Hi Everyone. Welcome to my Journey to Worth website and blog. My hope with every element of information here is that the community about me will find personal and professional encouragement through interactive reading, response, and space to find recovery and support with what you or your friends and family may be experiencing.
In the Spring of 2022, I was in the homestretch of my undergraduate degree and was prayerfully and mindfully seeking the direction of my graduate program. I felt led to continue onto a master’s degree in counseling but wasn’t sure of the specific emphasis of focus. I encountered a situation that assisted with my solidifying the direction to further my education, equip with training, and pour the rest of my life with assisting those suffering with addiction of drugs and alcohol.
Completing an errand just off Bell Road, traffic jammed up due to the always occurring Phoenix construction. I decided to divert, traveling north on El Mirage Road. Knowing the re-route away from construction would take a bit longer, I blue-toothed a phone call with a close friend. Shortly into that call, two cars ahead of me swerved to the left lane, dust was flying and so was the body of a 13-year-old boy. I immediately started screaming on the phone, “body in the road!! Body in the road!!” and hung up quickly. I stopped my car just in front of the gentleman who struck the boy as he had deliberately run into oncoming cars. I dialed 911 and ran to see if the boy needed help. Another gentleman grabbed my arm and said, “he is gone, and you don’t want to see this.” I returned to stay with the driver. Three hours passed, which involved interviews from detectives and additional witnesses. I learned this young boy, barely a teen, was under the influence of a mind-altering substance when he chose to run into traffic. I learned that his mom was going to get a visit very shortly from the Sheriff’s Officers that her son was dead. I learned, while driving home and trying to process the past 3 hours, I needed to do something to assist people with substance abuse and the radical behaviors that cause such devastation. My decision was made to pursue an MS in Addictions Counseling.