While going to college I have seen first hand how a anonymous group for students can help someone. I myself am not an addict to drugs or alcohol, but I do have family and friends who fall into those groups. One of my closest friends decided to try a twelve step programon campus three months ago and the results have been incredible. She has made a commitment to herself, and surrendered her decisions to a higher power alongside a group of supporters. By doing so, she is able to stay in control one day at a time. The 12 step campus she is a member of makes her feel able to stand tall in difficult situations where her addiction could normally get the better of her. Within three months she has rebuilt her positive energy, her healthy habits and most of all, her happiness. She writes in her diary every evening after doing her homework and before going to bed, about the ways in which she grew that day. She calls her sponsor at 7 a.m. every morning before class to commit her plan for the day. The amount of resolve she has to this twelve step program is admirable and makes me wonder what I’m missing out on. I claim no addiction of my own, but is that entirely accurate?
Her newfound pattern of life has brought me to question my own decisions while living on campus. I started to think that there may be an area or two in my life that could use some support I decided to do some research. What I found quite shocked me. There is literally a twelve step program on my campus for almost everything! From cluttering to overeating! And if there isn’t one, then surely it could be brought up with the campus administration and arranged. I’m still not sure which aspect of myself I’d like to attend to the most I think sometimes anger management may do me some good, or procrastinators anonymous. If there is a 12 step program for manic depressiveness, that would certainly be my program. It makes me wonder though, if a bunch of us manic depressives gather three times a week in the same place, would their cycles align? I can see it now. One month everyone in the room is ready to give up on everything, and then next week we decide to throw a party with a banner that says, “Life is Grand!!!” I don’t know. There are certainly things that I can stop doing and maybe I need some sort of intervention to find out what my main problem is. I suppose that if it’s a big enough problem, it will find me. But until then I continue to learn from from watching this close and dear friend of mine change her life one day at a time.
But as well as making me question my own issues, her new ways have been rubbing off on me Because we are so close her lifestyle has a profound effect on my own and we tend to mimic each other’s habits. In this case, because her lifestyle has changed for the positive and I am entirely supportive, I no longer drink as much. All said and done, I have an enormous respect for my school for providing anonymous groups for students to help people overcome the things they do not have the strength to overcome alone. I have seen first hand the positive changes that are possible as a result.
