EX-OFFENDER USED PRISON TIME TO EARN A MASTER’S DEGREE, PUBLISH 7 BOOKS
Michael Santos never let his situation define him. In the 9,135 days he spent in Federal prison for drug trafficking, he earned a Master’s degree, published seven books, and dedicated himself to bringing awareness to the prison system.
“When I walked out, I emerged with values, skills, and resources that few people would’ve of thought possible for a long-term prisoner,” he said in an exclusive interview with the San Quentin News. “Anyone can become more than current circumstances. It only takes discipline and iron will. Just do it.”
In 1987, Santos began a 45- year prison sentence in a brutally violent Atlanta Federal Prison that he says lacked self-help and rehabilitation programs.
“The system itself only seemed to be concerned with how many calendar pages turned without my receiving any disciplinary infractions,” he said. One warden went as far as to deem Santos’ pursuit of a Ph.D., from the University of Connecticut, a to emerge as law-abiding, contributing citizens. I wrote about the need for people in prison to pursue self-directed paths that would prepare them for success upon release, corrections notwithstanding.” His words are powerful and they have reached many people. His most successful book, Inside, was published in 2007. The book chronicles his time in prison, and is now in its seventh printing. Santos is now giving back to the prison community. “My life’s purpose is helping others understand how they can reach their highest potential, understanding how to overcome adversity, and tune out the noise of negativity and to make life happen,” he said. “Success does not materialize by accident,” he says. “It requires focus, discipline, and a deliberate course of action. The man must understand that if he does not take incremental steps, the prison rather than his own will defines him. It’s a slow death, one wrought with countless hours of self-pity and weakness.” “threat to the security of the institution,” he said, thus ending his pursuit of higher education. However, Santos had already earned his Master’s Degree from Hofstra University and was writing profusely.
Santos said he took to the literal meaning of self-help and developed his own program.
His program, he said, was quite simple. It required working to educate himself; contribute to society in meaningful, measurable ways; and build a stronger support network. He didn’t want to waste time “playing table games, watching television, or engaging in reckless conversation,” he said while sticking to commitments and making strides in becoming successful while incarcerated.
“I want incarcerated people to see that they can overcome,” Santos says. “That myth of you got nothin’ comin’ only applies if the individual buys into it.”
To the newly incarcerated, Santos recommends beginning with one question: “How do I define success?” With that answer in mind, he recommends the individual “set a course in motion that will help him realize that vision.”
“I read extensively to broaden awareness and educate myself,” he said. “I kept a rigorous exercise schedule to stay fi t. Those were the self-help activities that carried me through, but they were all self-directed rather than depending on programs that the system made available.”
He says writing was one of the most valuable skills to have in prison, “because neither the prison system nor anyone can take that skill away,” Santos said.
“I looked around and recognized that unless I learned how to communicate with a pen, I would only have an existence inside prison boundaries. I wanted more. I thirsted to connect with society, to become something larger than the penitentiary.”
But writing did not come easily to him. “I worked every day, writing more than a 1,000 words every day,” he said. “In time I became more fluent, more comfortable communicating through the written word. Those who develop writing skills open new opportunities, new relationships, and new worlds.”
“The individual who learns to use the pen will find that he can conquer imprisonment,” said Santos.
Santos says he enjoys sharing his experiences. “The more awareness I could bring to the system, the more I could contribute to reforming it. I didn’t only write about my experiences. I wrote about the people around me. I wrote about the injustices I perceived. I wrote about how the system of so-called corrections was designed to perpetuate itself rather than to prepare offenders to emerge as law-abiding, contributing citizens. I wrote about the need for people in prison to pursue self-directed paths that would prepare them for success upon release, corrections notwithstanding.”
hey have reached many people. His most successful book, Inside, was published in 2007. The book chronicles his time in prison, and is now in its seventh printing.
Santos is now giving back to the prison community. “My life’s purpose is helping others understand how they can reach their highest potential, understanding how to overcome adversity, and tune out the noise of negativity and to make life happen,” he said.
“Success does not materialize by accident,” he says. “It requires focus, discipline, and a deliberate course of action. The man must understand that if he does not take incremental steps, the prison rather than his own will defines him. It’s a slow death, one wrought with countless hours of self-pity and weakness.”
