Click on the image to access this episode! Staying sober is never easy. But for college students in recovery, the prevalence of parties, experimentation, and the need to fit in can make it nearly impossible. That’s why groups like the Collegiate Recovery Community at Michigan State University are essential. They help students stay on track, feel supported, and find other young people who are making the most out of college without the use or abuse of substances.

“I never thought I’d be able to go to college or be able to advocate for substance disorder, but here I am doing what I love to do.” Kira Binkowski joins us to share her story of addiction and recovery and the critical role that her collegiate recovery community has played in her success at university. Now as a Collegiate Recovery Community Student Leader, she is helping other students like herself navigate sobriety.

For many young people, going off to college is the first time that they’ve been away from home and the support structure of their family and established friends. Everything is new. All the decisions – and the mistakes – are theirs to make. It can be really overwhelming. This exciting, bewildering, and vulnerable time is when many young people turn to drugs and alcohol; to cope, to make friends, or just for the fun of it. But, though drugs have been an undeniable part of college life since the sixties, these are more pervasive, addictive, and dangerous than anything available on college campuses in previous generations.

Dawn Kepler, Collegiate Recovery Community Coordinator at Michigan State University explains how a recovery community works to combat collegiate drug and alcohol use and facilitate recovery by providing a safe space for young people at risk of relapsing.