Class of 1998 - Student Graduation Reflections

Wendy L.

My ADS Certificate will help me towards achieving my future goals as I will utilize what I've learned in these courses in my daily life and proudly present my credentials to future employers as I continue to work in substance abuse and beyond into Forensic Psychology. I believe that one should know addiction in order to productively help those in need of counseling. Addiction goes well beyond alcohol and drug abuse into innumerable areas of our lives. I now have tools to use in my work as a counselor, as well as a foundation to build upon for my future in Psychology.

I feel that I have grown as an individual in more ways than I could put in a one-page essay. I have learned to face my own issues and move past them. Because of what I learned in Relapse Prevention, in times of trial I know that what I am feeling is normal and that it too will pass, as it does. Due to what I learned in Co-Dependency, I now know my dysfunctional patterns and how they came to be and how to recognize them and change them. [.]

I have learned how to be free with people who are bound by this disease and live without fear around them. [.] All that I've learned will come out in my life as a person, an alcoholic and a counselor. I'm sure, beyond a doubt, that I will give what I gained and therefore will continue to gain in many ways. What could possible be better than that?

Livia A.

Yes, it is time to celebrate for me! I am graduating! I can't believe the big day has arrived. I came to Diablo Valley College two and a half years ago, uncertain, scared and with determination to make it. My life changed as I began my first steps toward school, study, and homework. My goal was to finish the Alcohol and Drug Study program and learn counseling techniques.

The ADS program has given me a key understanding of the problem of addiction and the dependency to illegal substances. I have acquired the knowledge to understand and believe that recovery is attainable from chemical dependence. I have acquired familiarity on how to serve and guide how to offer effective help in a coherent fashion. I have learned effective strategies for reaching and helping clients with motivational force for recovery. I have learned to maximize my influence, expertise and dynamics as a provider of a service to broken individuals suffering from an addiction. I found motivational roles to communicate the attainable solution of the problem.

From the point of view as a professional chemical dependency counselor, I have a specific goal and role in promoting and supporting recovery. I can offer assessment, treatment plan education, reality check, on-going support and recovery referral in the spirit of acceptance and hope. Once I have provided these tools, I have done my professional job. The objective of this degree has been to teach me and to develop my knowledge, my confidence, and my competence in applying skills for recovery issues and applying intervention techniques in alcohol and drug community treatment centers.

George P.

The ADS Program has helped me, both professional and my private life. While learning to work with others, I have had to take a good look at myself. I had to learn to open my mind to new ideas and new ways of thinking. I had to put my old rigid ways behind me. This has given me a new insight of others, their customs, ways and beliefs. This has helped me with my job, family, and friends. This, combined with the abundance of information and knowledge I have acquired in the program, will help to assure myself a better future in the many aspects of my life.

Entering into the recovery field, to me, is more than a career; it's a vocation or a calling. My degree will help to give me the foundation I need to build on to become the professional counselor I'm working so hard to become. The work I did and the many role models I had during my studies with instructors and students alike will help me achieve my goal. This is just the first step of the continuing education and self-work needed to achieve this goal.