A message for the youth

Dawan Ingram, is currently 10 years into a 50-year sentence at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, NJ. I recently asked Dawan about his message to kids growing up today, this was his response.

Episode Transcript

(00:23):
My name is j Wan Ingram andI'm currently house that New Jersey State Prison.
I've been in controrated for ten years. And when I call them to
ask about different people from my neighborhood, it amazes me that the same people
are hanging on the same block dothe same things that they were doing ten
years ago. There's a slogan thatstairs there's nothing changes if nothing changes,

(00:44):
and this is a universe a universallesson that can't be applied to anything.
If you want something you never had, in most cases you have to do
things that you've never done, sometimesin school, at work, or just
a life. Overall, we don'tput all of our energy into what we
are doing, and this is adisservice to ourselves. Life is like a
bank. You cannot go to abank and really drill money if you never

(01:08):
put anything into it. So inother words, you get back whatever you
put in. And this should bea life lesson that we mind that remains
with us forever. None of uswant to be cheated with money, with
food, or with anything else.But when you cut corners and you do
things because they are easy at thetime, the end resil will always be
a chieved. Product that won't livelong. The greatest accomplishments. Accomplishments in

(01:32):
life have to be worked for,and we have to be willing to put
in the work. So if youwant to be a rapper, if you
want to be a doctor or lawyer, or fight a fighter, whatever it
is you want to do in life, it takes work and it takes time.
A very important point to mention issacrifice. Technology has become a distract,
and not just for a student.Even grown men have, unfortunately to

(01:53):
come to the black holder video game. In some cases, older mints been
over ten hours a day, ain'tplaying games, and they neglect so many
things that's important, such as legalwas earning money or whatever. They just
sitting around and play games all day. So unless you are planning to make
a career out of video games,do not become a slave to your video

(02:15):
game. Many times in life wehave to sacrifice our fun now for later.
And the good thing is you canhave a lot more fun later when
you make the right financial educational sacrificesearly. However, when you sacrifice the
important things for fun, usually nothinggood comes from that sacrifice. So be
strong and be smart and learn whento have fun and whin a sacrifice now

(02:39):
for more fun later. I havesocially experienced close friends who have had family
problems and even before we was inhigh school and they weren't able to buy
school clothes and they couldn't buy foodto eat every night. So if anyone
has that problem, don't be discouraged. You know a lot of ways that

(03:00):
even teenage can earn legal money withoutselling drugs or without stealing. Like I
remember growing up when it was snowlike crazy, and older people the neighborhood
couldn't shovel for themselves, so theywill pay us thirty sometimes fifty dollars to
shovel snow. And that was likeonly one house, So imagine fifty dollars
ten houses. If you were payingattention to the map class and your map

(03:23):
is correct, that's five hundred dollarsis the amount that you will make.
Basically, so this opportunity is notonly available in the wintertime Bowton. In
the sumtime, when the grass isgrowing too high, your neighborhood actually they
just they could pay you to cuttheir grass. Sometimes they will even even
give you the equipment. They'll giveyou the weed whacker or give you the
lawn mower to use, and thatwould be the best case scenario. Another

(03:46):
great way for teenagers to make moneyis about going on local stores and actings.
They will allow you to help outaround the store for some money.
You remember, all though may notbe a job you like, you're going
to make money, so keep theend goaling mom. Your hard work will
eventually pay off. The most importantstep is saving your money. Everyone all

(04:06):
ages have problems saving money, andif you truly want to be successful,
you must save your money for thethings you need and not the things you
want. So many people think shortterm. When they see something they want
to buy, they want to buyit right away. But you have to
always keep the words in your mindacting do I need this candy? No?
Do I need these ships? No? Do I need this? Do

(04:29):
I need that? So learning thestays early, especially as teenagers, can
change their trujectory of your life.So stay, stay saved, and do
not be like the average American whobuys the first thing that they see