Essay from GED student February 07

Note: At the beginning of each class, my students write five to ten minutes on a quote I have selected and written on the board.  This exercise gives them practice in developing writing, organizing and thinking skills. They do have the option of allowing me to read and correct their short essays. If it is too personal to share, they do not need to share it with me or others. They must, however, turn in at least one essay every week.  The following essay be Ryan Parker has not been corrected. It is as he wrote it.

Ruth Howe, Rio Salado

 The Quote of the Day: 

Happiness  is not much in having as sharing. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.  – Norman MacEwan

 A Gift Called “Sobriety”

by Ryan Parker

   The quote for means a lot about what I have been doing in my life recently. I have been away in a recovery program in southern Utah called Cross Creek Programs. I was there for 20 months and had just graduated on Dec. 17, 2006 .

   Being there has shown me a lot about who I am, and that it has given me a tool that I will have for the rest of my life if I live one day at a time, and that is my sobriety, and without it I have nothing.  I will not have relationship with my family, with friends, and also with myself, I will loose everything I have been working towards to this day. I have been sober for 22 months now, and I am only 18 years old. Everyday is a gift to be able to breathe a sober breath. I have been going to AA on a daily basis, and something that I have learned through this program is to help new comers, because I remember feeling hopeless and some stranger was willing to take me in under his wing, and I am doing the same. I do this because it keeps me sober, and helping people through hard times like the ones I have faced in my life definitely keep me sober.

   Giving back is one of the big things I have been doing because I want to share this gift of sobriety with others, and if I only get through to one person, it is worth all the work, and I would feel like I have saved someone’s life. And being able to come here and get my GED is a gift also, because I am also getting another chance at something great. It’s like the saying goes, “you need to give to receive.”