When I was younger my parents struggled with addictions. My father was doing hard drugs and drinking and my mother was dealing with a drug demon herself. In my early teen years I naturally wanted to try new things and coming from a family who abused substances, I didn't see the problem in trying drugs. I tried the drug marijuana with a close friend, at the time I was only 14. After smoking pot for a few months I realized that I had become addicted. Everytime I felt stressed, anxious, scared or lonely I turned to smoking. My parents didn't seem to notice that I had a habit, they were so lost in their own bad habits that they didn't notice me. My grades in school started dropping, I started missing days of school. After a while I started hanging with the wrong people. I knew I was headed down the wrong path but I couldn't seem to stop myself. I didn't want to admit that I was addicted to smoking pot so I hid it from most people. It turned from smoking once or twice a week to smoking everyday all day. The drug was controlling me, and if I didn't have it in my system I wouldn't eat, I would have crazy mood swings and my emotions were everywhere. After two years of smoking pot I added alcohol to the mix. On top of smoking everyday, I would drink every weekend. I don't understand what was going through my mind at that point in time, I just wanted to be numb. In December of 2022 I knew I had to make a change. All my money was going into alcohol and drugs. I couldn't function without pot. It was affecting not only me but my family and friends as well. My parents and I would argue everyday, I even was kicked out of the house at one point. Weed had stolen my life and I intended to get it back. I started weaning myself off marijuana little by little. I limited myself to a certain amount everyday until I completely stopped smoking. During this time I gave my life to Christ. He helped me deal with my drug demons and my addiction to alcohol. My school grades improved and so did my attendance. Instead of dropping out of school, I will be attending college this year. I have come a long way from rock bottom to where I am now. My family is proud of me. I will be the first person to walk across the stage and graduate high school. I will also be the first person to go to college in my immediate family.