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I was just in a really dark place and I had no idea how I would ever get out
of it. My relationship with friends and parents was
severely damaged and I was just pretty miserable.
I was active in my addiction in college and I was addicted before I got into college.
That it's everywhere, you know you walked up and down the campus
and people are out with their red cups partying, and it just seems normal.
I know when I get in a bad spot, you know, sometimes that party right down
the road it just doesn't seem like too bad of an idea.
There wasn't any sort of resource at all for people who were in recovery.
Students shouldn't have to sacrifice school for recovery or recovery for school.
My name is Matt Statman, I'm the Collegiate Recovery Program manager.
My office is located on the fourth floor of University Health Service, room 4150.
What we're doing is creating a space where students in recovery can feel safe and comfortable
at the University of Michigan. We do that by facilitating peer support,
and by creating a space where they feel welcomed and valued
and where they can come talk about what's going on with them,
with each other, with staff, and also where they can just have a good time.
The group is made up of many people who are in recovery for many different things:
recovery from drugs, alcohol, food addictions, all of that.
It's hard getting sober. It's not easy.
That's why it's necessary to have a supportive community.
CRP was helpful for me to be able to talk to people and support and be supported
by people who were sharing my same struggle. You can learn a lot from hearing
different ways of managing, balancing your life,
especially being in school at U of M. Anything that I really need
I can come here first and kind of talk it over with a director
and have them help me get connected with other amazing programs that are at U of M
too. You know, the activities and the things we
do and having fun is...
I know for me it's extremely important. We do a lot of fun activities like
we play kickball, rented out Yost Ice Arena and went ice skating.
My favorite activity that we've done is the canoeing trip.
It was amazing just seeing this scenic part of Ann Arbor.
Also with the activities, we also do some service type project,
where we can go out and garden for a local facility,
or go to the Humane Society. I just really get to be myself
to my full capability and before I couldn't do that.
I've learned that I don't need drugs or alcohol to have fun on a college campus.
I just hope CRP continues to grow, gain new members
and help other people in recovery or are trying to get into recovery
because this is a great program. How many could really benefit from this?
Hopefully, this can get out to as many people as possible
and for the ones who want to do something like this,
it's here for them. Really spreading the word about addiction
because it is a life or death situation. Just like all these people
coming together to help build this program for students, it's so cool.
I've never suffered the same way that I used to
ever since I've gotten sober.