overcoming adversity and achieving dreams through higher education
Our alums remind us that returning home isn’t easy, and successes are sometimes interrupted by setbacks. Ongoing support is key to making sure the good days outnumber the bad. Our new Odyssey Beyond Bars Success Coach, Mike Exum, helps students navigate the inevitable struggles of reentry and provides a voice of encouragement in tough times.
Caption: Books from the OBB Library collection on their way to prisons around the state “Freedom begins with a book.” — Reginald Dwayne Betts, a formerly incarcerated Yale-educated lawyer, poet and founder of Freedom Reads Peter and Lauren from the Odyssey Beyond Bars team were on a tour of Dodge Correctional in May when they stopped …
“We make a choice each moment that affects the rest of our lives and the lives of everyone around us. The decision is about whether we are the situation we are in — or if the situation we are in is a stepping-stone leading to where we want to be.” – Eric, a student in …
Caption: Students from OBB’s English 100 course at Oakhill, spring 2022 In May, Odyssey Beyond Bars (OBB) concluded an incredible semester of growth in which we offered courses in three new prisons, in addition to multiple courses at Oakhill Correctional. I had the joy of touring the state and attending final class sessions for each …
Inside Stories, May 3 2022
The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 4 2022
Every writer is a storyteller. That is the common bond that is shared among us. I write because it helps to free the thoughts and ideals that have always lived within me. This ability to create, to allow myself to live in a world that I created, was something that I had to rediscover. —Karshara, …
Why do I write? It’s simple. I write for me! I write to find me. I write to know me. I write to speak to myself so I can talk to you. Writing is my voice. It helps me feel and connect. – Anthony, student in English 100 at Oakhill Correctional In Odyssey Beyond Bars’s English …
Odyssey Beyond Bars (OBB) is now operating in four prisons across the state, and as we and other prison-based programs expand, we often encounter the same question from our students as they contemplate their academic journeys: “What’s next?” For some lucky students, the next steps are clear. The prison where they live might offer an …
JAMZ Life, April 14 2022