“Students Offering Support” will hold its first meeting Monday 5:30 p.m. on the second floor of Powell Hall East in the conference room.
The meeting is open to any students who feels they need assistance with substance abuse problem and also to those who feel like they would be able to help others through their own personal motivation and success stories of recovery.
This new program is designed to be purely recovery-based and should not be mistaken for a 12-step program like Alcoholics Anonymous. Each meeting will be conducted in a small group or a one-on-one setting, each designed to identify a possible problem with a substance.
The group was created based on the statistics from last year’s Drug and Alcohol Survey that stated 9.2 percent of students “thought I might have an alcohol program,” and 5.9 percent “had unsuccessfully tried to stop using.”
General student feedback on the new program seems to be positive.
“It definitely sounds like a good idea,” Mia Case, freshman biology major, said. “There seems to be a need for that kind of thing around here.”
SOS is intended to be mainly student-on-student interaction with limited input from that of an adviser. Those seeking support should feel free to remain anonymous throughout the duration of their participation in the program.
“The thought of students reaching out to help other students is really cool,” Sarah Powell, junior business major, said. “I think that it will be effective in countering all the negative influences that surround VSU.”
Anyone seeking more information is encouraged to contact Mark Williams in the Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Education, or call 229-259-5111.