Young Heroes in Recovery
There’s an incredible movement that’s beginning to blossom across our country these days. It’s a movement that doesn’t get enough attention, so I was thrilled to death when a friend sent me a New York Times story the other day that put a spotlight on this wonderful trend: college students in recovery.
The New York Times piece, titled “Not the Usual College Party (This One’s Sober),” focuses on the Collegiate Recovery community at the University of Michigan, one of 135 such programs at colleges and universities throughout the United States. The goal of the Collegiate Recovery Program (CRP) is to help students maintain their sobriety while they also succeed in school. CRP does this by providing the education, resources, and community connection needed to help change the trajectory of recovering students’ lives.
It might seem like it should be a simple thing, but being a sober student on a college campus is anything but simple. Students are constantly exposed to alcohol and other drugs at parties and bars. On the day of a home football game, the pregame bashes/tailgate parties are endless, often times starting before most people sit down to breakfast. This culture is hard to avoid. It’s like peer pressure on steroids, and sometimes students isolate themselves in their dorm rooms or the library just to escape the debauchery.
Mary Jo Desprez, who started the University of Michigan’s branch of Collegiate Recovery, told the New York Times: “It shouldn’t be that a young person should have to choose to either be sober or go to college.”
Amen to that.
Just how big of a role can CRP play in a young person’s life? Hannah Miller, a 27-year-old University of Michigan grad student, who’s been sober for more than four years, told me: “Everything that I have in my life today is a direct result of my sobriety. The Collegiate Recovery Program is a recovery community within a much larger recovery community that continues to act as a safe haven for me on campus.” She went on to say, “In CRP we share the challenge of being sober in an environment that is more or less abstinent hostile, and with that common challenge we are able to find alternatives and solutions together. The community that I have with CRP is invaluable, and I am honored to be part of it.”
From my experience, it’s becoming commonplace to find young people in their twenties—or even late teens—who have been in recovery for two, three, or even more years. Still others have simply chosen to live a sober lifestyle. All of these brave young adults have taken a stand and are not afraid of how others may judge them. And they deserve support.
In addition to the Collegiate Recovery Program, there are other groups that help young people get and stay sober. For example, Young People in Recovery (YPR) has local community-led chapters across the country. Their mission is to support young people who are in or seeking recovery by helping them find jobs and housing, and assisting their exploration of continuing education. YPR is all about encouraging and empowering young people who are, or want to be, sober.
Another organization that is working to make being young and sober cool and acceptable—and accessible—is Blue Community. Founded by Asher Levine, a certified interventionist and treatment professional, Blue Community works to create young adult recovery communities and sober events. Two of their events are “Clean Break”—an affordable, drug- and alcohol-free spring break vacation, complete with fun activities and recovery meetings; and “Blue Rock”—a Labor Day weekend gathering at a camp in Georgia, where students stay in cabins and tents and kick off the start of the new school year with water sports, hiking, yoga, dodge ball, climbing, concerts, recreation, and community.
This is the kind of stuff young people who are in recovery need. They need community, not isolation. Instead of fellow students encouraging them to take a turn on the beer bong, they need community leaders and fellow students in recovery to encourage them to stay on the right path. Instead of ridicule, they need praise and support.
Young people today are stuck between a rock and hard place. If they use drugs and alcohol and get caught up in addiction, they are stigmatized by society as “bad” kids and may not seek the treatment they need.
On the other hand, if young adults choose to forgo drugs and alcohol, electing to live a sober life in a world that’s—as Hannah Miller put it—“abstinent hostile,” their peers may look down upon them. Being a college kid who doesn’t drink or use drugs can get you labeled as an outcast, and cause you to be stigmatized by your peers.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
We should applaud all of the young people who have chosen sobriety. They are true heroes in recovery. The decision to live a life free from alcohol and drugs is a monumental and difficult one at any age. But to make that decision as a young person, when the whole world around you is bombarding you with messages that suggest partying is what you should be doing—well, that’s just flat out amazing.
We should also be giving standing ovations to any groups that support young adults and recovery. The Collegiate Recovery Program, Young People in Recovery, and Blue Community are just a few of the organizations that are truly making a difference. By providing fellowship, safety, and activities for sober kids, they are spreading the message that being young and sober is okay. And that’s a message that needs to be heard.
If you are in recovery, or if you have a loved one who is in recovery, please consider sharing your story on the Heroes in Recovery website. By sharing, you can offer hope to others while doing your part to help BREAK THE STIGMA.
You can share your story in one of two ways:
1.) Go to the Heroes in Recovery page, share your story directly, and let them know Dean sent you.
2.) Contact me on Facebook (Dean Dauphinais) and I can help you through the process. Or we can talk on the phone and I can help you write your story.
Also, please feel free to share this blog or leave a comment below. I’d love to hear any feedback you might have.
Peace.
–Dean