I just finished my first semester of school with straight A’s. Going into it, I didn’t know if I’d be able to do school at all. With a daily headache aggravated by screen time, I didn’t know if I would quickly come up against my limits and have to quit.

It turns out, I didn’t. It was hard at times, and my headaches are worse now than they were, but I did it in spite of my challenges.

I’m going to school through a state program that pays for my tuition and books in the Human Services program. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to learn and explore my career. I discovered that I’m interested in and enjoy the Human Services content. It makes me think that I’m on the right track.

Coming out of my crisis and recovery, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life helping others. It took so many hands and hearts to get me through the worst of it, and, after my family, professionals like social workers and therapists played the biggest role.

I think I gravitate towards this field by nature. Early on in my recovery, when I was in the intensive outpatient program at the Institute of Living, I had just finished sharing in group therapy when the provider looked at me and said with conviction, “You should go to school for social work.”

I can’t tell you what that meant to me when I was still at the beginning of my journey, that she would see something in me beyond my being sick and needing help. It’s not the first time I considered a career in social work, but it was another grain I added to my collection of possible futures.

In Human Services this semester, we learned about different practice settings in which you can work: child welfare, homelessness, behavioral health, gerontology, hospital and hospice, disaster relief, and faith-based services. It’s beautiful that a field exists that is concerned solely with the science of helping people. With a blend of psychology, social work, and counseling, it aims to improve people’s lives and the way services are delivered.

Of all the practice settings, I was most interested in hospice, disaster relief, and faith-based services. I like the idea of helping people with their basic needs directly. I’m also interested in learning more about helping victims of human trafficking, and there’s a course dedicated to that later in my degree program.

And I might just be interested in behavioral health. It’s too early on the heels of my recovery to say. Much of my mental health crisis is still raw and painful to look at, despite my work in therapy. I think it always will be. With more time and distance, I think it will be easier to hold.

In one of my possible futures, I’m leading group therapy just like that provider was. In my career before my crisis, I led groups of young people outdoors, facilitating meaningful connections with oneself, others, and nature. It’s a different practice setting, but the goal of connecting and healing is the same.

One thing I’m certain of, it’s a gift to be going to school, to be learning, to be stretching and challenging myself, to have accomplishments that I’m proud of. It’s a gift to be housed and stable and financially secure. These are things I don’t take for granted because, at different points in my journey, these things were not for certain.

There are a lot of people who need help, and all we have are the hours of our lives and how we spend them. In my life, my career, I want to spend them helping others. Of course, this starts with me, my self-care, and my family. It all blossoms from there. What it looks like, I’m not sure, but I’m excited to find out.