Why do I care about Solitary Confinement so much?

Ok, so I have been unpacking things for the last hour! I am exhausted already lol. Been moving fast and lots of body turns and twirls lol! Very dizzy!

Tomorrow, I have an interview for my internship this summer at probation and parole! I really hope I get it! The problem, I could come off too excited, too, friendly, and too nice. In the job field I want to get into, to include this internship, I kinda have to be a bitch! Otherwise, everyone, including probationees and parolees, will walk all over me! But, I do mean business, I am tough, I am strong, and I am stern! But I gotta have a reason to be that way, otherwise I am just in my airy, happy, smiley mood, which makes me seem aloof and inexperienced in life. Interviews make me happy, I enjoy interviews. I have only not gotten one job after an interview, and it was because of my credit! I am golden in interviews.

So, to prepare me for this interview, I am dying my hair much darker so that I emote confidence and strength. I also went out to buy an outfit for the interview that is business casual, shows my personality and also screams "in control." I bought neutral makeup to wear, just eye shadow and lip gloss. Too much makeup is not good for an interview. You want them to see you!

I hope I am not over thinking the interview. I really want this internship because my plan is to work there after I graduate from college. This will be the career that I will work in when my man and I start to grow our family. It will also be what gives me the experience to help get me into graduate school along with all my research experience. I am actually going to two graduate schools, first University of Alabama Birmingham and then John Jay College of Criminal Justice where I hope to work for Steven Penrod!

My goal is to get my Ph.D., do research in the prison system about solitary confinement and how it effects people mentally, physically and emotionally, and then publish that research to then go out and start a reform of solitary confinement. I am not against solitary confinement, it is needed, but I am against the maltreatment the prisoners get during their stay in solitary.

Now before you go off and say, "Well, they are in prison for something horrible, they deserve what they get." Not everyone is in prison for something awful. That being said, you can't pick and choose who gets good solitary confinement treatment and who gets bad solitary confinement treatment. My mom spent a year in prison because of the court system! My mom and dad divorced. My dad didn't want child support (I lived with my dad). The court ordered my mom to still pay it. She couldn't even afford to pay it. So, my dad told her not to worry about it. They got the agreement notarized. 5 years go by, and boom, mom was pulled over on a traffic violation and found she had a warrant for her arrest. So she went to jail to figure it all out. During her court hearing, the judge had no sympathy for her and sent her to prison for a year. Now my mom has some mental problems as it is. So when she went she didn't do so well. People who could be a target of violence (my mom) will be sent to solitary for their protection. So, my mom, who did nothing wrong in prison, was left in solitary and forgotten for 2 weeks. She got her food but she didn't get anything else. I was not allowed to visit her per my dad's request as well as my mom's, she didn't want me to see her in prison. So, my amazing, loving, caring mother was not treated like a normal human being. She was treated like garbage, thrown out the car window, and forgotten! This is never ok!

So there is my background on why I care so much about solitary confinement reform! I have already started my thesis for graduate school. I will be able to defend it!

So, working in probation and parole, I will be able to talk to parolees who were in prison, and get information gathered to build up my thesis. This is why getting the internship is so important to me.