What, or who, has saved your life?

Gerard Schwind saved my life. He led a group called Alternatives to Violence at my high school. At the time I smoked a lot of pot, drank a lot, and cut myself. I was pretty messed up in my head. In a lot of ways I was trying to find myself. I was looking for information on how to lead a better life. Alternatives to Violence was a program designed to help troubled teens by showing them how violence forms, what is violence, realizing the values in yourself and others, helping people around you and much more. There were two groups, the voluntary group and the mandatory group. I was voluntary. I learned so much. The best part was that Gerard was a real human being. He wasn't shallowly preaching to us, he'd been there- to the bottom. He's a Vietnam vet, recovered alcoholic and drug abuser, and admits to abusing his ex wife. He realized his actions were horrible and went down the path to change his life. He formed ATV to help kids before they went too far down that road. The big kicker for me was when he took us down to Farmington Hills to the Holocaust museum. The images I saw and the stories I heard from actual survivers, it was amazing. After witnessing the horror that was the holocaust, these people still had hope for the future, in us, to spread peace. It was amazing and aweinspiring. I became more interested in helping people. We were able to send carepackages to people in India after the Tsunami and to people in need after Katrina. We were a small school with very little money, but we did what we could. I learned that if everybody did what they could this world would be a much better place. I learned to respect myself more. I no longer smoke pot, cigarettes, but I do drink once in a blue moon, not like I used to. It's been three years since I felt the desire to self mutilate (unless you count tattoos, I like to believe that my tattoos tell the story of my growth, but my tattoos need there own section to explain).

I still see Gerard from time to time. Its nice that he still knows my name, my woes, my dreams, and where I'm at in my life. He knows that about all his "kids" (my school wasn't the only school, he worked with five other schools in the region).

If Gerard Schwind did not have ATV at my high school, god only knows where I'd be. Because of him, I saw value in myself and weight in my actions. Because of him, I see the potential in myself to help the world, in whatever I do.