So this past week I have been trying to get at least one life story from an adolescent to help make this project meet the standard that I  planned on it meeting. I, however, have been sadly disappointed. I am still running into the same issues. I have talked to several adolescents but they either don't have any form of recovery or they are currently in a rehabilitation program and I cant publicly post their story due to HIPPA or confidentiality. It's the same issues I have faced with this entire project. I have however thought about letting a 16-year-old boy share his story just because it is filled with pain and I am sure there are a lot of people that could relate to his upbringing and what has led to his poor choices. I do have his mothers permission. That being said this boy is still currently active in his using and I am not sure I am comfortable with someone sharing just sickness with no message of hope or recovery.I have thought long and hard abo...

My name is Christine and I'm a recovering addict. I started to use alcohol when I was 8 and drugs when I was 11. We have to remember that alcohol is a drug so not to forget that anything can set us back. A little background on myself is that I grew up in a small town in Nebraska with about 300 ppl. I was brought up in a certain lifestyle with my dad and grandparents. Which was very strick  and church like. I was in a parochial school from kindergarten to 8th grade. Life for me was sheltered early on, and I began to ask questions. Questions of "why" or "why me?" My mother died when I was 2 and I began to resent the higher power that I was brought up with. Resent because of the pain I felt inside and the pain from not understanding life as it was. Nothing was fair and nothing's seemed to make sense to me on how I could feel such an empty hole inside all the time. I understand today that I made myself to be the victim of what my higher powers will had in s...

I am currently trying to get more recovering addicts to give their life stories. I have one set up this coming week. I am trying to get in contact with some adolescent's to tell their story. This has been a real issue. I haven't been able to find any youth that could tell a story with any kind of recovery. My fear is that I will get a life story that doesn't share any kind of recovery. I am wanting to a story of experience, hope, and strength. If you get a story of just experience which would be someone throwing up all the wreckage, broken lifestyle choice and drugs then just leaving it at that. I don't want someone who struggles with addiction to hear a story and want to go out and use. That would be the exact opposite of what I am trying to do. My whole agenda and Idea of this project are to create hope or a sense of wanting to do something different. In my experience, I didn't know there was another choice or even that, that choice was mine I know as chi...

The first life story I received was from a young lady name Breanna. Due to our demanding schedules, we were unable to find middle ground on a video or audio sit down. She was honored to be asked to be a part of my project. Here is a letter she wrote. Page 1 Page 2 Page 3

My first life story. This is a dear friend of mine. I was lucky enough to not only hear but also be able to share this story of recovery and life with others. I have seen this man struggle and I have also seen him thrive. I'm blessed to know such great people. This is a message of experience, strength, and hope  This link is to the audio recording of Trent H. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qJVQdPo5ChVdVaf7pMB5Jn1jPak_kwWP/view?usp=sharing  

My Proposal: Genius Hour Problem The problem is that there are too many adolescents that suffer from addiction and are limited to their resources for any type of recovery. These adolescents are limited to government funding rehabilitation programs or behavior programs. Being government or state-funded these facilities are restricted on their methods of treatment and their funding comes from government or state requirements that must be implemented in their form or method of treatment. Rehabilitation is narrowed to just a few subjects which would be the using of such substance, behaviors, and abstinence of such substances. These don’t even scratch the surface of the real issue and very few centers have any type of support system set up after the discharge of a person after in-patient treatment is completed. There are some programs set up to spread the awareness of drug and alcohol abuse to youth one that you may be familiar with is D.A.R.E, as well as red ribbon week. These program...

 Over the past week and a half, I have had many encounters with recovering addicts.  It's easy for me to contact addicts in all stages of recovery. I belong to a fellowship that is based on recovery and I myself am a recovering addict. I chose to base my project on adolescents that suffer from addiction. And at the time I felt like I had plenty of resources to complete this project and hopefully reach at least one person with the message of we do recover. I am very passionate about recovery and I would like to give back to the communities in which I have taken from. My plan for my "Genious Hour" was to video interview addicts that have a desire to change their lives. I was wanting to get not only adult but also youth that could speak about their story and help others relate through their life story and combine the message that an addict can lose the desire to use and find a new way to live. I know that with my own personal recovery I can relate to life stories I have hear...