DENIED BY THE DRUG PROVISION, A PERSONAL NARRATIVE

Hi, I am Adam. I am a pretty average United States teenager. I live in a
nice suburban town with a new high school. New neighborhoods popping up
around every corner. I have made a good reputation for myself playing music
with all of the high school programs. I am getting ready to go to the
Berkley College of Music in Boston. Hopefully my financial aid goes through
because Berkley College is one of the top music schools in the world and
tuition is around $30,000 a year. But I have faith in the system because it
seems to be working for everyone else that is about to graduate with me.

So things are going great, I've worked hard for twelve years and it's the
end of my senior year. My prom date was just announced prom queen and I am
about to start my new life.

Reflecting on life that night with some of my friends at the after prom
party, a few of us decided to go smoke a joint to bond together one last
time before we all started going our own ways. From the woods came a shadow
of a figure. We thought a friend was joining us, but we got a flashlight in
our eyes as an officer started yelling, 'put the marijuana down and keep
your hands up!' Having no marijuana in my possession except for what he
claimed to see me smoke, the officer proceeded to write me a ticket for
possession of marijuana. To keep my mom from being anymore upset than she
already was, I went to court alone and believing I had no other options, I
plead guilty.

The reason I kept it from my mom was because she was already very upset
because of a situation that our family was trying to work through. See, I
said I was an average United States teenager. We all know it doesn't matter
how perfect your yard looks because inside our homes, we all have family
dramas. My dad had just been sent to prison and my mom had to turn him in.
We were all in counseling for different reasons but we remained hopeful. We
all understood that a positive outlook could only put more positive into
the world. We were never a family with money but we had a lot of love and
we knew that would help us get through. So the next week when I went to
fill out the application for federal financial aid there was a question.
Have you been convicted of a drug charge? (If yes, you will be denied).

Since the passing of the Higher Education Act Drug Provision a few months
earlier, any student applying for federal financial aid that has been
convicted of a drug charge would be denied financial aid. To my surprise, I
had to face the fact that I couldn't go to the school I was planning. My
mom was trying to raise three kids and had to take on debt from family
tragedy, so we had no money for me to even afford our local community
college. In an instant I had stepped out into the real world and my entire
life had changed.

I stood there with nothing. I graduated, received my diploma and that is as
far as I will ever be able to go. Before I take my first steps into this
unknown world I reflect for a moment. Why did my government not speak for
me? Why all of a sudden would a politician that is supposed to be my voice,
for no positive reason keep me from going to school? How am I supposed to
make my situation better? If smoking pot with some friends after my senior
prom is so bad for my character then how is denying my right to a positive
future supposed to keep me from making the same mistake?

With only a couple hundred dollars to my name, my best friend Jon and I
took a bus to Cleveland and hopped an Amtrak passenger train to New York. I
decided to see real life first hand and bummed around the east coast with
no need to be anywhere, ever. We slept in central park and on the beaches
of Newport Rhode Island and in alleys and hostels in Boston. We felt real
life first hand. Eating a bagel a day, we lasted a little over 4 months
until we finally decided to come home to our friends. Being able to sleep
on a couch for the first time in months, I gained more appreciation for the
simple things than I could have ever imagined.

Still with no agenda I got a place with some friends and began to seriously
use any drug that found itself my way. I found that the DARE program lied
about marijuana so they must be lying about all the other drugs too. (Side
note: I didn't even know what drugs were until DARE.)

I binged for about a year and a half until my body couldn't take it
anymore. So I decided to reject everything that wasn't from the earth. At
this time I still lived in my hometown with some friends and joined a band.
My battle with depression was ending and I was starting to pull my life
around. I was working and making a pretty good name with the band I was in.
My job didn't offer health insurance and there was no way I could afford it
because minimum wage can't even earn enough for my gas bills and food. I
was still smoking marijuana. It helped my stomach pains from acid reflux
and ulcers, it helped my depression, and it helped me from craving other
man made drugs.

I continued to live in my town and work hard on my musical dreams. My band
had attracted many major label interests and we had started going to New
York and playing sold out arena shows with bigger acts. Things were looking
hopeful for me again.

In my town, since everyone else went to college, it was very strange for
there to be a house that only young people lived in. The police harassed me
every chance they got. They gave me a ticket for my broken down vehicle
that had 3 day expired tags. This was after an illegal and fruitless search
of my person. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and moved to Columbus in
hopes to rebuild my life in a positive accepting community.

I have found many caring people since I moved here, and have found that
there are many opportunities to help others and to help me. Through some
scholarships available for anyone affected by the Higher Education Act drug
provision and support from caring individuals at O.S.U. and around the
community, I can hopefully attend college in the fall. From observing my
parents' situation I know first hand that not having a college education
will keep me from ever catching up on the bills, plus now that I have seen
the real world I know that knowledge is power.

So as you go on your way please stop to think about your opportunities, and
your decisions. We control our voice and we must tell our politicians if we
don't like what they have decided for us. Open you eyes and know who you
are putting into office. Most of all, come together as a community and
raise your voice as one people, to bring peace and love to everyone that
you can.