DENIED BY THE DRUG PROVISION, A PERSONAL NARRATIVE

Hi, I am Adam.  I am a pretty average United States teenager.  I live in a nice suburban town with a new high school.  New neighborhoods popping up around every corner.  I have made a good reputation for myself playing music with all of the high school programs.  I am getting ready to go to the Berkley College of Music in Boston.  Hopefully my financial aid goes through because Berkley College is one of the top music schools in the world and tuition is around $30,000 a year.  But I have faith in the system because it seems to be working for everyone else that is about to graduate with me. 

So things are going great, I've worked hard for twelve years and it's the end of my senior year.  My prom date was just announced prom queen and I am about to start my new life. 

Reflecting on life that night with some of my friends at the after prom party, a few of us decided to go smoke a joint to bond together one last time before we all started going our own ways.  From the woods came a shadow of a figure.  We thought a friend was joining us, but we got a flashlight in our eyes as an officer started yelling, 'put the marijuana down and keep your hands up!' Having no marijuana in my possession except for what he claimed to see me smoke, the officer proceeded to write me a ticket for possession of marijuana.  To keep my mom from being anymore upset than she already was, I went to court alone and believing I had no other options, I plead guilty. 

The reason I kept it from my mom was because she was already very upset because of a situation that our family was trying to work through.  See, I said I was an average United States teenager.  We all know it doesn't matter how perfect your yard looks because inside our homes, we all have family dramas.  My dad had just been sent to prison and my mom had to turn him in.  We were all in counseling for different reasons but we remained hopeful.  We all understood that a positive outlook could only put more positive into the world.  We were never a family with money but we had a lot of love and we knew that would help us get through.  So the next week when I went to fill out the application for federal financial aid there was a question.  Have you been convicted of a drug charge? ( If yes, you will be denied ). 

Since the passing of the Higher Education Act Drug Provision a few months earlier, any student applying for federal financial aid that has been convicted of a drug charge would be denied financial aid.  To my surprise, I had to face the fact that I couldn't go to the school I was planning.  My mom was trying to raise three kids and had to take on debt from family tragedy, so we had no money for me to even afford our local community college.  In an instant I had stepped out into the real world and my entire life had changed. 

I stood there with nothing.  I graduated, received my diploma and that is as far as I will ever be able to go.  Before I take my first steps into this unknown world I reflect for a moment.  Why did my government not speak for me? Why all of a sudden would a politician that is supposed to be my voice, for no positive reason keep me from going to school? How am I supposed to make my situation better? If smoking pot with some friends after my senior prom is so bad for my character then how is denying my right to a positive future supposed to keep me from making the same mistake?

With only a couple hundred dollars to my name, my best friend Jon and I took a bus to Cleveland and hopped an Amtrak passenger train to New York.  I decided to see real life first hand and bummed around the east coast with no need to be anywhere, ever.  We slept in central park and on the beaches of Newport Rhode Island and in alleys and hostels in Boston.  We felt real life first hand.  Eating a bagel a day, we lasted a little over 4 months until we finally decided to come home to our friends.  Being able to sleep on a couch for the first time in months, I gained more appreciation for the simple things than I could have ever imagined. 

Still with no agenda I got a place with some friends and began to seriously use any drug that found itself my way.  I found that the DARE program lied about marijuana so they must be lying about all the other drugs too.  ( Side note: I didn't even know what drugs were until DARE.  )

I binged for about a year and a half until my body couldn't take it anymore.  So I decided to reject everything that wasn't from the earth.  At this time I still lived in my hometown with some friends and joined a band.  My battle with depression was ending and I was starting to pull my life around.  I was working and making a pretty good name with the band I was in.  My job didn't offer health insurance and there was no way I could afford it because minimum wage can't even earn enough for my gas bills and food.  I was still smoking marijuana.  It helped my stomach pains from acid reflux and ulcers, it helped my depression, and it helped me from craving other man made drugs. 

I continued to live in my town and work hard on my musical dreams.  My band had attracted many major label interests and we had started going to New York and playing sold out arena shows with bigger acts.  Things were looking hopeful for me again. 

In my town, since everyone else went to college, it was very strange for there to be a house that only young people lived in.  The police harassed me every chance they got.  They gave me a ticket for my broken down vehicle that had 3 day expired tags.  This was after an illegal and fruitless search of my person.  Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and moved to Columbus in hopes to rebuild my life in a positive accepting community. 

I have found many caring people since I moved here, and have found that there are many opportunities to help others and to help me.  Through some scholarships available for anyone affected by the Higher Education Act drug provision and support from caring individuals at O.S.U.  and around the community, I can hopefully attend college in the fall.  From observing my parents' situation I know first hand that not having a college education will keep me from ever catching up on the bills, plus now that I have seen the real world I know that knowledge is power. 

So as you go on your way please stop to think about your opportunities, and your decisions.  We control our voice and we must tell our politicians if we don't like what they have decided for us.  Open you eyes and know who you are putting into office.  Most of all, come together as a community and raise your voice as one people, to bring peace and love to everyone that you can.