The StepUP program offers a variety of service opportunities to the students and I thought I would write about my personal experience with one of these many opportunities. Every second and fourth Tuesday of the week, StepUP holds a commitment where the students take a big book meeting to Hazelden Center for Youth & Families (HCYF) in Plymouth, MN. I have been the main contact for this responsibility for a few months now and it has become the weekly highlight of my recovery.
I often don’t want to make the drive out to Plymouth, but am always pleased afterwards. I attended treatment at HCYF and have always been grateful to be able to give back to their organization. I have spoken there a handful of times through channels not related to StepUP, but to lead a consistent commitment connected with the program that has allowed me to achieve so much, makes me grateful beyond measure. We usually have around three or four StepUP students that spend an hour there every other week. However that hour carries over and is with me throughout the entire week.
I spent so many days and nights there when I was in inpatient treatment that memories flood my senses every time I walk through their doors. I was able to start over there and it feels so good to continue going back to see so many others getting the chance to start over as well. One great thing this service opportunity has given me is a chance to sponsor and share my experience, strength, and hope. It’s great, because I was sitting right where all the patients are sitting not that long ago.
Service is a huge part of what keeps me sober today because I can’t keep my sobriety unless I give it back. A great thing about taking meetings to a treatment center is that it helps humble me and remind me where I was and how far I have come. I know I am just as close to my next drink as the kids in treatment. So I take out assurances such as committing to service to keep me moving away from my will and towards my higher powers will.
I learned about the StepUP program while I was attending treatment in Plymouth so it really is an honor to be able to spread the news that collegiate recovery is possible. Newcomers are the most important thing to my 12-step program, and treatment centers are the best place to find them through attraction and not promotion.
-Blake Halvorson