Brent Sweeting

Volunteer

Getting to work in the prisons with OPP is one of the great highlights of my life. I find the students so much fun to work with, and a joy to be around. To watch them grasp the material throughout the course and then to see their perspectives change is incredibly rewarding. So many of the students come with immense amounts of past trauma, and getting to be really heard and seen in our classes is often a completely unimagined new experience for them. They often report to us that the class is the one place they feel safe in their week and/or in their lives. Hearing the students tell stories about how the work is shaping their outside relationships in a positive way leaves me feeling so inspired and hopeful, and incredibly honored to have gotten to be a part of those rewards for them.

Being entrenched in the work with them means that I get to change and grow too, and that means the benefits of the work go home with me to all of my own personal and professional relationships that are enhanced by my deeper understandings and skill levels with the tools we discuss and practice in class.

I think it is also important to share that one of the biggest unexpected bonuses that I have gotten out of this work, are the deep and meaningful connections that I have gotten to build with the other volunteers in the OPP program. We have created a community that is supportive and compassionate, and I have built friendships with the OPP team that I hope will last the rest of my life.