Dr. Timothy Emerick
Dr. Emerick asked me a week ago if I could write a short essay on how he helped me during his professorship at Lancaster State Prison. Knowing Dr. Emerick well, I am absolutely sure he thinks that I am procrastinating and this chaps his hide. But Dr. Emerick is a man of patience so I just wanna thank him for waiting for this brief essay. What Dr. Emerick doesn’t know is there is more to my procrastination than meets the eye. To be bluntly honest, the praises that this incredible man deserves can’t possibly be described in just a short essay, and I am just having a hard time figuring how to go about it. But, as Dr. Emerick has willed me and my fellow students to succeed, I will do my best.
To understand the true depth of how this man has assisted me, it would be imperative to tell a short bio of my life and how our lives crossed paths. In 1994, on the night of my 20th birthday, I was at a scene of a murder that I had no intention of being a part of. Being a scared young man, I ran and hid from the world trying my best to believe that this moment in time did not happen. But the world does not work that way. I was soon arrested with three other young men that was at the scene, including the man that actually did the shooting, and after two years fighting the case we were convicted of first degree murder with special circumstances. We were sentenced to die in prison with Life Without the Possibility of Parole which meant that unless a miracle happened I would die in prison. Dr. Emerick was this miracle.
Before my incarceration I was a man of faith, but my faith was shaken when I felt I was unjustly sentenced by our legal system. As most men do when imprisoned they find peace and solace in knowing that there is more to life than this material world. Regardless, I had faith that one day I would be walking out those concrete walls and entering back into society but I did not know how this would happen. The only thing that I had total control of while being incarcerated was becoming a better person growing spiritually each and every day.
Fast forward 20 years… Lancaster State Prison started an in-person college program through Antelope Valley Prison and I signed up because I wanted to prove that I was capable of being more than what most people on the outside believed about prisoners. That is how I met Dr. Emerick. The first class Dr. Emerick taught was Introduction to Psychology. On the first day after he introduced himself to us, he asked the question “ What is the difference between a Psychopath and a Sociopath? “ Even though both words sound so horrifying in describing an individual, he clearly explained that we all had the ability to change and become a better person than how society viewed us. With these words explained, Dr. Emerick inspired in us Hope and the ability to allow us to make clear choices. Dr. Emerick brought humor to our classes and allowed us to talk freely and openly without judgement. It was the first time where all of us felt that our opinions and voices mattered…that we mattered. Most of us men lived daily in our past traumas. Dr. Emerick taught us to transfer beyond those traumas and that we are not chained to our past deeds. We had the ability to move on as long as we were willing to move on.
I believe that most people are waiting for God to reach through the heavens and pick us up from our troubles. But God says that he uses other men to help other men through him. In 2018, Governor Jerry Brown, another man of faith, was using his executive powers to give men and women that were incarcerated Commutations and Clemency to individuals that showed exceptional changes while incarcerated. I approached Dr. Emerick and asked if he could write a support letter for me to attach to my commutation application. To this day, even though I was an exemplary model prisoner of 25 years with dozens of support letters by friends, family and organizations, I truly believe that the support letter from Dr. Emerick with his particular background was the spark that led to my commutation of sentence and ultimately my freedom. To say it was a miracle is scratching the surface. I was the last commutation interview by Governor Brown before he left office and I was the last person commuted by him on Christmas Eve 2018. Given a chance to prove my worth as a human being, the commutation afforded me a chance to go in front of the Board of Parole. After being found suitable for Parole, I was released on December 4, 2019. None of this could of happened without God putting Dr. Emerick in the path of my life. In life we have choices and there is destiny. Sometimes they intertwine and great things happen.
I wanna apologize to Dr. Emerick for taking so long to write this essay. But as you can tell, he deserves more than these few paragraphs could explain. I love you Dr. Emerick. All of us that were in your classes are forever indebted to you. We may not all be physically free from bondage but you have helped us free ourselves from spiritual and mental bondage.