Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (Apr 14/00) - Mike Ryan didn't come from a broken family, he "got twisted by peer pressure."

As a result, his face got twisted many times over by thugs and felons in the penitentiary where Ryan was imprisoned for more than six years.

Ryan was one of the keynote speakers at the 2000 Mackenzie Youth Leadership Conference last week. He gave an often gut-wrenching, brutally honest account of his days in jail as a result of his "downward spiral" from drug use and trafficking. Prison was a "hateful and angry place," he said.

He and his associates used to try to have other prisoners killed periodically, trying all the while to continue surviving themselves.

"That's the kind of crap that goes on in our jails," he said.

The inhumane conditions Ryan described definitely left an impression upon student Samantha Konisenta, who said Ryan's speech was one of the things she will remember most about the youth conference.

"I didn't know it was that bad or that dangerous," she said. "He found out how dangerous it can be ... he almost died from it."

Now a professional speaker with a bachelor of arts in psychology (with honours), he told students he used to think of himself as a "dummy" in high school because he only had an average in the 60s. He told the students he's proof that they can succeed if they make a commitment.

"You can do it, everyone of you," he said. "There are no dummies in this room, only people who don't apply themselves."

Ryan, who resides near Edmonton, later demonstrated the importance of believing in one's self. He had student Jermaine Gargan stand in front of him, holding out one arm with instructions to resist while Ryan pushed down on his hand. While using negative words like "wimp" he proceeded to easily force Gargan's hand towards the floor. They repeated the demonstration, this time Ryan used positive words like "strong" and "great young man." The much larger Ryan was still able to gradually push Gargan's arm to the floor but it took substantially longer.

"Words can have a big effect on your life if you really believe them," Ryan said. "Learn to use your own self-talk to create your own personal strength ... and use it with your friends."