Sober fun on St. Patty’s day

~ Jason Schwartz

ryanhowell

I teach at a local university and some years I teach on Saint Patrick’s day. It’s bad. Green beer starts flowing early, there are very drunk people wandering around all day, people passed out on the sidewalk, etc. Worst of all, it’s the default thing to do if you’re a young college student on St. Patrick’s day.

That’s why it’s so nice to see the growth of the Collegiate Recovery Program at University of Michigan. It would be cool no matter what, but it’s even cooler because they’ve been such good friends to Dawn Farm.

USA Today covered their St. Patty’s day event:

“Priority number one is to have fun,” says Molly Payton, 23, a general studies senior at Michigan, who has been sober for one year and attended the Sober Skate. “When I was in recovery, my big fear was that I wouldn’t have fun anymore … it was baffling to think I could have a life outside of drugs and alcohol.”

“For me, Fridays and Saturdays were tough,” adds Garrett Gibbons, 27, a graduate student in pathology at Michigan who is also in recovery.

“Those were nights when I knew I would party, knew I would drink. That’s why this is an important time for us.”

Published by Jason Schwartz

I have been an addiction professional and social worker since 1994. I started blogging in 2005 as the Clinical Director at Dawn Farm. I no longer work at Dawn Farm and am now the Director of Behavioral Medicine at a community hospital, and a lecturer at Eastern Michigan University’s School of Social Work. Views expressed here are my own. Keep in mind that the field, the contexts in which the field operates, and my views have changed over time.