This job took some getting used to. The first time I told my story to a group of students, I looked down at my hands, sweating profusely, and adjusting my shirt the whole time. I was speaking to a group of 12-year-olds. I have worked with adolescents in after-school programs for years. As a counselor, any meaningful conversation was an exciting deviation from the continuous stream

During our drug-trends presentations, students are asked to answer a series of risk-assessment survey questions. Risk assessment and substance use disapproval is measured by questions such as “How easy is it to quit vaping”, “how dangerous is it to start smoking weed,” or “how risky is it to try the drinking once.” The answers to these questions reveal students’ beliefs about drugs

We know today that addiction is a life-threatening disease. We also know that successful disease prevention requires extensive research. We can’t prevent mental illness or covid-19 on a hunch and a prayer. When it comes to substance abuse prevention, we may have learned this the hard way. The first prevention program in America was built on the idea that we can build resilience in

I could not have imagined the breadth of knowledge and insight that students would offer me when I chose to start speaking at LSIS. I thought I would be presenting to groups of children who had never truly considered the consequences of drugs and poor coping methods. I thought they would be asking me what I meant by ADHD, anxiety, or coping methods. I thought they would be a little

I’d love to believe that when I tell my story to students, I am invariably preaching to the choir. It feels this way when we are at an elementary school, and all the kids gasp at my past decisions. There are many wonderfully encouraging conversations with these children. How we wish that were the whole story. It would be a great feeling to know we’d worked ourselves out of a job he

Every once in a while, during the question portion of my prevention speech, a middle schooler asks me a question or provides feedback that leaves me speechless. Aside from being incredibly moving, these questions provide insight into many aspects of our presentation’s impact. The differing responses we receive reveal the effects of reaching both the teenage skeptic and the receptiv

The stories of the people I’ve met since I began working at LSIS continue to amaze me. Whenever I begin a speech about substance abuse, there is always a moment where I briefly worry if people will care to receive our message. I often look around before my speech, thinking that I’m about to tell a story whose message might contradict the ideas, cultures, and lifestyles of some of t

He stood there fidgety, his big brown eyes, looked up at me and his deep, raspy teen voice asked with uncertainty, “Mom, can we talk?” Chances are, if you are a teen parent, this question will cause your heart to palpate and your palms to sweat because of two specific reasons. First, your teen wants to spend time with you and needs your advice on something (yay), or second, somethi

Knowing what you know now, would you go back in time and do it all over again? Or maybe pass down some whispers of wisdom to your younger self to alter a few life choices? If I could go back in time, I would look my teenage self in the eyes and tell her she would suffer heartache, self-doubt, fear, disappointment, and much more because she allowed people into her life that sucked a

Once upon a time, we held our babies in our arms and fed them when they couldn’t feed themselves. Then they grew, and we held their little hands as we encouraged them to take their first steps. Then they grew, and we read them bedtime stories and packed their lunch boxes with love notes. And then they grew, and we cheered for them on the sidelines as they made their goals and perfo