While going to college I have seen first hand how a 12 step campus can help an individual. While not an alcoholic myself, I have drug users in my family, and my group of friends. One of my closest friends began attending a 12 step programon campus 90 days ago and the results have been incredible. She has made a commitment to herself, and surrendered her decisions to a higher power alongside a group of supporters. This has enabled her to curb her addiction one day at a time. The anonymous group for students she is a member of makes her feel able to stand tall in difficult situations where her addiction could normally get the better of her. Within 90 days she has increased her metabolism, her energy level, her exercise pattern, and most of all, her enjoyment of life. She writes in her diary every evening after doing her homework and before going to sleep, about the journey she accomplished that day. She calls her sponsor at seven a.m. every morning before class to commit her plan for the day. The amount of dedication she has to this 12 step school of thought is admirable and makes me think about what I’m missing out on. I claim no uncontrollable vice of my own, but is that the truth?

Her newfound way of life brings me to question my own choices while living on campus. I wonder if I could be happier, healthier, more mentally and physically fit if I figured out what my vices were and found a 12 step program of my own. I decided to do some research. What I found surprised There is literally a anonymous group at my school for almost everything! From online gaming to workaholics! And if there isn’t one, then surely it could be brought up with the campus administration and arranged. I have yet to figure out which program would be right for me. I think sometimes it may be an anger management program, or procrastinators anonymous. If there is a 12 step program for manic depressiveness, that would certainly be my group. But I’m curious to know if a bunch of us manic depressives gather every week in the same place, would their cycles align? I can see it now. One month everyone in the room is ready to lay down and die, and then next week we decide to throw a party with a banner that says, “WooHoo!!!” I don’t know. There are certainly things that I can stop doing and maybe I need some sort of intervention to find out what my main problem is. I suppose that if the problem is big enough, it will find me. But until then I continue to learn from from watching this close and dear friend of mine improve her life one day at a time.

But as well as making me question my own habits, her new ways have affected me in the same beneficial manner as they have her. Because she is not only my friend, but my soon to be fiancé, and my roommate, her lifestyle has a profound effect on my own and we tend to mimic each other’s habits. In this case, because her lifestyle has changed for the positive and I am entirely supportive, I no longer do anything that contradicts her program’s creed. All said and done, I have an enormous respect for my campus for providing anonymous groups for students to help people gain control over the things they do not have the strength to overcome alone. I have seen first hand the positive changes that are possible as a result.