In 2012, Rena Sard was sentenced to five years in prison at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women. She was 47 years old. “I didn’t have five years of my life to waste. So, every chance that I had to do something that was productive, something that was going to help me become a better person, I grabbed it.” Sard enrolled in the Goucher Prison Education Partnership (GPEP). GPEP is a program with Goucher College, a private university located north of the city of Baltimore. With GPEP, and programs like it, inmates can use their time in prison to make progress towards their first college degrees. But the work is not easy. For five years, Sard woke up at 4:30 each morning. She ate breakfast, did her job at the prison's mental health clinic, and then went to her college classes. Last January, Sard finished her sentence, and next spring she will finish her first Associate's degree. Officers tell her that she is a completely different person than the one who entered prison.
Title: Programs Let Inmates Earn University Degree While in Prison
Content: <div id='article-page'><div id='article-content' data-media-url='//news-app-staging.s3.amazonaws.com' data-base-url='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/2279/prison_degree.m4a' data-capture-url='//staging.analytics.lingraphica.com/events/capture_news' data-article-title='Programs Let Inmates Earn University Degree While in Prison' data-article-id='2795'><script src='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/javascripts/getscripts.js'></script><link rel='stylesheet' href='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/stylesheets/article.css' type='text/css' /><div class='article'><p><span data-start-time='0' data-end-time='12500'>In 2012, Rena Sard was sentenced to five years in prison at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women.</span> <span data-start-time='12500' data-end-time='15354'>She was 47 years old.</span> <span data-start-time='15354' data-end-time='19188'>“I didn’t have five years of my life to waste.</span> <span data-start-time='19188' data-end-time='28604'>So, every chance that I had to do something that was productive, something that was going to help me become a better person, I grabbed it.”</span> <span data-start-time='28604' data-end-time='34854'>Sard enrolled in the Goucher Prison Education Partnership (GPEP).</span> <span data-start-time='34854' data-end-time='43063'>GPEP is a program with Goucher College, a private university located north of the city of Baltimore.</span> <span data-start-time='43063' data-end-time='53438'>With GPEP, and programs like it, inmates can use their time in prison to make progress towards their first college degrees.</span> <span data-start-time='53438' data-end-time='56167'>But the work is not easy.</span> <span data-start-time='56167' data-end-time='61563'>For five years, Sard woke up at 4:30 each morning.</span> <span data-start-time='61563' data-end-time='70125'>She ate breakfast, did her job at the prison's mental health clinic, and then went to her college classes.</span> <span data-start-time='70125' data-end-time='78625'>Last January, Sard finished her sentence, and next spring she will finish her first Associate's degree.</span> <span data-start-time='78625' data-end-time='85021'>Officers tell her that she is a completely different person than the one who entered prison.</span> </p></div><div class='control-buttons-sticky' style='display:none;'><div class='control-buttons'><button title='Back' class='back' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Play' class='play' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Pause' class='pause' style='display:none;'></button><button title='Forward' class='forward' disabled='disabled'></button><button class='finished-reading' style='display:none;'>Done</button></div></div></div><div id='article-media'><div id='media-image'><img src='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/2279/prison_degree.jpg'/></div></div><div id='question-content' style='display:none;'><div class='vocabulary_question question-container' data-question-id=9888 data-hint-location='19188' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/2279/what_does_productive_mean.m4a'>What does productive mean?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='achieve a result'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/2279/improve_a_score.m4a'><span>improve a score</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/2279/achieve_a_result.m4a'><span>achieve a result</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/2279/attend_classes.m4a'><span>attend classes</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/2279/become_better.m4a'><span>become better</span></div></div></div><div class='multiple_choice_question question-container' data-question-id=9889 data-hint-location='43063' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/2279/what_does_the_program_allow_inmates_to_do.m4a'>What does the program allow inmates to do?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='earn a college degree'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/2279/work_in_a_clinic.m4a'><span>work in a clinic</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/2279/learn_to_speak_a_language.m4a'><span>learn to speak a language</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/2279/earn_a_college_degree.m4a'><span>earn a college degree</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/2279/find_a_better_school.m4a'><span>find a better school</span></div></div></div><div class='sentence_completion_question question-container' data-question-id=9890 data-hint-location='53438' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/2279/the_work_is_not__blank_.m4a'>The work is not <span class='blank'>easy</span>.</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='easy'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/2279/easy.m4a'><span>easy</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/2279/early.m4a'><span>early</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/2279/helpful.m4a'><span>helpful</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/2279/difficult.m4a'><span>difficult</span></div></div></div><div class='question-buttons'><button class='skip-button'></button><button class='hint-button'></button><button class='speak-button'></button></div></div></div>
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