Dylan is an artistic twenty-five-year-old. He says his passionate nature has made his emotions difficult to deal with, and he struggled with alcoholism for six years. He was eventually jailed for an Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) violation.
"There was no prevention, and it eventually caught up to me. I thought it was the worst thing that could've ever happened to me," he shared. "But it was really the best thing that could have happened."
"I would look in the mirror and not like the guy I saw," he explained. "I look back at myself then and think, 'I can't believe I did that.' It's not who I am. It's who I was, I guess, but not anymore."
Since his arrest and involvement in the ATS outpatient program, Dylan's life has been transformed. He now has a promising career and a girlfriend. He is excited about the opportunity to express his creativity by developing new dishes at the restaurant where he works, and to be more directly involved in its success. And he now chooses to surround himself with people who embrace life as he has, rather than those who are more likely to numb themselves with alcohol or other mind-altering substances.
He is encouraged by the progress he has made in recovery, especially when he sees people who knew him both before and after he began his struggle with alcohol. "They see me now and say, welcome back!" he said. He acknowledges that some days are harder than others, but he knows he is moving in the right direction and that he just needs to take another step forward and keep going.
"I remember what I was doing then," he says of the days before his OWI, "and I'm glad I'm not still waking up from a six-year hangover."