Recovery gives you a clean slate in life, a brand new opportunity to take your life in a brand new direction. Going back to school offers you the choice of concentration, asking you to choose what you want to study. What you choose as a concentration in school can guide your life skills, your life abilities, and/or a future career path. If you are starting schooling for the first time, you don’t have to choose a concentration right away because you will have a few semesters worth of “general education” class requirements to fulfill. Throughout the semesters you can take electives or talk with professors in other departments to decide what concentration you might be interested in choosing. Nearly all schools offer a career office which can offer you tests, analyses, and consultations to help point you in a direction. Remember, addiction once told you what you should, who you should be, and what your worth is. Today as a free man in recovery, you call the shots. Find your passion and follow it.
Course Load
Different schools weigh course credits differently. How many classes you take can depend on what you can handle, what you want to handle, whether or not you maintain a job or other responsibilities while you attend school, and how quickly you want to complete your major or program. Men in their first year of recovery should consider taking a lighter course load which will put them on campus in class only one or two days a week. You’ll need time to adjust to living sober, taking on homework and classwork, as well as routine and schedule. If your individualized treatment plan includes intensive outpatient, outpatient, or aftercare, you’ll need time in your schedule to meet your treatment requirements as well.
Campus Resources
At every school, you can work with a school guidance counselor who will help you choose classes, plan your semesters, and keep you accountable throughout the year while offering you support. You have a treatment team behind you as well as a network of people supporting your recovery. When you’re on campus and in a pinch, it can be helpful to know your guidance counselor is there to support you. Make an appointment and introduce yourself, explain your story, and express your commitment to recovery. Together with your treatment team, your guidance counselor can help create a sustainable academic plan for success. If you move away to college and participate in a traditional schooling experience, you’ll have access to on-campus therapeutic services. You may choose to work with a therapist on campus after treatment for easy access. Many college campuses offer sober dormitories, recovery support groups, and other on campus resources for support.
Everyday at Tree House Recovery, men are finding freedom from addiction. Our men’s treatment programs are designed to completely transform men’s lives, inside and out. Men create a lifestyle of sustainable recovery by creating a lifestyle of sustainable change and live limitless lives as a result. For more information, call: (503) 850-2474
