I thought this was a very touching story, this is a recovery story that a very close friend of mine sent to me. Please feel free to comment and discuss your own recovery stories as well! If you have a great story, email me and we will of course put it up as a main post! Here is the recovery story:
It all started with an idea that I could achieve something I wanted. That idea was to learn computers. I had already fought to have a medication that would not make my arms or hands shake. That way it did not look like I was on medication. I was already going to school and using an apple computer to learn typing, using a program called Typing Tutor. I was also learning math.
While I was going to school I was getting the necessary documents together to start college. I was accepted to the Metropolitan State College at Denver in August of 1993. I had already taken a year of WordPerfect on an IBM computer. My first week at college, I was sick and they had to re-adjust my medication. I had already missed a whole week of classes and had to re-arrange some due to the fact that you could only have four absences throughout the entire course; a limit I had already exceeded.
One of my new classes was creative writing/sociology and that teacher taught me something I have used ever since and that is never give up. I only attended college part-time to better concentrate on my classes. I never gave up; I had a dream to get an education. I finally graduated in 2001 after completing an internship in private practice counseling. I did not like it, so I enrolled at University of Colorado at Denver and started in May of 2002.
I took Public Administration and graduated in December of 2005 with my masters degree. All the time that I was going to college I was also at the Mental Health Center of Denver for treatment. I had several psychiatrists while I was there. I liked them all but some had to move on. I had the same counselor while I was there, and I always discussed school with him. He helped a lot because he knew others that had gone to, and successfully completed, college while in the recovery process.
I went one time to get a letter from my nurse and we were talking about how I would be finishing college soon. She told me about 2Succeed and how they would help with me making a resume. 2Succeed is a vocational program run through MHCD which helps people in recovery get further education, employment, etc. When I graduated, I went there and they signed me up and told me they could help me find a job and help me make a resume.. They did and my first job was on the survey team. I was on the first survey team in 2006. In 2007, I was also part of the survey team. I also worked as the survey manager for the PRO survey. Several of the consumer team members went on to find jobs elsewhere. Being part of the survey team gave us confidence to go and find work elsewhere. If you would like to find out a little more about the survey team then follow this link. Now I work as a full time employee for MHCD. I have been a consumer with MHCD for sixteen years.
I recently changed medicine and it had to be adjusted, although it is the best medicine I have been on since I was diagnosed with a mental illness. It allows me to work and do everything I want to do. It all has not been without struggles, but they are easier to deal with than before I had my mental illness. My old life was not so good, I could not achieve what I have achieved today. To me, recovery is changing your life for the better no matter what you want to do with your new life.
How inspiring! What a great contribution. Continuing through college to obtain a masters degree! And having a better life than before due to recovery.
Please feel free to comment and share your own experiences!
Until next time my friends, stay happy, stay healthy.
Lex
MHCD Research and Evaluations
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