Re-Entry Clinic: Student Reflections On Client Service
For part of the last class of the semester, Re-Entry Clinic students are asked to prepare to offer a poem, a picture, music, or other that expresses their clinic experience. This semester’s class was a rich sharing of art, including the two pieces below.
Amy Tryon: Two Struggles
I see two different struggles represented in the picture above. The first struggle is our semester as clinic students. With everything going on with COVID, our semester started out a bit rocky. We had trouble getting to meet with our clients, communicating with the prison. We persevered, however, and were able to connect with our client and develop a parole packet that will hopefully make his case and help him feel confident and well-prepared in front of the Maryland Parole Commission. We were able to develop a positive relationship with our client and turned the semester into a great experience out of a rocky start.
The second struggle represented by the picture is our client's story. The more [my clinic partner] Vanessa and I found out about his life story, the more horrific it became. Every time we talked to him or read a new document, we learned a horrible new truth about his childhood. In spite of everything, our client has risen through the trauma of his past and has turned his life into something beautiful. He tries to be a mentor and inspiration for others. He does not let his past define him.
The last time Vanessa and I got to talk to him, he ended the conversation by thanking us and telling us how grateful he is for our time and effort. He told us that he really believes this is his second chance at life. His final message to us was one of hope and this flower rising through the concrete represents hope for his future and for a beautiful life that came out of tragedy.
A Boy's Fight for Justice; A Man's Fight for Peace
a pantun by Katelyn Davis
He was vulnerable, impressionable, and only seventeen
Taken and stripped from his home, his family, and his dreams.
Innocent at heart, found guilty by others,
He can only hope that someone will hear his plea.
Taken and stripped from his home, his family, and his dreams.
A kind, caring boy, portrayed as a monster for the Voodoo Queen
Found himself behind bars
Broken by the system that was supposed to help him succeed.
A kind, caring boy portrayed as a monster for the Voodoo Queen
He used his time in that cold, dark place to rise out of the flames of anguish.
Broken by the system that was supposed to help him succeed,
Yet he rose to become a man guided by faith, a fighter still serene.
He used his time in that cold, dark place to rise out of the flames of anguish.
He could have squandered in pity, in hopelessness, and despair;
Yet he rose to become a man guided by faith, a fighter still serene.
He fought for his innocence with his words, weapons far deadlier than any other.
He could have squandered in pity, in hopelessness, and despair;
He was vulnerable, impressionable, and only seventeen,
He fought for his innocence with his words, weapons far deadlier than any other.
Innocent at heart, found guilty by others.