Trip report/ask me about time in maximum (and minimum) security prison

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MyTurn,

Thanks for an enlightening read.

Do you think your assignment to Joliet was mostly based on your high test scores?

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absolutely, a prison counselor told me as much and said I should be thankful for the favor. I explained to her the disfavor it really was.

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Would you have ended up in minimum security the whole time if you had scored average on purpose?

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quite likely...not as nice as the one I ended up in, but most likely would've gone to Vandalia--not too bad

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What positives, if any, did your sentence have on your life?

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It's like anything else, you can make the most of it or the worst of it. I value my time an awful lot now. I'll never spend too much at work. I value those close to me and those who stuck by me alot. It becomes apparent who is your friend and who isn't.

It also got me free of drugs. I like to think I had it under control given I got really good grades at a competitive university, worked 25+ hours/week, kept my girlfriend happy enough, and had a decent social life. However, I cannot be sure how long that would've kept up. I was doing alot of drugs (marijuana a few times a week, opium once or twice per month, shrooms once a week, acid every few months, ghb 4 times per week, dxm once a week, and the occassional other drug thrown in). I might not have come out so good in the long run.

I'm also very unaffected by downswings in life in general. I've felt something very close to rock bottom. A bad day at the tables seems pretty minor in comparison.