My College Experience

My decision to attend Missouri western state university was because of many bad decisions and missed opportunity’s in my life. These self, doubt’s eventually led me to change the course of my life by making the choices to get clean and sober and to get an education. I was the youngest of eight siblings as I was growing up. I saw my brothers using alcohol and drugs. As I look back today I wondered why I did not think when watching that, their using was wrong. Then unfortunately one day in my teens, I decided to drink alcohol. This use of substance led to my use of marijuana. Then the next drug that led to my destruction was cocaine. For fourteen years I was in and out of the prison system, I was charged with stealing , burglary, possession of a controlled substance , and unlawful use of a weapon, I felt ashamed, guilty and depression set in. I “remember asking” myself what has my life become?” My life changed the day my mother passed and I was in prison. I am convinced that drinking led to my use of marijuana and what led me to drink was I was raped by four of my brothers at the age of six years old. The last year I was in prison I went through treatment for a year. While in treatment I came to realize I didn’t want to live like I had been. I wanted to help myself so I could eventually help others and I never looked back because I had dealt with the hurt and pain of my past I had layed it to rest. I made a choice to get clean and sober I took the necessary steps to do what needed to be done to reach my goal. I followed the rules of recovery and went to my meeting’s, and got a sponsor who helped me put my life back together. I have been clean now for fifteen years, as of November of 2015. I started to go to this program called Graduation Recovery in 2005. I went there for a year studying and bringing my homework home I studied every night and in class getting help from my teacher’s when needed. I graduated June 1 of the following year and walked across the stage at central high school with the other students. I did not want to continue going to school so I resigned myself to being good with what I had achieved which was my high school diploma. I worked at different jobs MC Donald’s and H PI which stands for innovators in chemical formulation, process and product development for the private label and industrial markets. But I wanted to do more. and I simply wasn’t ready. My boss Rita Miller Davis told me that I could still go to college. I would learn a lot also I could help people like myself get through a difficult time in their life. Upon furthering my education I would in fact give something back to society. MRS. Davis informed me that I could go for a bachelor’s in social work. To develop myself I started to go though the process of attending serenity counseling services and shadowed social workers and staff, sat in on groups and conducted two groups aided in urinalysis which detects drugs in the urine. I have close to eighty hours for my required one thousand hours before I take my test for rasac 1 and rasac 2 Test I have to have which is a requirement for a bachelor’s in social work . And I am waiting for Gail Black, who is over the Department of Mental Health to approve me to continue at the counseling services I will have to take two …show more content…
And I hope to eventually work in other areas of social work. Observing these groups allowed me to strengthen my knowledge of social work group settings. As I mentioned before I have had personal experiences with drugs and alcohol I will use my own experiences to relate with this group of clients. I have been asked to volunteer at the Y.W.C.A. to observe first-hand the effects of domestic violence aided by drugs and alcohol on young women with Children. I shadowed a worker there and she said it was rewarding but it is strenuous work and not all are willing to help themselves and many of them are on drugs and can be manipulative and difficult to