Personal Narrative: Recovering Addiction

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I am a recovering addict. I’ve dealt with addiction since I was twelve, and I’ve had mixed reactions when I tell people about it. I tend to present myself as a competent and put-together person, and I want to write a solid essay about how addiction is not part of my identity any more. That’s not true though. I am writing this because recovery is an inseparable part of my life and identity, and a large part of my motivation to get the college degrees I will be studying for. I want to be honest about why I care. Over two years of battling an eating disorder, I’m not where I was when I started. I am a normal weight, I care about my health. I understand how my body works, and what purging does to a body. The people I’m close with are part of the …show more content…

I care deeply about honesty, and communicating the human experience. I want to learn about how others have expressed ideas well in the past, and how I can too. I have a constant reminder of the humanity of the people behind labels and campaigns. Because my addiction is largely related to what standards society sets, I care about having an effect on the trend of how we present ideals. I feel like it’s important to have a voice that is a clear and meaningful advocate for what I believe in. I want to learn how to say what I want to say, effectively, to communicate hope and love and shared …show more content…

My incomplete recovery from bulimia is a part of what will keep me studying and researching and working hard. It’s the force behind my interest, to come back to problems I have trouble with, try harder, do better, like I will have to with recovery itself. The constant personal battle is what makes my efforts in English and science worth something to me. It’s what makes me want to make my interests worth something to others. I want to go to this university because your programs will help me do that, and the value of that is something that I will be reminded of every day that I live with an

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