The interview of a lifetime: Spending a day behind bars at Bedford Hills Correctional Facilty

In the gray pre-dawn, two black SUVs with tinted windows rolled out of Elliot Hall's parking lot, bound for a maximum security prison three states away. They were ready to visit Pam Smart.

All 12 Keene State College students were equipped with the prison's regulations, wearing nondescript shirts or sports jerseys and holding the only two things visitors take to prison - a photo id and either a roll of quarters or dollar bills.

Interview questions were rehearsed out loud, points of information divided up, this was no practice journalism this time. No pens or pencils. Everything said, everything seen, had to be remembered, at least long enough to walk across the prison parking lot and then spill it on paper.

Walkie Talkies linked the two vehicles as copious amounts of caffeine fueled the freeway chase through New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and then New York.

Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, previous home to Jean Harris, Kathy Bodine, Amy Fisher and for over a decade, Pam Smart. Past the village of Bedford, which looks like the inside of a snow globe. Past these amazing brick edifices with names like fox and brook tastefully displayed. One of them is Martha Stewart's.

And there it was, around the next turn.

Where to look first - at the massive coils of barbed wire with lots of spiky things on thick fences ringing the prison's property, or, the buildings, lots of them. What appeared in short supply were people.

Time to start the drill. Spill out of the vehicle looking as least threatening as possible. Mingle lightly until it was time to go in. Groups of four only and if asked the visit's reason, say, "I'm here as a friend of Pam Smart."

The sun's shadows fell in barbed points onto the sidewalk from the metal processing cage to the visiting room where the day's assignment awaited.

-Marianne Salcetti, Ph.D.

The anticipation is killing me. The streets of Keene at 7 a.m. are empty as the sounds of passing cars and the cool fall air calms my nerves. Today is the day I've been pining for over a semester, the chance to interview Pam Smart.

After a poor attempt to choke down a muffin, I rendezvous with the rest of the group. We're on our way, sucking  down coffee, Red Bull, fruit Gushers and with a plethora of junk food. Making light of the intense and weighty day ahead, we discuss the differences between shiving, shanking and pillaging as well as the true definition of a "Mama Luca" while Johnny Cash plays in the background.         

We drive by the prison and further into Bedford Hills. Offsetting the depressing and cold prison are mansions, horse farms, charming shops and boutiques. The high society lifestyle that oozes from Bedford Hills is a sharp contrast to the stripped down life for the village's other residents behind bars.

After a short debrief, I'm back in the SUV and on my way to the prison. We are greeted warmly by Officer White. As we calmly fill out the paperwork, he taunts our nervous appearance and offers some reassuring words.

"Imagine the worst thing you could think about prison," White said. "You won't see it because you're not on the inside." Then he tells us that the show "Oz" is the best portrayal of prison he's seen.

The visitor's room is reminiscent of a high school cafeteria, same chairs, paint and tables. An inmate plays the game "Trouble" with her young son, touching him at every opportunity as he moves his piece around the board. Scenes equally as heart-wrenching are unfolding at every other table.

Finally, Pam walks into sight wearing a white Ralph Lauren sweater, prison-issued pants, brown high heels with her hair slightly curved towards her face. She greets us and makes sure we didn't have trouble getting in to see her.

Time passes quickly as Pam answers our questions. My mind is on the verge of collapse as I try to soak up as much of the interview as I could muster. I realize our time is up. We say goodbye to Pam and retrace the paths and gated doorways.

The instant I leave the prison facility, a sense of relief pours from my body, but an eerie feeling still resonates when I realize Pam will never feel what it's like to be outside of prison. I start scribbling madly. The group's back-and-forth banter refreshes my note scribbling. The hard part of the day is done. The anticipation didn't kill me, nor did anything I encountered in prison.

-Craig Lyons

Scared in the sense of freedom. I wasn't initially nervous knowing I was going to a maximum security prison, but that changed rapidly when we circled the prison grounds, along with what was I going to say to Pam Smart?

What do I say to someone who's been in prison for 15 years? Was she going to be nice? How would she react to a group of college students who have been reading information on her life in and out of prison for the last year?

There was a tall tower at the front gate and everything on the grounds was gray.

Inside those prison walls was Pam Smart, someone who will remain in prison with her life sentence without parole unless a miracle happens.

Walking through the entrance, I get nervous. I begin to fill out the paperwork and hand Officer White my driver's license. I don't like being told what to do generally and being told by a prison worker made me even madder. My hand started to shake and Officer White told me "everything was going to be ok." Somehow I don't believe him, I just want to leave and not interview Pam Smart anymore.

More gates, more visitor logs to sign and we're in the room. A blonde-haired woman walks in, flanked by two guards. She introduced herself and began talking and answering questions we asked. Let the story unfold.

-Allie Fergione

For months we had been investigating the Pam Smart case but the time had finally come to visit her in prison. The idea to visit her in prison was a good one, but it never seemed real until we pulled in. I'll never forget it.