A current student will speak about a “dark” time in his life and his journey to recovery.
By Lionel Ramos
lramos174@student.alamo.edu
The Human Services Club and the student advocacy center will host a fall Recovery Speaker Smash 6-7:30 p.m. Dec. 6 in Room 212 of the student advocacy center.
The event is taking place to normalize recovery from substance abuse on this campus and will feature two speakers: Mickey Benitez, clinical director of NuHope, and Dustin Williams, addiction counseling sophomore.
Both have recovered from substance abuse. Benitez has been sober for 22 years and Williams 1½ years.
Williams will speak about his journey through the recovery process.
“You name it, I did it, but mostly opiates,” he said.
“I remember being pretty helpless. I was going to take my own life, or the drugs were going to take my life,” he explained, describing that period of his life as “dark.”
According to a bar graph on the website for the National Institute on Drug Abuse, www.drugabuse.gov, there were an estimated 49,068 deaths in 2017 caused by an overdose on opiates.
In addition to the two speakers being presented, there will be refreshments and an opportunity for students involved in the human services program to network with professionals.
For more information regarding the event, contact the president of the club, Roy Perez, at 210-489-9394 or the student advocacy center at 210-486-1003.
