In prison, he found redemption in the very things that he scorned as a teenager – books and learning.
When Sean Bearden was in elementary school and middle school, his mathematical ability astounded everyone. He could multiply three digits in his head when he was in fourth grade. In middle school, he could answer math questions just by looking at the board.
People said he had a gift.
In high school, however, Bearden traveled a different path. He hung out with students most parents would tell their children to avoid. He was expelled from high school before he finished ninth grade. He was kicked out or dropped out of two more alternative high school programs.
When Bearden was 19, his life took an even more ominous turn. Delivering pizzas, still taking the wrong path, he got into a confrontation with a man at a gas station. He pulled an unregistered gun.
A district attorney told Bearden’s lawyer he would be charged with attempted murder. Bearden believed he would have been found not guilty. But he still would have faced up to 15 years for having an unlicensed gun, even if he had been cleared of attempted murder. He decided to plead guilty to attempted assault in exchange for not being charged with attempted murder. In 2005, he began an eight-year prison sentence.
That’s when Bearden’s life began again. Now he is the recipient of world-class academic scholarships and fellowships, finding redemption in learning. Travel with him on his road to redemption.
