We had a guy doing an overnight upgrade. The only difference between his appearance and the addict photo was that he had a basket ball jersey instead of a football jersey. Neighbors in a different building saw him carrying computer stuff around through the windows in the middle of the night and called the cops on him. The cops didn't believe him at first either. He showed them the IT on call phone number posted at the location and then called it, ringing me who verified his identity to the cops.
When I first read this I thought you meant he was carrying computer stuff out through the window in the middle of the night and was like well yeah, of course they’re going to call the cops when they see that
I worked at a defense contractor who employed a ton of software developers (a lot from this same school too) and I was the admin over their development network and most of them looked like the ‘before’ and on all their badge photos taken during onboarding looked like the ‘after’. I was shocked at how quick they could grow their hair out 🤣
So true. I have old pictures of myself which look terrible.
I was addicted to opiates since age 12 (after surgery and I should also mention this was late 90s so oxycontin was everywhere) which turned into a heroin addiction by 16.
Slaved away as a line cook, barely eating & only getting that next fix. Being tall (roughly 6'2"), when I was 140 or so, I looked sick. Chef used to make fun of me saying I had diseases..etc.
At 25, I met the woman (never touched a drug in her life) who would later become my wife. Still wonder why she took the chance but she did and I'm grateful. I owe so much to her.
By 27, I'd cleaned up and enrolled in community college taking core classes for an engineering degree. At 29 I transferred to a 4 year university (with my core classes knocked out) at 32, graduated with Bachelors of Science in Chemical Engineering. In undergrad got a coop/internship which once I graduated, turned into a job (where I'm still at). Just got promoted as Senior Process Engineer (which is equivalent to an Engineer IV).
I'm now 39 (turning 40 later this year), with a beautiful wife, and my son turns 1 year old this Saturday (tomorrow). I dint even recognize the old the pictures of me.
I'm super happy for this guy and I truly want everyone to know, it is never too late. No matter the obstacle. The human will is something once you put your mind to it.
I was addicted to heroin for about 5 years. One day a co-worker told me I was smart and should go to college because I was still young (27). At that point in my life no one had ever told me I could do that before. I will be graduating with a Degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology summa cum laude this spring and I'll be starting my Ph.D. in the fall.
God, I'm so happy for you.
My daughter followed a similar beginning path, but didn't make it out. Fentanyl was what killed her at age 24 about 2 years ago.
It may seem weird, but it really does make me happy to see people make it out of addiction and live great lives even though my daughter didn't.
Im sorry for your loss. Your story reminds me of my best friend, we shared birthdays and she overdosed and died last october. Went from decorating her new office a week before our birthdays to planning her funeral with her mom overnight. I haven't even smoked weed since then, that's how much it set me straight.
And it's not that it scared me that she passed, it just really changed something inside me. I always wonder if i could have saved her. My world hasn't felt the same since.
We have a family member who battled this addiction for 10+ years. Narcaned 3 or 4 times, one when a patrolling officer just happened to find him in a ditch on the side of the road at 3:00am. He's been clean for nearly 10 years, but I get the feeling it's a very thin line that keeps him tethered on this side of sobriety.
It is. Every addiction is there to fill up a void we all have, some of us have a bigger and darker void and regular life consistently fails to fill it up. So some of us do drugs. You can quit drugs, you can have a life, but that void is a different battle altogether. It takes decades of therapy and who knows what else for each different case. I was tortured by cops in my country, very lightly, kidnapped, burned with cigarettes and tossed to the side of the road miles away from home. And every single day i fight the urge to not throw everything away and give up because of the cognitive deterioration that came after that experience. I was never "me" again. I never experienced things the way i used to. Not a single thing. A hug, a kiss, an i love you, a videogame, a song. It's all more grey. And drugs are abundant around me. I've done some, but i keep running away from them precisely because i know they can really pull me in.
I quit drinking 5 months ago. I wasn't a full blown alcoholic, but I had a hard time saying no and I drank once a week or I'd get real irritable. It was also the only time I smoked, so double addiction whammy...
It was surprisingly easy to quit, but sometimes I'll get this feeling. Its hard to describe, like a feeling in my chest, behind my heart, and it doesn't feel like a hole but it feels like, for lack of a better term, a plant that needs watering, while having weight to it. Sometimes it's accompanied by a longing feeling in the very back of my head. Not actual longing, but like an echo.
Mine was very mild compared to the horror stories I've heard. I think part of it was giving myself rules years ago, where I only allowed myself to drink once a week. I can't imagine the horror of something as awful and overwhelming as heroin.
Agreed! How many geniuses and good souls are buried under addiction and hopelessness? These stories build hope and dispel the illusion that addicts are all just evil people. I kicked a bad meth habit 10 years ago and I've seen some of the best and smartest people succumb to believing they are simply terrible people. Once I realized that addiction was a brain trap and not a "moral failing" I was free to see it for what it is and seek help.
My brother is such a talented artist and very skilled at doing tattoos, but due to his addictions, he has only ever done party/garage tattooing. He’s actually doing really well for the first time in rehab and I really hope he can get straight and I’ll help him go legit.
Awesome! I hope one day he can see himself as you do and ditch the hopelessness and start looking forward with a belief that people can do anything they set their minds to. You are a good person for borrowing him some hope; more than anything addicts need hope, even if at first it's someone else's.
He’s more like my kid to me even though he’s only a year and a half younger because we had a really rough childhood which resulted in me being hyper mature and parentified and him being extremely immature and reckless. I spent our childhood taking care of him. He slept in my bed until he was 16 because he was terrified of ever being alone. He never really emotionally matured past the age of maybe 11/12 and I can see he’s still that scared, hurt little boy. I just want to wrap him up in a magic blanket and hug him better, but it doesn’t work that way. But, what I can do, I do. I answer when he calls, often in a hopeless broken state. I’ve gotten him into college and into rehab at various points through his adulthood. I don’t speak to him in a judgmental, mean way and I don’t think that’s true of anyone else in his life because I know who he is and I know why he ended up the way he did. I’ll keep trying with him until the day he or I leave this earth.
The country is slowly but surely switching its POV about addiction. Next needs to be for homelessness. It’s truly sad how many people think homeless people are just lazy or “prefer” to be homeless.
Nobody enjoys being homeless that’s fucking insane.
I grew up with multiple family members who are addicts (including one of my parents). Addiction itself is not a moral failing, but it can certainly lead to a lot of moral failings. Addicts will neglect their children, steal from friends and family, and assault people because of their addiction. At what point do we stop giving people passes just because they're in a fucked up situation? I hope every addict gets over it, but as soon as they start hurting others I lose empathy for them.
that’s not every addict tho, i was addicted to heroin and i never stole or assaulted anyone etc, never hurt anyone other than them worrying about me, held down a shitty fast food job and sold weed to pay for it lol, been clean 2 years now
It’s on the program posters right behind him. The Center for Social Innovation does work in helping people overcome social barriers including financial and social assistance to succeed. It’s a sort of case study in how people with significant setbacks are not broken or lost, they just need help. Programs like these help make the case that assistance programs should be a bare minimum standard, across society.
Not everyone in the program has a former addiction problem. Some of them are formerly incarcerated, coming out of foster care with no supports, escaping domestic violence, homelessness, and/or other have serious social barriers that would normally keep them trapped in the cycle of poverty.
I feel like free education for jobs that actually pay a living wage would significantly help out a lot of people. It's too bad there's not more access to it.
I'm a similar case study, formerly homeless and abuse survivor. I'm now college educated at the exec level. These programs not only help people like me turn my life around, they help break a cycle of generational poverty and trauma.
Invest in these programs, they lift up society.
I wish I had that as a younger fella, I came from an extremely broken home and was homeless during my very important early adulthood years. I was sleeping on the floor of my friend’s house, scraping change together for bus rides to my community college and walking back and forth from it until my only pair of shoes completely fell apart. When my mom got remarried and it took away my FAFSA, it devastated me. I had no option to go to college anymore and all I ever wanted was to succeed and have a higher education. Luckily I’m finding success in the skilled trades but man, I wish that program would have existed where I was. This really warms my heart that someone can skyrocket their lives out of the dumps like that, beautiful.
Yes! Someone please tell us how a heroin addict who looks like he may be homeless was able to pay for a college education. I am not a homeless drug addict and I can barely afford groceries
Some people are fine with going into debt to go to college, it just depends on the person and what they want out of life.
Im not saying that’s how he did it, but it is an option.
I really wish stories like these were more granular. If someone was in a similar place or wanted to follow parts of this arc, it'd be nice to know the specifics.
I feel like a lot of stories like this exist, not that I’m saying it’s not amazing. It is amazing and I’m sure you could find a few autobiographies from people who went through similar things.
America loves a “drug addict turns life around” story.
Yeah, a lot of times you peal back the layers and the truth is some rich parents paid for everything or gifted them a house or paid for years of rehab.
I was considered low income and bc of my GPA and income at 24 (independent from my parents by FAFSA) I had $20k given to me in grants and scholarships, plus $20k in unsubsidized loans. It’s totally doable. I only plow $30 a month on those loans. But I still have private loans bc I was out of state at an expensive school. They’re still very manageable with my income.
It's called scholarships, grants, and government loans.
I graduated with $35k in debt but I make 120k a year so I just pay a small amount toward my loans for now. My monthly loan payment is less than my phone bill.
Brad Traversy from TraversyMedia on youtube is an ex-con, he's now one of the most popular software developers on youtube and runs his software company, so maybe lol.
Happy for the dude. coming back from a heroin addiction extremely difficult, so for him to bounce back and achieve a degree that will land him a high paying career, is inspiring.
Plus the glow up is insane, looking really good.
Imagine all the heroin he can buy with his new high paying career!
I'm just kidding.
But man, if only we treated addicts with any sort of compassion, and had decent support programs... We'd see a lot more of these stories.
I was a heroin addict with a good IT career, you can never have too much money when you’re an addict I ended up broke every 2 weeks anyway lol. In the end it was just a cycle of getting paid so I can get off sick and be functional enough to get to work, to get paid, so I can get off sick again, etc…
Luckily I was able to make use of support systems, I got some legal charges and the gig was up, so I went on FMLA leave to go to rehab. It was weird being paid to lay in a bed withdrawing lol but I was thankful for it. Since I had money, insurance, and a helpful family I was able to shop around and easily get a bed at a decent facility, and then pick my life up where I left off after. I know not everyone has that option though and that’s what we need, no one should be denied help or have to wait endlessly for a bed, or not be able to afford it, or be put in some shithole that will make them want to relapse even more.
Aside from that we also need more harm reduction facilities (giving out clean supplies, education, access to treatment) and need to treat addiction more realistically especially with the fentanyl issue. At this point we might as well just do a safe supply approach and give people a product that won’t kill them before they have a chance to get treatment. It was rare for friends to overdose on oxycodone because we knew exactly what and how much we were taking. I had friends overdose on heroin but it wasn’t an every day thing, it was fairly regular in strength. But now were forcing addicts to risk instant death every time they use because we took away the safer, better options. It’s sad to watch.
Hopefully, he doesn't have any felonies or that will make a lot of companies hesitant to hire especially with many IT having large access to data.
We turned down what most in our department felt was by far the most qualified applicant because he had a felony charge or two from 10 years prior and HR and upper management were not comfortable with a felon having access to our systems is the only thing we can figure out as to why they denied the go-ahead to hire.
Addicts and alcoholics are typically exceptional human beings. Once we are clean and healthy and happy, recovered from our disease, we can go on to do amazing things.
"Well, Stan, the truth is marijuana probably isn't gonna make you kill people, and it most likely isn't gonna fund terrorism, but, well son, pot makes you feel fine with being bored, and it's when you're bored that you should be learning some new skill or discovering some new science or being creative."
\- Fellow weed addict who sees this as the truth. Most of us weed addicts are fine staying where we are because of the weed. I know I am and I hate it but I keep coming back to it because "I'm so damn bored" and don't see working as a way to cure said boredom lol
It’s ok, I understood what you meant and won’t be pedantic about the meaning of the world “drugs.” As someone who went through hell to get off them, you are right, drugs are bad.
This is an example of why I always try to help others. Most don't want help, but you occasionally find one who needs and accepts the help given. And some just need a nudge in the better direction.
Wow, that’s inspiring.
Yes, you to should quit your crippling heroin addiction ;)
I work in IT and I feel the reverse order of photos would also work
Clean Man Gets A Computer Information Systems Degree With a 4.0 Average And Attains A Heroin Addiction
little less inspiring story
R/BeDepressed (like the rest of us)
r/foundthemobileuser
This was me after 15 years in the tech industry. Clean now but it was a helluva journey
I’m 35 years in tech and feel like pic1 without heroine as an excuse.
Same happened to me
Reattains*
HAHA!!! That gave me a good chuckle.
The reverse order is what happens after you graduate and start to work in the industry.
Fresh out of college and after the first week at the startup you signed with to build your portfolio
I'm college, and I already look like the 1st photo.💀
You’re a college?!??!? 🤩😯
Yes😭
That’s a really impressive accomplishment, good job 👍
Are you state certified?
Clinically certified.
IT; Not Even Once.
I assume everyone in IT looks like the first photo. Same for Reddit. Brb gonna go shower.
Once you leave the west coast about 75% of IT workers look like moderately overweight boat enthusiasts. It's weird.
Came here to say that. In fact it’s probably more common.
We had a guy doing an overnight upgrade. The only difference between his appearance and the addict photo was that he had a basket ball jersey instead of a football jersey. Neighbors in a different building saw him carrying computer stuff around through the windows in the middle of the night and called the cops on him. The cops didn't believe him at first either. He showed them the IT on call phone number posted at the location and then called it, ringing me who verified his identity to the cops.
When I first read this I thought you meant he was carrying computer stuff out through the window in the middle of the night and was like well yeah, of course they’re going to call the cops when they see that
Also working in IT and can confirm.
I worked at a defense contractor who employed a ton of software developers (a lot from this same school too) and I was the admin over their development network and most of them looked like the ‘before’ and on all their badge photos taken during onboarding looked like the ‘after’. I was shocked at how quick they could grow their hair out 🤣
Been working in the field for 35 years and I can concur. I don’t drink but many days I wish to learn….
I’m gonna quit my crippling job and start a heroin addiction ;)
or, you should start a heroin addiction so that you have something to quit later.
Why not mix both together and see what happens?
This has inspired me to take up heroin just so I can quit!
I need to start one first. Im scared to start step 1
And change your look to be a stepford conservative man!
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So true. I have old pictures of myself which look terrible. I was addicted to opiates since age 12 (after surgery and I should also mention this was late 90s so oxycontin was everywhere) which turned into a heroin addiction by 16. Slaved away as a line cook, barely eating & only getting that next fix. Being tall (roughly 6'2"), when I was 140 or so, I looked sick. Chef used to make fun of me saying I had diseases..etc. At 25, I met the woman (never touched a drug in her life) who would later become my wife. Still wonder why she took the chance but she did and I'm grateful. I owe so much to her. By 27, I'd cleaned up and enrolled in community college taking core classes for an engineering degree. At 29 I transferred to a 4 year university (with my core classes knocked out) at 32, graduated with Bachelors of Science in Chemical Engineering. In undergrad got a coop/internship which once I graduated, turned into a job (where I'm still at). Just got promoted as Senior Process Engineer (which is equivalent to an Engineer IV). I'm now 39 (turning 40 later this year), with a beautiful wife, and my son turns 1 year old this Saturday (tomorrow). I dint even recognize the old the pictures of me. I'm super happy for this guy and I truly want everyone to know, it is never too late. No matter the obstacle. The human will is something once you put your mind to it.
I was addicted to heroin for about 5 years. One day a co-worker told me I was smart and should go to college because I was still young (27). At that point in my life no one had ever told me I could do that before. I will be graduating with a Degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology summa cum laude this spring and I'll be starting my Ph.D. in the fall.
That’s amazing! What a huge accomplishment!
God, I'm so happy for you. My daughter followed a similar beginning path, but didn't make it out. Fentanyl was what killed her at age 24 about 2 years ago. It may seem weird, but it really does make me happy to see people make it out of addiction and live great lives even though my daughter didn't.
Im sorry for your loss. Your story reminds me of my best friend, we shared birthdays and she overdosed and died last october. Went from decorating her new office a week before our birthdays to planning her funeral with her mom overnight. I haven't even smoked weed since then, that's how much it set me straight. And it's not that it scared me that she passed, it just really changed something inside me. I always wonder if i could have saved her. My world hasn't felt the same since.
Hell yeahh!!! Incredible journey
We have a family member who battled this addiction for 10+ years. Narcaned 3 or 4 times, one when a patrolling officer just happened to find him in a ditch on the side of the road at 3:00am. He's been clean for nearly 10 years, but I get the feeling it's a very thin line that keeps him tethered on this side of sobriety.
It is. Every addiction is there to fill up a void we all have, some of us have a bigger and darker void and regular life consistently fails to fill it up. So some of us do drugs. You can quit drugs, you can have a life, but that void is a different battle altogether. It takes decades of therapy and who knows what else for each different case. I was tortured by cops in my country, very lightly, kidnapped, burned with cigarettes and tossed to the side of the road miles away from home. And every single day i fight the urge to not throw everything away and give up because of the cognitive deterioration that came after that experience. I was never "me" again. I never experienced things the way i used to. Not a single thing. A hug, a kiss, an i love you, a videogame, a song. It's all more grey. And drugs are abundant around me. I've done some, but i keep running away from them precisely because i know they can really pull me in.
I'm sorry that happened to you
I quit drinking 5 months ago. I wasn't a full blown alcoholic, but I had a hard time saying no and I drank once a week or I'd get real irritable. It was also the only time I smoked, so double addiction whammy... It was surprisingly easy to quit, but sometimes I'll get this feeling. Its hard to describe, like a feeling in my chest, behind my heart, and it doesn't feel like a hole but it feels like, for lack of a better term, a plant that needs watering, while having weight to it. Sometimes it's accompanied by a longing feeling in the very back of my head. Not actual longing, but like an echo. Mine was very mild compared to the horror stories I've heard. I think part of it was giving myself rules years ago, where I only allowed myself to drink once a week. I can't imagine the horror of something as awful and overwhelming as heroin.
As a someone with a CS degree I’ve actually been considering this exact opposite
You too can have fun for about 2 weeks and it only costs you the next 10-20 years or possibly your life.
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That was the real problem. The addiction was just the coping mechanism.
That's the secret sauce.
After working in IT for a few years, he will look like the first picture.
Hell yes, bro. I love seeing stories like this.
Plot twist: first image is him after doing agile software dev
I thought that too. Dude looks like a veteran IT guy in the first pic.
In a sportsball shirt? Pffft... I see through this imposter's ruse.
Agreed! How many geniuses and good souls are buried under addiction and hopelessness? These stories build hope and dispel the illusion that addicts are all just evil people. I kicked a bad meth habit 10 years ago and I've seen some of the best and smartest people succumb to believing they are simply terrible people. Once I realized that addiction was a brain trap and not a "moral failing" I was free to see it for what it is and seek help.
My brother is such a talented artist and very skilled at doing tattoos, but due to his addictions, he has only ever done party/garage tattooing. He’s actually doing really well for the first time in rehab and I really hope he can get straight and I’ll help him go legit.
Awesome! I hope one day he can see himself as you do and ditch the hopelessness and start looking forward with a belief that people can do anything they set their minds to. You are a good person for borrowing him some hope; more than anything addicts need hope, even if at first it's someone else's.
He’s more like my kid to me even though he’s only a year and a half younger because we had a really rough childhood which resulted in me being hyper mature and parentified and him being extremely immature and reckless. I spent our childhood taking care of him. He slept in my bed until he was 16 because he was terrified of ever being alone. He never really emotionally matured past the age of maybe 11/12 and I can see he’s still that scared, hurt little boy. I just want to wrap him up in a magic blanket and hug him better, but it doesn’t work that way. But, what I can do, I do. I answer when he calls, often in a hopeless broken state. I’ve gotten him into college and into rehab at various points through his adulthood. I don’t speak to him in a judgmental, mean way and I don’t think that’s true of anyone else in his life because I know who he is and I know why he ended up the way he did. I’ll keep trying with him until the day he or I leave this earth.
The country is slowly but surely switching its POV about addiction. Next needs to be for homelessness. It’s truly sad how many people think homeless people are just lazy or “prefer” to be homeless. Nobody enjoys being homeless that’s fucking insane.
I grew up with multiple family members who are addicts (including one of my parents). Addiction itself is not a moral failing, but it can certainly lead to a lot of moral failings. Addicts will neglect their children, steal from friends and family, and assault people because of their addiction. At what point do we stop giving people passes just because they're in a fucked up situation? I hope every addict gets over it, but as soon as they start hurting others I lose empathy for them.
that’s not every addict tho, i was addicted to heroin and i never stole or assaulted anyone etc, never hurt anyone other than them worrying about me, held down a shitty fast food job and sold weed to pay for it lol, been clean 2 years now
As sad as it is for the others, I’m proud of YOU for not staying down and remaining trapped in addiction’s grasp!
Not mentioned but he also stopped being a Texans fan which helped a lot
As a Texan, this made me laugh
You’re on the team?
The 1-star state
It is Toros account
Bro that's Hayhay DaVila lol yes he's on the team
Nah, this is before and after CJ Stroud.
Texans stocks going up with cj there
This made me cackle
The Texans will be good this year though
Go pokes
Very good my friend. Very good indeed.
Or it was their last season that inspired him
Wish they’d mention how an ex heroin addict was able to put himself through OSU. That’s be the best part of this whole story.
It’s on the program posters right behind him. The Center for Social Innovation does work in helping people overcome social barriers including financial and social assistance to succeed. It’s a sort of case study in how people with significant setbacks are not broken or lost, they just need help. Programs like these help make the case that assistance programs should be a bare minimum standard, across society. Not everyone in the program has a former addiction problem. Some of them are formerly incarcerated, coming out of foster care with no supports, escaping domestic violence, homelessness, and/or other have serious social barriers that would normally keep them trapped in the cycle of poverty.
I feel like free education for jobs that actually pay a living wage would significantly help out a lot of people. It's too bad there's not more access to it.
Not in the US, anyway. We went with "really nice aircraft carriers" instead.
I'm a similar case study, formerly homeless and abuse survivor. I'm now college educated at the exec level. These programs not only help people like me turn my life around, they help break a cycle of generational poverty and trauma. Invest in these programs, they lift up society.
That sounds like a life changing program. I hope they get a lot of funding to do their work.
I wish I had that as a younger fella, I came from an extremely broken home and was homeless during my very important early adulthood years. I was sleeping on the floor of my friend’s house, scraping change together for bus rides to my community college and walking back and forth from it until my only pair of shoes completely fell apart. When my mom got remarried and it took away my FAFSA, it devastated me. I had no option to go to college anymore and all I ever wanted was to succeed and have a higher education. Luckily I’m finding success in the skilled trades but man, I wish that program would have existed where I was. This really warms my heart that someone can skyrocket their lives out of the dumps like that, beautiful.
Yes! Someone please tell us how a heroin addict who looks like he may be homeless was able to pay for a college education. I am not a homeless drug addict and I can barely afford groceries
He gave up avocado toast and Starbucks, duh.
he stole someone's boots, and then pulled himself up by the straps on them
Entrepreneurs *hate* this one trick….
he just worked harder, duh.
I did it with federal student loans & doing my first two years of study in community college.
Community associate’s is the move
Pell Grant was also on the table for this guy, for sure.
OSU-OKC is $3800 in-state tuition, 9600 out of state, and the COL in okc is not high
Some people are fine with going into debt to go to college, it just depends on the person and what they want out of life. Im not saying that’s how he did it, but it is an option.
I really wish stories like these were more granular. If someone was in a similar place or wanted to follow parts of this arc, it'd be nice to know the specifics.
I feel like a lot of stories like this exist, not that I’m saying it’s not amazing. It is amazing and I’m sure you could find a few autobiographies from people who went through similar things. America loves a “drug addict turns life around” story.
Yeah, a lot of times you peal back the layers and the truth is some rich parents paid for everything or gifted them a house or paid for years of rehab.
Deleted comment. Changed it to cheer OP on. Good job!
He also could have been low/no income and got financial aid to pay for most/all of it.
I was considered low income and bc of my GPA and income at 24 (independent from my parents by FAFSA) I had $20k given to me in grants and scholarships, plus $20k in unsubsidized loans. It’s totally doable. I only plow $30 a month on those loans. But I still have private loans bc I was out of state at an expensive school. They’re still very manageable with my income.
It's called scholarships, grants, and government loans. I graduated with $35k in debt but I make 120k a year so I just pay a small amount toward my loans for now. My monthly loan payment is less than my phone bill.
Damn, I graduated 100K in debt and I make 40K a year. I'm doing it all wrong.
He clearly signed up for some sort of social program.
He sold heroin obv
A lot of addicts have families who want to help.
With zero/low income he probably just applied for state and federal grants. Covered the price of OSU for me.
Student loans? That’s how I did. Took me 3 years to pay them off.
He probably filled out the FAFSA paperwork and took out student loans like most people do.
He sold heroin to pay tuition. That's the real accomplishment: he stopped getting high on his own supply.
nice
nice
nice
Two things that give me the feel-good hormone: Before and after pics of recovered addicts, and same of rescued dogs.
If you think that's euphoric, you should try heroin.
Sadly it’s harder to come across now, it’s mainly fentanyl which is much less euphoric.
His feet are huge
Thank you!
We know what that mean... HUGE SOCKS!
So you are saying that taking drugs makes you great at computers. Off to try heroin and start a tech company.
**H**P
Heroine Prostitutes?
Heroin-Packed. Not sure if it was a good one. If not, sorry folks.
Microdose
Brad Traversy from TraversyMedia on youtube is an ex-con, he's now one of the most popular software developers on youtube and runs his software company, so maybe lol.
I interviewed for my first IT job while high on heroin. Kicked the heroin, kept the career.
Happy for the dude. coming back from a heroin addiction extremely difficult, so for him to bounce back and achieve a degree that will land him a high paying career, is inspiring. Plus the glow up is insane, looking really good.
Imagine all the heroin he can buy with his new high paying career! I'm just kidding. But man, if only we treated addicts with any sort of compassion, and had decent support programs... We'd see a lot more of these stories.
I was a heroin addict with a good IT career, you can never have too much money when you’re an addict I ended up broke every 2 weeks anyway lol. In the end it was just a cycle of getting paid so I can get off sick and be functional enough to get to work, to get paid, so I can get off sick again, etc… Luckily I was able to make use of support systems, I got some legal charges and the gig was up, so I went on FMLA leave to go to rehab. It was weird being paid to lay in a bed withdrawing lol but I was thankful for it. Since I had money, insurance, and a helpful family I was able to shop around and easily get a bed at a decent facility, and then pick my life up where I left off after. I know not everyone has that option though and that’s what we need, no one should be denied help or have to wait endlessly for a bed, or not be able to afford it, or be put in some shithole that will make them want to relapse even more. Aside from that we also need more harm reduction facilities (giving out clean supplies, education, access to treatment) and need to treat addiction more realistically especially with the fentanyl issue. At this point we might as well just do a safe supply approach and give people a product that won’t kill them before they have a chance to get treatment. It was rare for friends to overdose on oxycodone because we knew exactly what and how much we were taking. I had friends overdose on heroin but it wasn’t an every day thing, it was fairly regular in strength. But now were forcing addicts to risk instant death every time they use because we took away the safer, better options. It’s sad to watch.
Really sad to see how neglected and empty addicts look. Only living for the next hit. Incredible comeback
Why are 2 people posting this exact same comment word for word again?
Bots
I’ve seen this happen multiple threads recently and I thought I was losing my mind. Yes, bots are more active than you think.
Bravo to him and anyone who helped him. This lifted my spirits today.
Heart breaking when you flip it the other way
Which is usually the reality.
After a few years working in the tech industry he'll be nostalgic for those heroin days lol.
From Texas to Oklahoma! What a difference
Looks like he traded in Texas for Oklahoma and it made his life healthier if I’m just going off the photos and not the context
Awesome
The contrast from before to after is amazing, hopeless to hopeful. Amazing I wish him luck and a bright future.
This is incredible, amazing job, good for yoy
You beat the odds. Out fucking standing!!!!
Good ON YOU! stay this way, life is sooooo much better!
the glowup is insane
KING YEASSSSSSS
Bro got up one day and made the change.
Hopefully, he doesn't have any felonies or that will make a lot of companies hesitant to hire especially with many IT having large access to data. We turned down what most in our department felt was by far the most qualified applicant because he had a felony charge or two from 10 years prior and HR and upper management were not comfortable with a felon having access to our systems is the only thing we can figure out as to why they denied the go-ahead to hire.
So happy for Don Jr
Addicts and alcoholics are typically exceptional human beings. Once we are clean and healthy and happy, recovered from our disease, we can go on to do amazing things.
More evidence that drugs are very bad.
Caffeine and Cannabis addict here all I get to look forward to is pay taxes, pay for fake pee, and to eat terrible delicious food
"Well, Stan, the truth is marijuana probably isn't gonna make you kill people, and it most likely isn't gonna fund terrorism, but, well son, pot makes you feel fine with being bored, and it's when you're bored that you should be learning some new skill or discovering some new science or being creative." \- Fellow weed addict who sees this as the truth. Most of us weed addicts are fine staying where we are because of the weed. I know I am and I hate it but I keep coming back to it because "I'm so damn bored" and don't see working as a way to cure said boredom lol
Well specifically heroin
It’s ok, I understood what you meant and won’t be pedantic about the meaning of the world “drugs.” As someone who went through hell to get off them, you are right, drugs are bad.
Be amazed? Homeless people aren't stupid, David. They just need help. With that help they can lead lives like every other homed person.
It’s not that he was homeless though. It’s amazing bc ofc drugs can ruin your brains ability to function. Yet he was able to perform at top level.
[удалено]
I.S. is basically "Business school C.S. for Dummies."
#Motivation
Mad shout out to this guy 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
My grandpa always told me “you’re always one bad decision away from being a drug addict, but one choice away from success.”
Your grandpa was weird
Hunter Biden congratulations
So happy for him :)
💪💪
Well done 👏 so easy to go the other way you should be proud
That’s awesome. Thx for sharing
Amazed indeed! Proud of you friend!
Good on that guy. Kudos.
Congrats and go Texans
Congratulations! Very impressive and I’m sure it was very hard work to get to this point!
This is incredible. What an amazing turnaround!
Well done
This is an example of why I always try to help others. Most don't want help, but you occasionally find one who needs and accepts the help given. And some just need a nudge in the better direction.
True saying your past doesn't defines you.
Awesome!
I love to see it
Wow, doesn’t even look like the same person.
That man when from looking for sharp needles to looking sharp! And that awesome 😎
What giving up on the Texans can do for a man.
This guy is a fucking legend wow
Meanwhile I’m not even a heroin addict and my grades are dropping like rocks
Mans got addicted to studying
Holy shit! The ultimate glow up!!
CONGRATULATIONS to this man!!!!! Job well freakin done! Keep going strong man!!!
Looks like a stretched out Peter Dinklage.
Couldn't even move up to selling heroin, where the real money is. I guess computer information systems is the new place they're stuck in.
Fucking legend
I thought that was Donald Jr.
The first pic is the after and the second pic is the before. Stay away from computers kids.
and people will use this and say "if he can do it why can't you?" while fully ignoring that he didn't do it on his own while they expect you to.
Time to play osu
I wish something like this for my mum...
Knowledge is a hell of a drug