As soon as I completed my bachelor’s degree in addiction psychology, I began seeking a job in the mental health field, but ultimately I wanted a job working with kids in some capacity. I was fortunate enough to find the perfect job (for me) as a School-Based Behavioral Health Liaison in a rural Tennessee K-8 school. Since August of 2024, I have been getting to know the students and faculty at Pickett County K-8, helping them foster an environment where kids can feel safe and loved. I have been welcomed, but I have also been striving to reach as many students as possible through various means. It was not easy since I am not from the community, it took a while for the students to open up to me. Slowly we have been able to build a relationship based on trust and compassion. I spend the mornings meeting with teachers during their planning period, and then I spend up to two hours connecting with kids while they eat lunch in the cafeteria. In the afternoons, I either meet with students individually, or I talk with classes about various mental health topics. I was not always headed down a positive path. In my early 20s, I found myself in the midst of the opioid epidemic, addicted and frightened. I decided to get help, but for many years I did not make any progress professionally. I decided to go back to school when I was 36 to dedicate my life to helping kids avoid going down the dark paths I went down. As much as I’d love to help people find recovery, I felt a true calling to help young people, so I kept that in the back of my mind throughout the three years I worked on my bachelors degree. I graduated with a 3.99 CGPA, despite being told by many that I would never make it. Now, I’m in the final months of my graduate degree, I have a 4.0 CGPA, and I work in the exact position I’d only dreamt of working years ago. I plan to stay in the position I’m in after earning my masters in general psychology, and to help students in rural Tennessee develop the confidence and optimism that I wish I would have had when I was young.

Hello! My name is Ashley Quinn, and I am a recent graduate of Purdue University Global’s bachelor of science in psychology in addictions program. This program was rigorous, but in the three years I attended Purdue Global, I learned so much. I not only learned about psychology and addiction, but I learned more about myself than I ever thought I would. I am also in recovery. I will have 15 years free of substances in November of this year. My dream has always been to help people who are facing similar struggles to the ones that I faced 15 years ago. In order to chase my dream, I have applied to and enrolled in Purdue Global’s masters of science in psychology in addictions program and I begin classes in around two and a half weeks. I am nervous, but I know I can do this! During my time as an undergraduate, I maintained a 3.99 gpa because I wanted to prove to myself and to those around me that I could do it and I could do it well. I not only exceeded the expectations of those around me, I exceeded my own expectations! When I finish my graduate program, I hope to become an addiction therapist, and I hope to help change the face of addiction treatment. The field needs to shift it’s focus toward integrative care, utilizing medicine and psychotherapy to help people reach their recovery goals. The field of opioid use disorder treatment has begun to do this, but I believe that nearly every person with a substance use disorder has underlying, co-occurring disorders that need to be addressed to create a successful treatment outcome. Unfortunately, as a graduate student, I am not able to become licensed until I have finished my masters program, and completing my masters program is going to take a toll on my family financially. I am applying to as many scholarships as I can, but many of them have so many applicants and many of those applicants are better suited for the scholarship. That is not to say that I do not deserve the scholarships, because I know I do, I just have to focus on scholarships that have people like me, a 40-year-old low-income mom and wife, in mind when they are choosing potential winners. I can tell you from my heart that this scholarship will not go to waste. My drive and my passion exceed the desires for high paying employment, they are based in the idea that I can help the many, many Americans who are struggling with substance use disorders because I have been where they are. I can see things from their perspective. Even if I am not awarded any scholarships, I will continue following my dream and I will do everything possible to help as many people as I can. I appreciate the opportunity to apply for this scholarship, and I hope my story touches those reading it.

My story is not an easy one to tell. I come from a long line of addiction and struggle, but through the support of those around me and my stubborn drive, I’ve maintained 15 amazing years in recovery. One day, about three years ago, right around the beginning of Covid, my counselor and I were talking. About 10 minutes into the conversation, she asked me, “Why aren’t you sitting where I’m sitting?” I was a bit stunned. I’d never had someone have so much faith in me before. Even those who knew that I had struggled with addiction and had several years of recovery behind me did not truly have much faith in me. Who can blame them? I sure didn’t. So I went back to school. I have been at Purdue University Global since September of 2020, and I have maintained a 3.98 GPA. For a small town former “junkie,” this is a very big deal to me and to my family. I know I can make a difference with the experience and the education I have had. Covid made a massive impact on treatment for substance use disorder in that clients are now able to access online services. For those who reside in rural areas, this can mean the difference between life and death. I know how much treatment saved my life all those years ago, but I had to move to a big city to get that help. Addiction does not discriminate. It does not care if you are wealthy. It does not care if you are a man or a woman or if you fall somewhere in between. It most certainly does not care if you live close to resources or not. Ensuring that every single client has the access to counseling and substance use services could change the landscape of this country. If money was of no concern, the service I would want to see the most is counselors who are able to travel to their client. I believe in telemedicine, but sometimes, especially in the beginning days and weeks of recovery, people desperately need more connection than someone can offer through a screen. I would also make absolutely sure that each and every client had access to medications and counseling regardless of income or insurance. Something I have always disagreed with is the practice of ‘punishing’ those who present with positive drug screens. Having privileges taken away as if they are a child who needs to be reprimanded for breaking the rules. I understand that many treatment providers do not intend for this to appear as a punishment, but for many in outpatient treatment, that is how it feels. If I could, I would change how the DEA and the federal government handle treatment services. In my opinion, drug screening encourages clients to hide addictive behaviors, and I know this because I did it. The humiliation of observed urinalysis was embarrassing and nonproductive. There should be a better way. I know I do not have all of the answers, but I know what doesn’t work. The practices surrounding drug screenings need to change. Being in recovery myself offers a different, more well-rounded understanding of how substance use treatment works and how it can change for the better. It can be difficult to figure out what will work and what will not work for a client, but in order to find that out, there needs to be more room to maneuver in many states. There are states that are changing how they treat clients with substance use disorder, and those states seem to be having more success. I hope to see this continue to happen but on a nationwide level. I know there’s a better way, we just have to communicate that to the state and federal government.