Prisoner

One

"Dad, I'm twenty two, I can handle it. Please, this would be really good experience for me," Louis argues.

"It's scary there, and you're tiny."

Louis crosses his arms. "I'm not tiny. It's fine, I told you I can handle it."

"I'm sure you could, I'm the one that couldn't."

"Why??"

"I'm scared you'll get hurt," Louis' father says.

Louis sighs. "Dad, I won't get hurt."

"Those guys are dangerous, you never know what they'll do."

"They'll be cuffed, though," Louis points out. "Can you at least just let me come and follow you around for a day. You already said your boss is fine with it."

"Well if you're gonna do that you might as well just intern," Mr. Tomlinson says, giving into Louis.

Louis smiles. "Great! Thanks dad, this will be really good."

"I hope so."

---

Two days pass and it's finally time for Louis to go to the prison with his dad. He'll admit that he's nervous but not because of the inmates. He's nervous that at he won't like it or that he'll say the wrong thing.

His goal has always been to help people, even as a kid it's all he wanted to do. All the other boys in his classes when he was young wanted to be  wrestlers or race car drivers, but Louis, he always said he wanted to help people and he still stands by that.

He's always known he's wanted to do it on a more personal level, too. He never wanted to be a firefighter or police officer, he wanted to connect to people in more of an emotional way. He wants to change peoples lives.

He never really knew the path he would take though, then he decided on being a social worker of some sort. He's honestly still not sure what he wants to do exactly but he knows it'll be some type of counselor, and being able to experience that in a place like a prison will help him get an idea of what does and doesn't work for him.

He went to school for social working and got his bachelors degree so he's qualified for the temporary position. It'll help him decide what paths he wants to take when he goes back for his masters.

He's truly looking forward to this and plans to take it seriously. It's something he's been talking to his dad about for a long time and he finally agreed to ask his bosses, who thankfully also agreed to let him do it. They said they needed another counselor so it really was just the perfect opportunity for him to jump in.

As he gets ready, Louis goes over different scenarios in his head of what he could be put up against. It could be a more emotional and open inmate, who isn't afraid to have a conversation which is ideal but probably not likely. It could be someone who's emotionally closed off but not violent or mean in anyway. Or worst case scenario, it's someone who is violent and mean.

He think about how he'd deal with each type of person. He'd like to think he's good with people and figuring out how to talk to them in a way that will help them feel more comfortable.

Louis knows that he's a very empathetic person and this is probably his greatest strength and also his greatest weakness. He reminds himself a lot that he needs to stay neutral and not get personally attached to any client of his. It's one of the most important rules in the field of social work.