This essay is about the process of discovering and trying to help an exceptional student who was grappling with issues of real-life violence and incarceration and the desire to articulate their meaning to his life through writing. It describes how this student empowered himself to reflect on and deconstruct the meaning of his incarceration and how it related to racism and his career--to make writing an instrument for becoming more conscious and alive. The author suggests that language teachers need to help students make these connections or risk leaving them alienated and disaffected.