I thought I would share how and where my journey in sobriety began. After my last night of drinking I decided to quit everything cold turkey. After four days straight of being awake and unable to sleep or relax I finally decided to go to the health center at CU. I had a cut on my leg where the stitches had ripped open and I thought my cut must be infected and that was the reasoning behind my irritability and discomfort. This is where I met nurse Mary McQueen. After she examined my cut and patched me up, she declared my cut was fine but there definitely was something wrong with me, she just couldn’t put her finger on it. It was then that I decided to share with her that 4 days prior I had quit drinking and smoking abruptly. This is when she became concerned for my state of being and strongly urged me to go check into the alcohol detox center in boulder county (aka- the drunk tank). I'd been there before. All I knew was, there was no chance I was going to go back. I had also missed an important presentation I was supposed to give in class and was hoping nurse McQueen would be able to help me out with a note explaining my situation. Her response was, “first you need to get yourself help and then we can talk about a doctor’s note.” She clearly wanted to help me, but I left the health center feeling absolutely hopeless -- I wanted help but I didn’t know where or who to turn to. I remembered my boss, Sue Dangel, I worked for her at the UMC security and thought maybe I could go to her. Why? Simply because she resembled a motherly figure, always compassionate and understanding, so I decided to head to her office and explained to her what nurse McQueen had told me and how I feared for the worse; I may be an alcoholic. Immediately she was comforting and it was right then where she took me downstairs in the UMC (CU’s Student Center in the heart of campus) to this quaint and cozy room where the Collegiate Recovery Center had just opened the month prior. As I walked into this room I was overcome with a sense of ease and relaxation, there sat the director, Danny Conroy, along with one of my classmate’s, Jake. I broke down in tears and shared with them what I had been going through, and that all I wanted to be able to do was stay sober for reals this time. But I had one condition- I wasn’t going to any of those 12 step meetings because “no offense, that’s for old people like you." That is what I told Danny and he will never let me forget it! He said there was no requirement that I do that, and simply suggested that I start hanging around the center and meet kids that are living a sober life and see how they were doing it. That is exactly what I did . It was through the support of all the kids I met through the center that helped me persevere through a lot of difficulties I encountered in the beginning. If it wasn’t for the community in the CRC and the people that helped lead me there, I honestly don’t know if I could have been able to do it. Certain people are placed in your path for a reason. From my experience all I needed was an open mind and the willingness to ask for help, and to return that favor, which allowed things to change for the better.
Sue, Jill, and I at the UMC at CU
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