A's Story

"I was born at Lenoir Rhyne Hospital in Hickory, NC. on July 18, 1988 weighing about 14 ounzes. My grandfather called me "hugey" and my whole famly thought I was going to be fat. My first word was "Ma" on May 14th, 1990. I don't remember much of myself as an infant.

I began attending middle school at Viewmont Elementary, were we had a guinea pig as a pet in my homeroom class. My dad owned three dry cleaning stores in North Carolina and I would help him after school everyday on weekdays. On the weekends I would usually be at my moms place of work, The Church of the Ascension. She taught Sunday school and she was my teacher, so I was always on my best behavior.

My father was very into golf and became a Pro at Lake Hickory Country Club. We played in a lot of father and son tournaments when I was younger and we were pretty succesful. I also enjoyed playing tennis and took lessons and practiced with my family and friends.

I moved to Sarasota, Florida in 1999 and began to attend a small private school called Out of Door Academy, I shortly got kicked out and started to attend Cardinal Mooney, were I did pretty well in school. I enjoyed playing the bass and practiced all the time.

I started smoking that marijuana in the ninth grade and experimented with a lot of other drugs as well as partying and drinking on the weekends with friends. I got kicked out of Mooney on my Senior year for failing a drug test and got charged with possesion of marijuana and a knife in my car. I then finished high school at Sarasota High, This was easy and I graduated with a good GPA and shortly after I went to Gainesville to start college. There I did very well, eventhough I was smoking pot daily and drinking occasionally.

My life became unmanageable when I returned home to Sarasota and all of my friends were doing pills and hardcore drugs. My life went downhill and I went from snorting pills to smoking oxycontin and then came shooting them. I was heavily addicted to the rush and tried quitting on my own many times without success. My mom knew there was something wrong with me but I denied it, until she saw track marks on my arms. She tried to get me clean by sending me to detox, which I relapsed from immediately.

After realizing I couldn't recover in Sarasota, my mother decided to send me to Synergy Group Services, and I couldn't be any happier. I came here on December 2, 2009 and now here 24 days of sobriety under my belt and for the first time in many years I am enjoying being sober. I am going to be staying here for another month and plan on staying in West Palm Beach because the change in environment has been really good for me.