Richard Bryant — empathy stories

When I was coming up in this house over here there was no running water. When it rained we had plastic running from one end of the house to the other. I looked out the cracks and saw chickens walking. It was drafty and cold. My room was a 5' x 5' square box with a bed. You could step up and lay down. There wasn't room to do anything else. There were two other bedrooms with three people in each bed. I'm there trying to do homework and I can't concentrate.

My grades and self esteem suffered. If you have something good to come home to you can be happy. Other people were doing better at school. I knew they weren't as smart as I was, they just had better living space at home. A room is important to a child's future. If you are confined your body is trapped and your mind is trapped. You can only venture so far because you are stuck, nothing's changed. If you want to put something in the room you can't. I had an extension cord with one light. I cut the light on and that was it, nothing else.

I used to watch television and see teenagers with a huge room. I was jealous. I wanted to have room like that and I knew, being in a small rural area where there isn't a lot of money, I would never have room like that. I knew if I had room like that I could do better. And then, finally, Professor Mockbee came.

Me and him were friends, he was my mentor. He asked me about the situation in the house and about how school was going and I told him the truth. I said “not so good, there's no room in there for me to really do what I can do.” “I'll tell you what I'll do,” he said, “I'm going to make sure... you're going to have a room.” And I said "alright then, alright."

It was a complete 180 degree turn. If three people are sleeping in a bed, you are in each other's space and everybody in the house is always irritable and aggravated. A human needs personal space and if you don't have it, it generates anger. When you can move around and have your own room you can do what you want to do. When we got this house my biggest motivation was to go home and sit in my own room. It inspired me in such a way that I sat down and thought about what I could do with my life. I knew I wanted to help people... “maybe I can be a lawyer.”

If I was over there I wouldn't have had any space to just sit and think for myself. When I got over here I had the space and time. Now I'm getting ready to go to law school in the summer. If you have something to come home to you are very excited. You need space to let your mind breathe. If you are physically confined your mind is more confined than your whole body.

Richard Bryant

Mason’s Bend, Alabama

Senior, University of West Alabama

Outsidein. A Community Space for Hale County.