mid-unit evaluations

Today we got to attend the warden's meeting, which happens every morning at 8:15. We had gone to one at the beginning of the summer, but as you know, now there's a new warden, and our supervisor wanted to formally introduce us to her. Warden Seabolt was really nice and seemed to be glad to have us there.

After the meeting (which didn't last very long because Seabolt had to be in a different meeting in Atlanta), we stayed in the room and waited for everyone to clear out so we could begin our min-unit evaluations, which were to last all day long. Prior to these evaluations, we were asked to each type up answers to a series of questions. We had to make copies for everyone, and we each got a 45-minute chunk of time to read through our paper and then open it up for group discussion.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this analysis of my answers, but after the first couple people went, I felt less nervous. Basically, the questions were about how we're doing so far, what our goals for the summer are and how they're coming along, how we get along with our supervisor and fellow group members, etc. It was interesting to see what each person had to say and how I had similar and differing answers.

One thing we all had in common was in the part about what has been least helpful thus far. For this question, we all wrote about our IPR time on Thursdays. In case you don't remember, IPR stands for Inter-Personal Relations, or something to that effect. It's supposed to be a time to discover group dynamics and bring up any conflicts we might be having with one another. I think because our very first IPR started out so strong with conflict, we have all been a little wary of it ever since. To a lot of us, myself included, this time set aside for learning about group dynamics seems forced. I feel we get a lot of IPR in naturally during down times, like in the morning when waiting for count to clear, or during the lunch hour. So to have a time set specifically for IPR, it feels unnatural, and some of the things that have been brought during these times haven't felt necessary, but forced out since we have that time.

Our supervisor assured us that we shouldn't have to feel like this, and that we could change the setting and the mood, because it is a CPE requirement so we do have to have that time. Since that's the case, what can we do to make it less forced feeling? That I don't know the answer to, but I hope we figure it out in tomorrow's IPR time!

We actually were able to get through everyone's evaluation and have a lengthy lunch break and still be done by 2pm, so we got to leave early -- that was a nice surprise! I took that opportunity to go swimming and work on my very slowly developing tan. It was a really relaxing way to spend the afternoon. At the same time, however, I know there's a lot I could have been doing in the prison if we hadn't been meeting for mid-units. There are always women to see, and unexpected things are popping up all the time, like death notices of a relative of one of the women, or one of the women acting out and getting sent to D Building. You can plan your day out at Metro, but very rarely does it go just as you had expected.