He learned to ignore those who weren’t thrilled to work alongside him. “Everything was a learning experience,” he said.īut Stanley found a job quickly with help from TDCJ’s roster of employers willing to hire felons. Garrett Stanley, reflecting on how he turned his life around, says, “I don’t know if it was so much growing up as it was just finally finding a moral compass.”
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Initially, he couldn’t figure out how to flush the motion sensor toilet in a gas station restroom. When he was released in 2006, at 29, his parents were waiting.īut even with support, Stanley found that life outside prison was more challenging than he anticipated. Find a mentor to learn fundamentals like opening a checking account. Stanley formulated a detailed plan for life after prison: Report to parole. But when he began to enjoy learning, and became self-motivated, he changed from “just a young rowdy kid to OK, he’s starting to grow up and become a man,” Goodman said.
When he first arrived in class, Stanley was a “lost soul” like many inmates. Henry Goodman, his electrical trades teacher at Windham, watched Stanley change through the years. “I don’t know if it was so much growing up as it was just finally finding a moral compass,” he said. He set goals in a life skills class called “Changes.” He also began attending Alcoholics Anonymous.Īll of that prompted a lot of soul-searching. Rattled by her tears, Stanley told her to “sign me up for whatever.”Īfter grudgingly taking “electrical trades” classes, Stanley learned how to alter his habits. Garrett Stanley, on how he changed after growing up in prison. “I don’t know if it was so much growing up as it was just finally finding a moral compass.”
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