Connor F., twenty-two years old and majoring in Business Management was the next student I had the chance to interview for Recovery Month. Connor started his education here at the Augsburg StepUP program in the spring of 2015 and has been here since. His sober date is January 15th, 2014 and I will share some of his experience, strength, and hope that he has shared with me.
Connor grew up in Detroit, Michigan very dedicated to sports, he even played hockey at Curry College until addiction took over. He came across a rough patch in his life that helped fuel his use of drugs and alcohol. Within a short amount of time Connor was dealing with the loss of his older brother to addiction, his father being indicted on federal charges, and his own addiction flaring up. All of this gave him many reasons to use, but also to recover.
Treatment was never a consideration for Connor until a family trip down to Florida over Christmas break. His parents brought up treatment and Connor was against the idea mainly because he didn’t want to stop using. Connor left Florida early and came back home to a rude awakening. He had spent New Year’s Eve intoxicated at home alone and had a moment of clarity that treatment might be what he needed. New year’s day Connor awoke to the sight of used drugs and alcohol surrounding him, and the moment of clarity he had the night before returned. He knew treatment was next on the agenda and became willing.
Connor contacted The Retreat, a rehabilitation center located in Wayzata, MN. They didn’t have an open bed for another two weeks. He tried to stay clean those two weeks but could not. He finally got into the retreat and stayed there for 30 days not knowing what he was in store for.
After treatment he was sent to a sober house located in St. Paul called the Buffalo House. It was here that he met a few other young men in recovery that had once been part of Augsburg’s StepUP program. They told him all about the program and how possible college was. He became dead set on attending Augsburg and being part of the StepUP program. He was going to start in the fall of 2014 but decided against it. Then the following spring he knew he needed to be all in to make this work and took all the necessary steps to assure a smooth transition into StepUP.
Connor has been a dedicated student at Augsburg for almost a year now. In the fall of 2015 he also started working for the Augsburg Department of Public safety. Today he does a lot for his community to continue his recovery. A very important part of Connor’s life today is to live life in the present, because he has spent the majority of his life living in the past or future and to live that way for him is crippling. I am very grateful Connor allowed me to share his story. He has been a friend of mine since he started his education at Augsburg and is always there when I am in need of a friend.
-Blake Halvorson