Forward focused
If Christopher Gannon had to choose one word to describe the last 10 months, it would be “surreal.” The Dorchester native was released from prison in February, accepted to a competitive fellowship program at Yale University in May, and enrolled in his first semester at BC’s Woods College of Advancing Studies in September. Looking back, none of it seems real.
“I couldn’t have scripted it any better,” he said. “Coming out of prison I had really bad anxiety but it’s been one good thing after another. It’s unbelievable.”
Gannon’s commitment to education began behind bars. In 2022, he was part of the third cohort admitted to the Boston College Prison Education Program (PEP), a degree-granting program that brings college-level courses to incarcerated students at the Massachusetts Correctional Institute in Shirley, Mass. He took classes in psychology, geology, and theology with Boston College faculty, and threw himself into his coursework.
“Instead of chasing nonsense, like so many of my friends did, I ended up chasing education,” he recalled. “I figured this was probably my best opportunity to turn my life around.”
Earlier this year, with his release coming up, Gannon applied to the inaugural National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates at Yale University, a 10-week residential fellowship designed to provide STEM training and computational exposure to formerly incarcerated students. In his application, Gannon “went all out,” describing his background as a high school drop-out with limited education, as well as his goals for the future. He was accepted almost immediately.
In May, he moved from a residential rehabilitation program to an Airbnb in New Haven, Connecticut, where he lived with six other men and women participating in the program. In the first week, each student was assigned a mentor according to his or her research interests. Gannon matched with faculty from two neuroscience labs within the Yale School of Medicine, so he joined the teams of both.
“I feel like I’ve got to prove that people in prison can succeed. I try to do my best and show that I’m serious and that I want to learn and I want to give back.”
Over the next several months, Gannon established a new routine: He attended weekly tutoring sessions to strengthen his writing and coding skills. On Mondays and Thursdays, he worked alongside a Ph.D. student at the Brennand Lab, which uses genetics to better understand brain diseases like schizophrenia. Three days a week, he learned data science skills like logging code with a postdoc at the Montalvo-Ortiz Lab, where researchers study the genetic and environmental factors associated with psychiatric disorders including opioid abuse, alcoholism, and PTSD.
“That was right up my alley,” he said. “These are things I’ve battled with all my life, so to not only be helped by them, but be able to give them first-hand knowledge was really cool for me.”
Gannon quickly developed relationships within both labs, using Slack to message professors between sessions and shadowing other students on his off days. In July, when the program ended, both of his mentors asked Gannon to stay on for another month, so he did, relishing the chance to continue learning at one of the world’s leading research universities.
“They taught me about neuroscience but also coding and writing scripts, RNA sequencing, how to break down big data, things like that,” he recalled. “And just like at BC they were so down to earth. Getting out of prison is incredibly hard, and to be around people who understand that was everything to me.”
This fall, 10 months after his release, Gannon arrived at Woods prepared for his next role—as a Boston College sophomore. Welcoming him to campus were a few familiar faces, including Woods Dean David Goodman, who teaches Abnormal Psychology in the PEP and recalls Gannon as a motivated student with a “hunger for learning.”
"He leaned in with his full effort and truly impressed me with his preparedness, questions, and quick learning," Goodman said. "He seems to take up the psychological sciences naturally, and I am so proud of him for finding his stride and forging such an amazing path forward. The field needs him and we are excited to support him in any and every way."
Inspired partially by Goodman’s class, Gannon has declared a major in psychology, and hopes to one day pursue a Ph.D. in neuroscience. As he gains his footing in the real world, he feels a mixture of pride at his accomplishments and pressure to be a model student.
“I feel like an ambassador, like I’ve got to prove that people in prison can succeed,” he said. “I try to do my best and show that I’m serious and that I want to learn and I want to give back—what I received, I want to give back.”