I have Patrick’s permission to share this photo and a bit of his story.

This picture was taken on Wednesday, June 12 at the 2019 Recovery High School Graduation (the full name of the school is the Raymond J. Lesniak Experience Strength and Hope High School). The high school’s recovery support is staffed by Prevention Links, a non-profit that I have worked at since the summer of 2017. The administration and the academics are provided by Union County Vo-Tech. It has been a wonderful and unique partnership between those organizations. The school has been located at the Prevention Links building in Roselle for the last few years. In 2019, Morgan Thompson became the CEO of Prevention Links. She is a Rutgers graduate (twice over), a person in long-term recovery, and (allow me to brag) a former student of mine.

Patrick struggled with substances during his freshman year. Things got worse. He bounced in and out of treatment. Switched schools. He was nasty to his parents and surrounded himself with negative peers. His grades plummeted. He was constantly in trouble. And usually high. Many people worried about his trajectory – the outlook was grim.

Patrick entered into recovery in August of 2017. He came to the Recovery High School in the fall. There were only a handful of students. While he missed the robust size of Metuchen, he worked closely with his recovery mentor, got a sponsor, spent time with his sober uncle, and began to apply himself in school. I would show up every couple of weeks and take him for a walk, regardless of whether it was hot, cold, or raining. We talked about school, his parents, girls, addiction, recovery, music, and his post high school plans. I enjoyed our walks.

The school grew and grew. This year we had almost two dozen students. Patrick was a leader and a role model. He had a bit of early senioritis, but he finished strong. And stayed sober the whole time. Patrick is going to college out of state (I wish he was going to Rutgers, but he is going to help his school develop their own recovery housing program).

At graduation, Patrick gave the student address. The NJ Commissioner of Education was there, along with some state legislators, several Union County Freeholders, the County superintendent, and a number of other officials who normally are not at high school graduations. The school has been able to thrive because of our diverse and powerful group of supporters. Patrick didn’t realize it, but he was under a bit of pressure to make a good impression. There were several speeches before him, and I could see that he was getting a little bored. From the audience, I have gave him a number of facial and hand signals to smile and bear with it.

When it was his turn to talk, he slayed it. He spoke about his addiction and the problems he caused his family. There were several moments that I teared up. He took us on a rollercoaster ride. It started quite sad. Painful. Then I felt hopeful. And pride. Near the end, he made us laugh a bunch. It was a killer speech (you should have been there).

I’ve been working in the addiction and recovery field for 16 years. There have been a lot of hard moments, in both the clinical and policy arenas. I’ve seen a lot of despair and death. I need moments like last Wednesday, when I get to see someone who has gotten sober communicate to others the joy and power of the journey. People can get clean and sober at any age, but the younger they do it, the less wreckage they have to clear. They also have a higher ceiling. I’ve been working with college students for a long time and will continue to do so. But getting sober in high school? Crazy. Inspirational. Life changing.

Great job Patrick. I’m so proud of you. Keep helping others.