Student Recovery Stories
My personal pathway in recovery
Growing up I was always in a house where drugs and alcohol were a big part of my parent’s lives. My parents were both attending AA for a little bit but soon failed to get sober.
I told myself that I would never be like them and I wouldn't live like them but sure enough when I got older I started to drink. I really enjoyed the way alcohol made me feel. I thought it made everything go away and I never thought that I had a problem. My first drink was when I was in the 6th grade and I was just hanging out with my older brothers and some of their friends. It wasn't until I was at the end of 8th grade that I started drinking every weekend. When I was growing up, I kept to myself because my parents were drug addicts and alcoholics and I didn't want anyone knowing. I eventually made a few really good friends. When I first starting drinking with my friends, they would just take a shot or two and I would need to finish the entire bottle.
I would drink a bottle of alcohol a weekend or maybe even two bottles during high school.
When I was a sophomore in high school I lost my oldest brother to a drug overdose. I couldn’t take the pain so I would drink until I blacked out. You would think having a brother who died from a drug overdose would make me realize how bad drugs were. Every time I would drink people didn't know how I was going to act or if they needed to keep an eye on me all night to check to see if I was still breathing. In my last year of high school my dad also passed away.
I continued to drink until I blacked out because I didn't want to feel the way I did. In high school no one seemed concerned about my drinking so I wasn't either. I hide my drinking from a lot of people. When I started college I didn't think about the school work and instead just thought about the social life. During my freshman year of college I would not go to class. I would drink almost every day and I ended up doing things I said I would never do. I ended up in the hospital for an alcohol overdose. Even after that incident in the hospital, I still didn’t believe I had a problem with alcohol. I kept thinking that way because I was only 18. Soon after this incident I decide to ask for the help that I needed all along. I reached out to a really close friend that I knew was in recovery and she helped me a lot.
I got sober on May 6th, 2016. I am almost two years sober and I can’t even explain how much gratitude that I have for the people that have helped me throughout this journey. I am still in school and I am doing really well. I traveled across the country by myself. I go to the gym and I help people just like others did for me when I first got sober. When I put the drink down I was sure that my life was over and I wouldn’t have fun anymore. That is so false because I love my life today and I am not a prisoner to alcohol. I get to do things that I love doing like going on hikes, going for runs and being with family. Most importantly, I remember everything I do!
Stories of recovery
I never thought that I would be someone who would face the struggles of addiction. I knew I needed help after I ended up in the hospital one night drunk and combative. I promised myself that this was the last time I drank. But it was not. After struggling to get sober for 4 months and going through 2 relapses I am stronger than ever. I realized that everyone’s journey is different. All you need is the want to get better and the dedication to do so. Being sober gives me a new sense of excitement and passion to help others who went through what I did. I never thought something like this would happen to me, but it did and that’s okay. Today I can proudly say that I have not had a drink since August 9th, 2017. If you are seeking treatment or need a support system, SCSU is working hard at developing a program that will give you a place to share your story and thrive.
Discontent, irritable and restless: how I felt every single day, waking up and going to high school however still thinking that it was normal. How couldn't it be, when everything else in my life seemed so ordinary. “But I was a normal kid. But my parents are still together. But I live on a dead end road. And most importantly, I’M SO YOUNG!” The only way for me to be able to see the severity of my situation was for my situation to get much worse, but for me to get better, all it took was the first day. One day sober allowed me to get the second, which allowed me the third, and so on. With the support of many different resources, I am able to have over three and a half years of recovery, and live a more substantial, healthier, freer way of life!