during an in-person interview<\/a> in May. \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to putting the darkest parts of my life behind me.\u201d<\/p>\nArticle continues below this ad<\/p>\n
During an email interview earlier this week, Ochoa talked about what else she\u2019s looking forward to \u2013 from eating a banana split and trying ChatGPT to finally finishing The Walking Dead and feeling sand beneath her bare feet.<\/p>\n
Kiko Martinez: What’s the very first meal you want to eat when you get out?<\/p>\n
Ochoa Sentiva: The first thing I want to eat is a big, fat, juicy steak. However, because I’m on an ankle monitor, I have to go straight home. So, the alternative is to have a pizza party. I’ve been wanting pizza, wings and salad too!<\/p>\n
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KM: What’s one piece of technology that didn’t exist when you went to prison that you’re most excited to try?\u00a0<\/p>\n
OS: ChatGPT is something new and crazy I’m excited to use. I can’t believe technology is so advanced now! Spooky!<\/p>\n
KM: What’s one simple everyday freedom most people take for granted that you’re looking forward to the most? <\/p>\n
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OS: Using a washer and dryer. In prison, we have to wash all our clothes by hand in a sink or toilet in the cell block. So, just throwing clothes in a machine and pushing a button is something I’m never going to take for granted.<\/p>\n
KM: Is there a musician who’s become popular while you’ve been away that you’re excited to check out? <\/p>\n
OS: I heard two songs by [Christian musician] Forrest Frank, so I’m really looking forward to listening to more of his music and hitting up a concert one day.<\/p>\n
KM: Is there a movie, TV show, or book everyone’s been talking about that you’re excited to finally experience?<\/p>\n
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OS: Well, I never got to finish\u00a0The Walking Dead, so I’m going to watch that first. But I’ve heard about something called Hulu? So, I want to see what’s on there. I’ve also heard amazing things about Yellowstone, so I want to see what the hype is about.<\/p>\n
KM: What’s something you’ve missed smelling, hearing, or feeling that most people don’t even notice?<\/p>\n
OS: Something I’ve missed is the smell of a BBQ pit or burning wood. I miss the smell of rivers\u00a0 and lakes. I miss my bare feet in the grass and sand. I miss looking up at the clouds and listening to the birds. I miss the feeling of wonder when you look up at night and stare at the stars or watch the trees dance in the wind. I miss looking out into the distance and seeing there is an expansion of freedom with no brick walls, fences or razor wires blocking your view.<\/p>\n
KM: How do you think having complete creative freedom will change your artwork?<\/p>\n
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OS: I believe having the freedom to choose my art will be amazing. Not to crank myself up, but I know I’m capable of being fantastic with my creativity. I have all the talent and skills to do beautiful artwork. I can’t wait to share it with the world.<\/p>\n
KM: What is the first dessert you want to make for someone when you get out?<\/p>\n
OS: The first dessert I want to make is a banana split for me and my sisters. It will be with all the goodies: bananas, vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, strawberries, caramel, peanuts, sprinkles and whip cream. Oh, yeah!<\/p>\n
KM: When you leave prison, what kind of woman do you want people to meet \u2013 not the person you were a decade ago, but the person you’ve become?<\/p>\n
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OS: I want people to see me for who I am now. A lot of people think I’m still that crazy girl in the pink halter top sitting in the chair acting a fool. They judge me off my crimes and stick all these labels on me.<\/p>\n
Even then, when I was doing the most, they judged me. I admit I was a fool. I was a hot mess. I was ratchet. But deep down, I was lost, broken, angry and alone in a cold game of the streets. I deserved some of the names I was called back then. I deserved the time I was given due to my crimes. I own that. I did hard time, and I learned a lot about myself. It took me being fully broken and hitting rock bottom and losing it all to realize I needed to change.<\/p>\n
So, I made a choice one day and surrendered my life to Christ. I’m no longer PMuney or Peanut. I’m a child of God. I’m smart and funny. I’m artistic, brave, compassionate and charismatic. I light up any room I walk into.<\/p>\n
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I want people to meet Phyllis Sentiva Ochoa. I know it’s hard to believe I could change, but I did, and it\u2019s only by the grace and love of God. I can’t wait to share all I’ve learned with others to help encourage them to find that same freedom from their past as I did. I just hope people will see me for who I’ve become, not who I once was.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Phyllis Sentiva Ochoa, a former John Jay High School student, whose song \u201cSan Antonio\u201d went viral on social…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374986,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[847,820,82,84,83],"class_list":["post-375042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-mysanews","tag-mysastaff","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}