Thread by @hahnscratch

Within a month of leaving prison, I was accepted into @UCBerkeley and received my bachelors with a 4.0. My felony record prevented me from finding work, even at my alma mater. A thread.

I spent years in prison going to college, mostly through a correspondence program with @ohiou. Shortly before paroling, I applied to every single UC in California. It was a quite a process, given the fact that I didn't have internet access.

My mother would send me the application materials and I would send them back to her. I would write the statement letters, send them to her and my father, they'd send them back with suggestions, and then I'd make edits. This all happened through snail mail.

Eventually I had everything submitted and I would have to wait for parole before finding out whether I had been admitted to any of them. I did not mention that I was in prison on the applications, nor that I had been there.

I was eventually accepted into every university I applied to, including @UCLA and @UCBerkeley. I settled on Cal, starting just a few months after parole and while still on parole. I graduated in December of 2013 with a 4.0 GPA.

After graduating, I applied for a job with a recently funded nonprofit / program at UC Berkeley campus. The purpose of this program? To help create a prison to college pipeline in California. It seemed like a perfect fit for me. I submitted a resume and waited.

And waited. And waited. Given the fact that I had been recommended for this particular nonprofit and had connections with people there, I was surprised that nobody had, at the very least, contacted me. Finally, I asked a friend to inquire.

Turns out, my resume never made it past the H & R department because I had self-disclosed my felonies, despite the fact that the non-profit / program I was applying to was meant to bring a college education to formally incarcerated people. Folks with felonies might be... useful.

My friend spoke with H&R: "Oh, we just shuffled out the people with criminal records," they said.

"Why?" my friend asked.

"Do YOU want felons walking around on campus if you can avoid it?" they replied.

"He already has been walking around on campus. He just graduated."

I was eventually granted an interview but had a sour taste in my mouth. I was eventually offered a job, but decided against it. Three months after graduating Berkeley, I was getting tired of everyone either ignoring me or wanting me to explain my criminal record.

When I was in the county jail, members of the electrical trade union @IBEW had given a presentation to folks inside. Explaining apprenticeship and union benefits. They ended by saying that they don't care what our pasts are so long as they stay there. I never forgot that.

When I was applying for jobs after graduating and having to explain my past over and over again, I kept remembering what those @IBEW folks had said. So, I applied for an apprenticeship.

I self-disclosed my felonies on the application. When I interviewed, they noted the record and called it a "hiccup", also explaining that I hadn't needed to put it down since it was from a decade earlier. I knew I had found my people.

I was eventually accepted into the IBEW. I joined the 5-year apprenticeship, received 8000 hours of on-the-job training, took the state licensing exam, and became a journeyman inside wireman.

Since joining the union and getting into the trades, I have never once been asked to explain my past. The only thing that has mattered is the quality of work I perform and the attitude I bring to the job. That's all that should matter.

And, while I'm at it, I might as well mention that I really love my union. It takes care of its members. I want everyone to enjoy the same high wages, care, and benefits of union membership. Check this out:

https://twitter.com/hahnscratch/status/1474436398274936832?s=20&t=8fk_jSK__KECXD9Ov4C1tQ

There are a few comments asking why I thought I was prevented from working there when I was eventually offered a job. Because my interview and offer only happened after pressure / shaming and, to me, that isn't what it means to get a job on merit.