Hi there, my name is Sydney Hammer-Powell and I am a part time student at Lane. I am 19 years old, 20 on the 27th of this month (Aquarius) and I am a male, my pronouns are he/him. This is my technically sophomore year, although I was in a pretty dark place, headspace wise during the 2019/2020 school year and didn’t get much out of it. I am a recovering addict, 107 days sober as I write this post. I had you would call a pretty normal childhood, my parents split when I was young but I spent equal time at both houses and was emotionally stable. Im an only child by the way. I graduated high school with okay grades and started to get mixed up with a negative crowd. A combination of wanting to fit in, social anxiety, substance users all around me, and easily accessible drugs lead me down the road to addiction pretty quick. I forgot who I was, what my values were and only cared about getting high. This last September I started having seizures and had to check into Riverbend hospital. When I got out, my parents and decided as a whole that I needed treatment, so I checked into Serenity Lane in Coburg. Best decision I ever made! I have come full circle since getting out of treatment. I am living on my own, have a job that I am content with and am more fulfilled than I can ever remember being, not to mention my depression and anxiety have plummeted. I know this journey of life still has its struggles, but I am learning how to cope with those issues rather than try to pretend they do not exist. I am so grateful to be here, alive today, with a roof over my head and an access to education. I haven’t chosen a major yet, but I am very interested in film arts and found this class compelling. Im excited to learn with you all this next term. Bless up!