How a Twelve Step Campus Indirectly Changed My Way of Thinking

While going to college I have seen first hand how a 12 step campus can affect a person. I myself am not an addict to food, booze or drugs but I do have family and friends who fall into those groups. One of my closest friends joined a anonymous groupon campus 90 days ago and the results have been incredible. She has made a commitment to herself, and surrendered her pride to a higher power and a group of supporters. By doing so, she is able to curb her addiction one day at a time. The 12 step campus she is a member of allows her to stand tall in tough situations where her addiction could normally get the better of her. Within three months she has increased her positive energy, her healthy habits and most of all, her enjoyment of life. She writes in her journal every night after doing her homework and before going to sleep, about the challenges she overcame that day. Every morning before class she calls her sponsor to commit her plan for the day. The amount of dedication she has to this 12 step program is admirable and makes me think about what I’m missing out on. I claim no addiction of my own, but is that the truth?

Her newfound pattern of life brings me to question my own choices while living on campus. I started to think that there may be an area or two in my life that could use some maintenance. I decided to do some research. What I found quite shocked me. There is literally a 12 step program on my campus for almost everything! From cluttering to overeating! 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 anger management may do me some good, or procrastinators anonymous. If there is a program on campus for manic depressiveness, that would certainly be my group. It makes me wonder though, if all of these manic depressives gather twelve times a month in the same place, would their cycles align? I can see it now. One day everyone in the room is ready to give up on everything, 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 they are. I suppose that if it’s a big enough problem, it will find me. But until then I continue to draw inspiration from watching this brave college student better her life one day at a time.

But as well as making me question my own habits, her new ways have influenced me in the same constructive manner as they have her. Because we are so close her lifestyle has a profound effect on my own and we tend to feed off 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 school 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.