My Full Circle Moment

I went to a High School where drug use was normal. I had smoked weed with my friends a couple of times but never really liked it. It always made me paranoid and tired. However, in my friend group smoking weed was just an after-school activity for them while I was at cheer practice. Soon they started doing harder drugs and by the time I graduated high school, I knew two people who had been to treatment for drug addiction. One of the two I knew was their aunt and I could see its effects on their family. I had always wanted to help them but didn’t know how to because I was just a peer in their class. 

I knew that I always wanted to be a substance abuse counselor and work with teenage boys because I would be able to do something I was not able to do in high school with my friends. I worked in a Juvenile Correctional Facility for two and a half years as a substance abuse counselor and I was able to reach a couple of teens. I thought I was living the dream until some unforeseen circumstances occurred and I decided to make a change. 

I started subbing at high schools to see if I possibly wanted to become a teacher. This job was incredibly boring and I hated it. But, one day I was back at my high school, and in one of my classes, a student was writing a paper about drug addiction. I talked to her and told her I was actually a substance abuse counselor and I was just seeing if maybe I wanted to teach. Her face lit up and she said, “Oh no so many people need help you should stick with counseling”. She told me how she had just gone to treatment and is now 5 weeks clean. The next day I was in the same class and I brought her a paper with a meeting and some resources on it. I was not able to put everything I wanted on that paper, but she was so thankful and excited.

I was definitely overstepping my bounds as a substitute teacher, but I did not care because in that moment I was able to do what I never could. I was able to help someone at my high school where it all started and realize that counseling is my passion. That single moment made everything worth it and was definitely a full-circle moment.