Taylor Hebert, post 4

            My experience service learning experience at Bridge House has left a lasting impression on me to say the least. I spent a lot of time at my placement, as I had two courses for which I was doing service learning. My understanding of the nature of addiction has grown greatly, both by depth and breadth. Addiction has plagued and haunted my family for as long as I can remember. I am grateful that those closest to me have conquered it. But I have seen the enduring, scarring power that addiction has had on lives that have been a part of mine. Because of this, I cannot treat substances with the same laissez-faire attitude of the ordinary college freshman. In New Orleans I see addiction as a rampant part of the culture. There is a sort of unspoken codependence around it. And what I found at Bridge House is that each and every one of the men and women residents never thought that they’d end up there at the beginning. That is the sad part. When I see nineteen and twenty year old people experimenting with harder drugs (as they inevitably do in the gateway of narcotics), I just cringe and remember the faces of the afflicted friends I have met at Bridge House.

            In this class I have started reading Shakespeare in a very self-reflective sense. As a theatre person, I always thought that Shakespeare was meant to be performed. I thought it would only make sense coming out of the mouths of actors.  But I have learned to explore Shakespeare through my own eyes and associations, and found that it warrants some critical self-reflection as addicts are forced to do on their way to recovery. Sadly, for the brain of the average addict it takes 7-8 stints in rehab to finally break the cycle of substance abuse, and for most people that won’t be over until they are middle aged.

            I have seen the bitter resentment and frustration that this causes. On my last day and in the last hour of service learning I had, a fistfight broke out literally ten feet away from me between residents. I was in shock. First of all, I have not witnessed many fistfights in my life, so I didn’t know exactly how to react. So I just stood there in awe as I saw all the emotions that these individuals were pushing down for years and years through substance abuse come out in a rage, and they didn’t know how to deal with them. After debriefing a bit with my supervisor (a graduate of the Bridge House program) after the incident, I realized how deep this disease runs within the afflicted, and how it is a community issue and not just a personal one as I previously held to be true.

            Addiction has always been personal, but through my work, but starting to look at it through a community lens and its affect on society has been what I think I can take away from Bridge House, as well as the many friendships I have made there. I have seen two women, who worked alongside, graduate the program and be reunited with their families. I have realized that there can be a light at the end of the tunnel, and programs like Bridge House make that possible. I plan to continue to volunteer there next semester because of the rewarding and challenging opportunity if provided.