Class of 2004 - Student Graduation Reflections

Lane K.

I am a caring and compassionate woman. I allow people to express themselves and I am a good listener. I have a creative side and one of the things that I do with it is make people laugh, and I believe that is very healing.

I am grateful to be working in my field. I am able to give hope to the hopeless and to help people gain some self-respect and self-love.

I get back more than I have and that is truly a gift for me. I get to touch people's lives everyday in a very special way and to let them know they are safe.

Ted R.

I can make a difference in the world around me. It is the implicit nature of every living thing to care. That is the Spirit within. To care is the very essence of being alive. I can't be mad, sad, glad or scared unless I care. Even every plant strives with every fiber of its being to be the healthiest expression it can possible be of its implicit potential. For me, the Spirit of the Universe is to care. The more I trust the Spirit of the Universe, the more enthusiastically I hunger for the revelation of the truth, rather than fear it.

Taking these classes in Addiction Studies at DVC, along with 12-Step participation, and the various therapists I have been to, has definitely changed the way I view myself and therefore the way I view others. The most powerful thing that we learn at birth is that, if someone else doesn't care for us, we can't possible survive. The need to feel cared for and cared about is felt as our most fundamental survival need throughout all our early years.

I strive to bear witness to my own experience as directly, honestly and unpretentiously as I can. When I succeed in doing this, people listen and value what I say, because they sense that what they are hearing is real life and not image. The more I do this the more I am at peace with who I am at any given moment. I have discovered that most of my wants have actually been disguised or indirect, and generally unsuccessful, efforts to satisfy unfulfilled needs that have been blocked. As I learn to more and more successfully satisfy my illegitimate self-care needs, I discover that I have fewer and fewer wants. As a result, I spend less and less time thinking about myself. I find myself more and more spontaneously caring about the needs of others. As I have done so, I have begun to feel like a caring and valued human being.

Experience is the true teacher in life. More and more, I see my experiences and the experiences of others, not as something to be ashamed of or judged, but as opportunities to learn about life.

When I am at peace with myself, others can feel at peace with themselves in my presence. The most important thing that I can do to make a difference in the world is to learn to be at peace with myself and with all truth. I certainly cannot guide others to achieve something that I have been unable to achieve myself. The most effective way I can make a difference in those around me and in myself, is to get to know the Spirit of the Universe as closely as I can "in terms of my own experience" through caring and truthful actions toward others and myself.

Holly H.

When I enrolled in DVC in 1984, my first class was Perspectives on Alcoholism. This was before the addiction studies and counseling programs existed. I remember how terrified I was and how frightened I felt as I forced myself to show up each week. That class represented an important first step in coming to believe it might be possible to use my life experience as a recovering alcoholic woman to make a positive contribution and to help other people who were struggling with the disease of addiction. That belief grew slowly over time.

In the years since completing that first class, I went on to complete an A.A. degree and then a B.A. in Health Services Administration at Saint Mary's College. Last September, I graduated with a Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology from J.F.K. University and am working toward a licensure as a marriage and family therapist. It is with a great deal of pride that I now circle back to complete the program that was the beginning and foundation for my educational journey. It was here at DVC that I gained the confidence to take those first steps and to keep moving forward.

I can recall bristling with resent (in those early years) at the suggestion that formal education about addiction and treatment was necessary to broaden my perspective. Like many people I knew, I believed my personal experiences and the experiences I had heard about in meetings was enough.

It was not until years later that I could look back with some humility and see how narrow my perspective had been. I learned more about the nature and treatment of addiction in this program than in any other academic setting since. I feel fortunate for the education and training I received here and feel proud to be a graduate of this program. [.] I am much better equipped to help those struggling with addiction to evaluate the consequences of their substance abuse and assist them in considering a wider range of options available that can help reduce the negative impacts to their lives and the lives of their loved ones. Together we are making a difference - and for that, I am grateful