Colin Brown 11-17-2024 Appeal Essay My biggest challenge that I have ever faced in life occurred during my sophomore year in highschool. Around November of my sophomore year I began Vaping and experimenting with alcohol, soon after I was caught and I was addicted by this point to vaping so I was chasing a buzz everyday. This buzz chasing and searching led me to THC and Marijuana. Skipping classes just to see if anyone had a vape was a common occurrence for me. I gave up on myself and had zero cares in the world. I was spending 20-40 dollars every week from December to May, this cycle of addiction was only fed by constantly being surrounded by people who had illegal substances on them. I casted away my friends for other people. Anytime I hung out with my four best friends I was always high and they were sober. It was like I had no idea how to be a normal healthy person anymore. I had turned from trying my best in school, to not giving a single care in the world about my future or a healthy life. I finished my second semester doing my work at the In-House Suspension Center. By this time I was totally isolated and done with my life. My life’s turning point was on a mission trip my mother had signed me up for. This was my first time ever doing something with my church by my own will, the first day I met some of the most important people I will ever meet. These 2 friends I won’t name, they saved my life without a single doubt in my mind. They showed me how to live without polluting your mind with waste, and I truly believe that they are gifts from God himself. At this mission trip I experienced God first hand, I had been saved at that point in the first worship I had ever been a part of. The week went by and I came home a changed person, a sober person. My junior year up to this point, the single greatest time of my life so far. I got the best grades I have ever gotten, while some might look at my grades in 11th grade and say I’m an under-average student, but if you sit and hear my story and compare the grades, you will see I learned how to care about my grades. The impact this experience had on my sophomore year grades and GPA as a whole was extremely taxing. This upcoming year I plan to make A’s and B’s because I want to show everyone who doubted me and held no faith in me wrong. I want to show them I can do the greatest things and be the difference in someone else’s life. It has dawned on me that this experience and all the pain I went through was something that has made me different from others. I grew from this experience. I can give myself a nice pat on the back and say I made it. The patience of it all payed off. I got through what a lot of people didn’t and what some of the people in my grade will probably never get through. Addiction was the single hardest thing I had ever had to overcome. It’s the thing I’m the most proud and grateful for, and I won’t ever forget the nights I spent crying on my bathroom floor or wasting away in my bed, because I know that this has made me strong mentally and a better man. If I had not beat my multiple addictions, I firmly believe I wouldn’t live past my 30’s, but that’s not anything I have to worry about anymore, as of the day of me writing this I’ve been sober for 15 months.