God willing, on September 1st 2026 I will celebrate nine years of sobriety. In August of 2017, I hit my rock bottom. Drugs and alcohol isolated me from my loved ones and trapped me in a toxic relationship. 90 days in a rehabilitation center with some incredible social workers saved my life. Now, six years after earning my undergraduate degree, I am eager to change careers so I can change the world. When I first arrived at Sovereign Health Rehabilitation Center, I needed to detox for five days before I could think clearly at all. I would not, and could not admit that I had a substance use disorder. All I knew was that I was broken, and I needed help putting myself back together. My house manager, Amber, saw that look in my eyes and knew I would benefit from a 12 step program. 30 days into my treatment I went to my first meeting and finally identified as an alcoholic. I found a sponsor and took the 12 steps. Taking the 12 steps did not mean that I was suddenly the best version of myself. It took time for me to see the patterns of my behavior. Cheater, liar, victim, and more. I had turned into someone I never wanted to be, and I wanted to change. My sponsor helped me work through these character defects until they were a thing of the past. I am proud to be a woman in society that people can look up to today. Returning home after rehabilitation and working the 12 steps was not easy. I was walking into a new world, and I was about to be hit with a world wide pandemic, just like everyone else. Isolation became my world again, and through zoom meetings and social media, I remained sober. I am lucky, because not everyone was able to remain sober during that difficult time. I heard of many celebrations of life from my friends back in California where I got sober. It was a difficult time for everyone. I found my way back to the rooms of my 12 step program, and I found a group of women who have come to become my family. In that time, I found a newly sober alcoholic who has blessed me with the opportunity to sponsor her through the steps. Watching her grow is the greatest gift of my life. I am inspired by her tenacity and grit every day. She pushes me to be my best self so I can be an example of how to move through society with grace. Through this experience, I now aim to get my masters degree in social work to help as many people as possible. I currently work at a crisis center answering phones, but one day I aspire to help the mentally ill, homeless, and the active substance users who seek treatment. I hope to be the change I want to see in the world. If I can help guide one person to a new life, that is truly changing an entire world.

Recovery to me is waking up well rested in the morning. For me, recovery has been three 4.0 semesters at the end of my undergraduate degree. I have been blessed with just under nine years of sobriety, and this blessing has allowed me to remain stable through the highs and lows of life. Recovery is inherently the ability to exist in a world where everything is changing, and you can concede that you have no control. Being able to walk a newly recovering alcoholic through the 12 steps for the first time has been the greatest honor I have been able to achieve. Giving back and watching other alcoholics grow and learn how to navigate sobriety is so special, and by getting a masters degree in social work, I aspire to help more alcoholics in their time of need.