Back in May when I approached Nick about telling his story, he took on the challenge of being an example of what addiction can entail and how people can battle adversity and succeed. I've known this man since 2003 in our days at Malden Catholic High School, never once would you have thought he was battling addiction and image issues. Nick was a confident young man, an athlete and a successful student, in an environment that groomed him to succeed in life post Malden Catholic

I can vividly remember stepping off the plane in Florida and thinking to myself, “what did I just get myself into?” Before I could even let my imagination run wild, I was greeted by someone who worked at the halfway house I was going to be living at. I stepped in his vehicle with all my worldly possessions and we talked about 90s era hip-hop as we drove to what would become my new home. When I pulled up, all I can remember seeing was some girl braiding a white guy’s hair on a

Right up until this exact moment in my life when I graduated college, there was always a blueprint for what path I should follow. First it was to get situated in high school and figure out where I fit in and what my strengths were. Then it was to get into a decent college and obtain a degree in some discipline that would become my career. It wasn’t that I was forced into it, but since my parents were the first to go to college in their families it seemed like the logical trac

Before I continue on with my story I would like to mention that I was overcome with anxiety as I was brainstorming this installment in the series. A lot of these memories bring me back to a time in my life that was very dark, very lonely and very confusing. I am not writing this so the reader feels bad for my situation, I am writing this to let you know we all have our fears. Fear is a normal emotion, and in the animal kingdom fear often times keeps those lower on the food ch

Whenever someone asks me to describe myself, I almost always become confused and uneasy about what that question actually means. Do they mean my physical attributes? Do they mean the standardized test type questions that you can only answer with a #2 pencil? Do they mean I should describe myself how I think the world wants me to appear at certain stages of my life? Well in any case, I don’t really believe any of those options hold much weight if you really want to get to know

Over the past few decades, writers and psychologists have been focusing on the specific amount of time it takes to become a "master" at any given discipline. The answer that was widely debated, with many alternative points of view being released, was 10,000 hours. I don't believe this is the be all end all, but as a whole I believe it helps to give most people a solid jump off point to any new hobby or skill they would like to undertake. My point is not to deter people from t