Angela D.

Edmonds
HMSV 440/Task 9
Prof. Lewis

During the evaluation process at Lunenburg Correctional Center, there was so much that I
grasped and could not wait to share. Working with offenders with less than 6 month
incarceration time was amazing. The way that the department has provided learning tools for all
cultures made it easy for offenders as well as staff to understand what it takes to be productive
citizens once an offender returns back into society.
While being a part of the evaluation process this clarified any unanswered questions I
may have had regarding working in a career as a Rehabilitation/ Cognitive Counselor. This
evaluation which I like to refer to as Walk in my Shoes allowed me to work one on one with
offenders and counselor. I had the opportunity to assist with programing, annual reviews and
observing counselors during their day to day job duties.
Although I know there maybe challenges I will face in this career, I only had one during
the course of the evaluation. Offenders are expected to do the majority of their leg work which
consist of Thinking Reports. Counselors are there to provide guidance and used as resource. I
wanted to fix the problems for the offenders, however the counselor explained the process of the
Cognitive programming and once they did, it became clearer to me. The positive aspect that I
received during this evaluation was the outline on what takes place during a regular day as a
Counselor within the Virginia Department of Corrections. The staff allowed me to ask questions

and they were more than willing to answer as well as provide documents that supported their
responses.
This was an awesome experience. I have learned to be open-minded and not judgmental.
I believe in second chances. I will lead by example and model the way for staff as well as
offenders. I will not be afraid to challenge the process as well as being an effective listener.