Walking out the gate.

Being in prison from 2019 to 2021, I couldn’t wait for the day I’d walk out those gates and when that day finally came, it was everything I’d hoped for. But now, funny enough, I find myself looking forward to going back in... just in a completely different capacity.

This time, I’m going back with purpose. Not as a resident, but as someone who's been there, done it, and is now part of something bigger working to make things better from the inside out. The mindset’s completely flipped. I’m not walking in with weight on my shoulders, I’m walking in with pride, with experience, and with something to offer.

There’s a smell in prison that’s hard to explain it's so specific, so distinctive, and every time I walk back through those gates, it hits me. Straight away, my belly turns. The sound of keys jingling, the echo of heavy doors, it all takes me back to when I was living there. It’s a weird feeling, being somewhere that once held so much struggle but now knowing I can walk out whenever I want is powerful. That freedom hits different.

But more than anything, I know what I’m trying to do now is bigger than me. It’s about giving back, about using my journey to help shape something better for the next person coming through those gates. And that’s what keeps me walking back in.