INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Finding a job or even housing can be a challenge for people just getting out of jail.

Students at the University of Indianapolis got a firsthand look through an immersive reentry simulation.

Students at UIndy took on the imagined identities of former inmates and experienced what it was like to find a job, get a loan, and manage basic needs with limited resources.

UIndy student Bryce Howard said Monday, “I’m learning it’s really difficult. There’s a lot of loopholes you got to jump through, and it’s not easy. I have to give a lot of respect to people that are doing this in the real world because it’s tough.”

Students had 15 minutes to get assigned tasks finished: getting an ID card, signing up for treatments, finding transportation, and going to the bank. Each 15 minute time block represented a week.

“I started out unemployed, a high school dropout with $30 to my name. Right away, I had to get treatment, I had to get food. I didn’t have enough money for any of that, so I had to go to the pawn shop, sell some stuff and try to get some money and scrape by and accomplish those goals I had to do for the week,” Howard said.

The event, hosted by the nonprofit Reform Alliance and the Indiana Department of Correction, was designed to highlight systemic barriers faced by formerly incarcerated people. UIndy was the first college to host this type of Reform Alliance event, and its mission is to change the probation and parole system, and inspire young people to act as they enter their careers.

Reform Alliance plans to host similar events at other college campuses, including a Gen Z Day of Action during Second Chance Month in April.

Maranda Williams, Indiana organizer of Reform Alliance, said, “We don’t really have a one-size-fits-all to rules and policies around criminal justice. We really need to see what are we doing to help people, and are we keeping the community safe doing that.”

Carrie Heck, Hoosier Initiative for Re-entry director for the Indiana Department of Correction, wants the community to understand that people who have served their time have already paid for their crime, but, once their out, it’s important to help them reintegrate to avoid the chances of entering back into the system. “They’re really people who made mistakes. They need those second chances and they actually need someone to show a little empathy for them to let them to let them be successful in their communities that they’re released to.”

The Department of Correction, she says, hopes that more local business owners in Indiana consider opening more job opportunities to people reentering society.