One of my favorite sessions from this program was listening to and talking to Willie Stokes. He is truly inspirational to listen to and I believe he can make a difference for youth in other communities.  It was insane and yet fascinating to listen to his life story. It seems selfish of me to think that I had a tough life. After listening to him, I realized that there are others around the world with tougher lives and yet they go on to do incredible work and try to make a difference in this world. Willie Stokes inspires me to try to do just that-change the world in a more positive way no matter how. Personally, I cannot relate to how he was raised, but I understand how life throws curve balls and creates barriers in our lives. However, Willie showed that we all can change and can do better things in life; it just takes time and self realization in order to get there. It was also great to hear from someone who was able to tell us about prison life from a personal perspective as well as a first hand perspective into the gang life. I also appreciate how Wille Stokes was able to humanize those who have been or are in prison. I also appreciate that he was able to show that gangs were no different from corporations or other powerful entities. People need to wake up and see that violence is never the answer. Willie Stokes’ story only confirms to me that, as a society, we need to push our legislators/leaders to see these individuals as human beings and that there needs to be major reform to help improve our communities, especially low income communities. I can not wait to talk to him and see if he can help change the minds of youth from joining gangs in Southern California.