throughout my imprisonment. Thank you, College Guild!