High school is a place for learning, character building, and all around fun. It could also be a place of pressure to use drugs and some lose control. Whether or not a person thinks they have a drug problem, some teens are sent or choose to go to rehabilitation centers to fix the problem. Some may get nothing from their experiences at all, while it may provide a life changing impact for other. Jordan West is one of those people that have turned their life around.

                “Rehab was a good experience for me. I almost want to go back. It was a safe zone. There weren’t any drugs or any worry. It was almost like vacation,” senior Jordan West said.

                Recovering patients often need the support of loved ones. Not having family or friends around during his stay at the rehab center made West nervous.

                “I was sad that I wouldn’t have friends or family around, but I was also excited that I was given an opportunity to change my life,” West said.

                Being with strangers for thirty days, West had to depend on the staff and residents at the rehabilitation center.

                “After living with people for thirty days they kind of become family. The people there made my stay easy and enjoyable. I was sad to leave everyone and the situation. I was nervous to come back to school and be around everything again,” West said.

                The hardest part of rehabilitation is leaving, as West said. Not just leaving the new found family, but being exposed to all the old temptations to use.

                “I feel it helped me in a lot of ways so far, as long as I let it help me. If I pick up, it didn’t help me. All I do is use the tools that [rehab] gave me. That’s what it was all about,” West said.