After six years of active addiction, I am proud to say that I have been clean and off of all substances since September 26th, 2016. I was introduced to meth through a friend that I met at my first job. The day that I tried meth for the first time I felt like I could finally communicate normally with people and gained a boost in confidence. Over six years, I went from occasionally smoking meth to being an IV user and my mental health went from positive to wanting to die. At first, using drugs was fun because I did not see the consequences of my actions. By the time that I did, I lost most of my friends and family and my health, both physically and mentally, was suffering tremendously. I am so grateful to my parents for helping me get into treatment because it saved my life. I was ready for this so I took in as much information as I could and found a sponsor as soon as I was able. I knew that this change would be one of the most challenging moments that I would ever have to face in my life and I was ready to take it head on. The main part of my growth came with working with my amazing sponsor and the 12 steps. I took a good look at myself and, no matter how I felt while working on the steps, I knew that I did not have to be that person I used to be anymore. I cannot describe how blessed I feel to have my family back in my life, being close to having my dream career, and having the support system that I have gained.

There has always been a debate that addiction is caused by either genetics, environment, or a combination of both. For me personally I believe that it is a combination of both. I was adopted when I was born to a wonderful family and was not exposed to addiction at a young age, but I made some bad choices with social groups as I got older. When I was a year clean, I found out that my birth mother is an addict as well and four out of the six children she had also have substance abuse problems. After six years of active addiction, I am proud to say that I have been clean and off of all substances since September 26th, 2016. I was introduced to meth through a friend that I met at my first job. The day that I tried meth for the first time I felt like I could finally communicate normally with people and gained a boost in confidence. Over six years, I went from occasionally smoking meth to being an IV user and my mental health went from positive to wanting to die. At first, using drugs was fun because I did not see the consequences of my actions. By the time that I did, I lost most of my friends and family and my health, both physically and mentally, was suffering tremendously. I am so grateful to my parents for helping me get into treatment because it saved my life. I was ready for this so I took in as much information as I could and found a sponsor as soon as I was able. I knew that this change would be one of the most challenging moments that I would ever have to face in my life and I was ready to take it head on. I stayed in the treatment program for six months and stayed in sober-living for another two years. The main part of my growth came with working with my amazing sponsor and the 12 steps. I took a good look at myself and, no matter how I felt while working on the steps, I knew that I did not have to be that person I used to be anymore. My life went from how can I afford my habit and waiting for it to kill me to going to college and finally transferring into my dream school. I cannot describe how blessed I feel to have my family back in my life, being close to having my dream career, and having the support system that I have gained. I know that in order to keep the amazing life that I have, I have to give back to those who are in need. Since finishing my step work I have continually sponsored many women in recovery and I have learned and grown from working with each amazing woman. I also gained experience working at two different treatment facilities. I want to take all this knowledge and use it to help children who have addiction tendencies to learn healthy coping skills so that hopefully they will not have to go through what I did. I believe that addiction can start early under certain circumstances. So if you can identify those tendencies and catch them early you can help young students develop the skills they will need to avoid addiction and impact them positively as they come into adulthood.

The meaning of recovery has changed for me over the five and a half years that I have been sober. When I first got sober, recovery meant that I could live day by day without constantly worrying about obtaining and paying for illicit substances. I was able to put my energy and time into learning how to live as a sober person again. Now that I have been sober for some time, recovery means something deeper. Recovery means focusing on making your life and your choices work for you to achieve your personal, professional, and relationship goals. Quite a contrast to focusing all your efforts on staying high and, consequently, addicted. We learn in the fourth through the twelfth step that it is important to look back and see what you could have done better to be the best you. Reflection and growth are key to a successful future. Not only does it help you become a better person, but it also allows you to develop deeper relationships with loved ones and friends, in stark contrast to the shallow ones in which the typical addict finds themselves. Recovery is a state of being which involves loving yourself and knowing that you are enough. They enable my ability to believe in myself and help me realize on a daily basis that I can achieve anything that I put my mind to.