Ryan W. – Class of June 2008
Ryan W. is finishing his first year at Suffolk Community College. He will have three years of sobriety on October 30, and continues to do well.
He explained that he is getting help from many different places, including meetings, his sponsor, and his parents.
His family life is better than ever, and his parents are a major support for him in almost anything he does.
Ryan keeps himself busy with college but he still finds time to have fun. Whether it is taking road trips or hanging out at the beach, he explained that there is always something to do.
He currently has a girlfriend and is living at home, and says everything is going very well.
Whelan is a living example of being able to have fun in sobriety.
Paul S. – Class of June 2007
Paul S. is in his junior year at Marywood University. He is studying Sports Nutrition.
After attending The Family Foundation School for about 2 ½ years, Paul graduated in June 2007. He was in Family Two.
He is keeping busy with college and in his free time he likes to play basketball, surf, play pool, go to the movies and hang out with his sober friends. He plans to stay as busy as possible throughout this upcoming summer. The now 25-year-old Paul said, “Life is pretty good.”
Paul says that he owes a lot to Ted Towsley who was his sponsor while he was here.
Paul advised FFS students to “listen to staff, especially your sponsor. Trust him and be honest.”
Paul made a tremendous improvement throughout his stay here at FFS. He is an entirely different person than he was when he first walked through the front doors of The Family School.
“Once I was able to be honest and trust people, I grew a lot,” said Paul.
Nina C. – Class of June 2008
Nina C. graduated from The Family Foundation School in June 2008. Nina was here at FFS for 20 months before she graduated and was in Family Four.
Nina is 18 years old and says that life is great. She recently graduated from cosmetic school and will soon be working in a beauty salon in Manhattan.
Since her departure from FFS she has been doing her best to help people and do the right thing.
“Take advantage of being here, and learn what you can,” said Nina.
She recently visited FFS over the weekend of May 16 and 17. She came back to see her old friends and family, as well as share her experience, strength, and hope with the students here at FFS.
“It’s all worth it in the end,” said Nina.
Jim M. – Class of December 2008
Dear Family Times,
It has been about six months since two of the best co-editors this newspaper has ever seen (Lauren I. and I) graced room 107 with our presence.
I am just kidding, and have been very impressed with the issues that The Times have put out most recently. I was especially excited to see that new columns aimed more towards the students of FFS have finally made an appearance in the newspaper; this was a feat that my class just couldn’t seem to accomplish.
The growing Natural Gas extravaganza has been very well covered and has maintained the journalistic quality of the original “Fracked with Questions” issue of last year. And, thank God, those NYRI bandits are out, but I would advise you to continue to be vigilant with the story. You never know when those greedy capitalists will pop up.
I graduated FFS in December ‘08. Since then life has been a beautiful experience. Shortly after graduation I got a job working in the kitchen of a retirement community of nuns. It has certainly taught me a lot about religious life and living in community, and it has also taught me a great deal of patience and compassion. I am always reminded of FFS when I am turning on the dining room steam table and see the elderly religious bicker over miniscule issues and then lovingly apologize to one another.
I have just completed a semester at Community College of Vermont and I’m pretty sure I got all A’s. I am heading to St. Michael’s College here in Vermont in the fall. The only advice I would give on college classes is not to procrastinate, ask plenty of questions in class, and don’t take yourself too seriously. If you can pass The Family School’s classes, then you can pass college.
I have reconnected with a couple old friends, but I found that when I came back to my hometown and ran into old using buddies we now had nothing in common and had no means of forming a different relationship. The old temptation is there with people, places, and things, but as long as I remain spiritually fit then I will not be affected by these situations.
Since coming home I have become involved in various local charities and have become involved and concerned with issues affecting the area that I live in. I have begun work on a documentary on the homeless “problem” currently facing Vermont. So far this project has brought me to deeper levels of compassion and love for humanity.
I have also been involved in a Twelve Step group and have begun sponsoring other alcoholics. A national convention of young people in sobriety is coming to Vermont next spring, and we have begun hashing out every detail of this event. Being a member of this committee thus far has taught me a great deal about service work.
I have also had the opportunity to travel to Manhattan for a few retreat weekends with the Capuchin Franciscans. My spirituality has been nourished by these retreats and my local church community. Most of all I have been spiritually fed by the work done with the poor. The most enlightening conversations about God and love have been with the outcasts of society.
Keep up the good work, I am looking forward to seeing all of you in June for graduation.
Peace, Love, Joy,
Jim M.
Jenny K. – December 2007
I left FFS in December 2007, just one term short of graduation. It was a difficult decision. On the one hand, I had the desire to restore the relationship with my family and to be a “good daughter” again; but on the other hand, I knew that at FFS I had the chance to earn a high school diploma earlier than I could have done anywhere else. Since I had lost so much academic time due to my “escapades” in the past, staying there an extra six months would have given me a perfect opportunity to catch up academically. Yet, I made the decision to go home when I turned eighteen. To express my feelings about this decision, I am borrowing from Robert Frost: I chose “the road less travelled by” and maybe that has made all the difference.
When I was back in Monaco, I sometimes doubted if I had made the right decision. But I kept in mind something my father had once said to me: “Jenny, when you make a decision, it is not always possible to know if it was the right one; the important thing is that you run with the decision you have made.” Today, I put great importance on the advice my parents give me and I value their opinions more than ever. During the time at FFS, I realized how much I appreciate and love them. And since the day I entered their house again, my process of making amends hasn’t stopped. For example, recently my parents asked me to take care of the household and my little brother for one week while they were travelling. The fact that they asked me to do this shows me that I am gaining their trust back. It is incredibly rewarding to know that they feel like they can rely on me.
Well, the months from December 2007 until June 2008 passed unbelievably fast, and I remember finding myself standing underneath a palm tree in Monaco, thinking: “Today is graduation day in the US, but not for me.” This epiphany made me see clearly what lay before me: a longer road to college and many challenges to create a viable application for a high-quality school. But I remain motivated and enthusiastic to reach my goal. I looked into my options and decided to take the GED. This didn’t appeal to me because I knew that the GED was not an academic degree much admired by universities. However, it did become a symbolic stepping stone up my working ladder. I spent a lot of time preparing for the exam and I learnt again how much instruction I lacked due to not taking high school seriously when I was 15. In spite of this, I enjoy studying with my tutor and I love learning new things; acquiring knowledge has become one of my favorite activities.
When the day of the test approached, I felt confident and ready to take it (maybe a little too confident as I didn’t think the GED could be difficult). But when my results arrived, it was anything but joy and coolness. I had failed the math section; I wanted to scream and give up. I thought about what had happened. I remembered how I felt after giving up in the past and compared it to the feeling of accomplishment, so I decided to stay on the ball and to persevere. Thanks to what I learned at FFS, I am much stronger at confronting failure.
I am currently training myself intensely to earn a good grade for the GED math section the next time I take it. I am also working on numerous other subjects and exams to extend my knowledge and to qualify for applying to college. These include: the SATs, AP exams, the TOEFL exam, and a business management course with an English university. In addition, I will take summer courses in London, Cambridge and Oxford in July and August. I am also signed up for a Red Cross first aid course and am designing a website for a local non-profit association (to rescue and care for stray cats). I am extremely excited about everything I am doing.
I don’t know where I will begin my undergraduate education. I have found out that US colleges are much more keen on a liberal arts education, whereas UK universities prefer their students to know their majors at the beginning of their freshman year. I prefer the US system because I am interested in many things and I am intellectually very curious. But either way, I am working on becoming an eligible applicant and I can tell you, it would have been easier had I spent my younger years focusing on extra credits, curriculums, and certificates. This is a message to those of you who are still in high school. I have learned how important my GPA is for college entries, and that all the extra-curricular activities I did are now working in my favor on my application as well as on my CV. So, I encourage you to do as much as you can. The colleges want people who have done more than what they had to. Volunteer services and student council activities are hugely recognized; take advantage of everything your school offers. All the activities you have to do and all the responsibilities that you are given at FFS right now—that may seem like hellish nightmares– will be surprisingly beneficial to you later in life. (But I will elaborate more on that in my next letter).
I am at a very exciting point of my life right now, and I am eager to know what the future has in mind for me. The people who surround me are wise and experienced men and women who are engaged in sharing their insights with me. I regret that I did not listen to them before. One thing I wish I could express in words is what I feel when my family tells me that they are proud of me and trust me again. It has become one of best things in my life. I am thankful that I discovered my luck in having such a great mother, father and brothers while I was still relatively young. Although I don’t regret my decision, I still wonder sometimes where “the other road” would have taken me, and how it would or could have been.
