John Durbin:
CLASS OF 1984
Antioch High SchoolClass of 1984
Antioch, CA
CAARR InstituteClass of 2005
Sacramento, CA
California State University Class of 1989
Sacramento, CA
Antioch Junior High SchoolClass of 1980
Antioch, CA
Kimball Elementary SchoolClass of 1977
Antioch, CA
John's Story
Life
Howdy! **UPDATED 5/12/07**
Here is one Antioch High Grad who's glad to be alive!
After graduation in '84, I went away to college at CSUS...I guess Sacto grew on me, because I'm still here in Sacramento! To make a long story short, I got a job with the Sacramento Bee near the end of college and ended up working for them for 11 years...I was promoted several times and wound up a department head in Advertising Services in their "Neighbors" section...Lost touch with everyone from Antioch (but I miss everyone all the time! :) ) Played a lot of Softball, played a lot of guitar, drank WAY too much beer (more about that in a minute)...did really well at my career at that time, but it wasn't doing what I loved (which was "counseling" I found out)...later I began performing/assisting in a really cool Magic Act called Milligan & Marianne - That was REALLY fun!!...finaaly, I lost my job at The Bee...then, I descended into DEEP Type 4 Alcoholism (VERY near fatal more than once)...that sucked big time...I then had a series of jobs (good and bad) while I made fits and starts into recovery...before I knew it, I was in a battle for my life...it was a battle I very nearly lost... Finally, I would up at a GREAT job at Intel in Folsom...drank my way out of that and went into the emergency room for the last time...
Now the good news: I finally got my life turned around in a Social Model Recovery Home called "Mi Casa" in South Sacramento...I loved "the business" of helping people in recovery so much, I ended up Volunteering there after my stay was over...they liked my work so much, they hired me... I decided to go back to school, and now I'm a Certified Alcoholism and other Drug Addiction Recovery Specialist! The Association who provides the instruction and certification (CAARR - the California Association of Addiction Recovery Resources in Sacramento) liked my work so much, THEY hired me...now I work both places (I still volunteer as the "Family" and "Career Developement" Counselor at Mi Casa) and I'm in a great new position at CAARR as the Certification Project Coordinator.
...I acheived Three years Sober on 11/21/06, and I love to help people who are having trouble with drugs/alcohol...
Please feel free to "catch up"...didn't mean to hit you with a bunch of "heavy" stuff, but that's the reality of my life to this point...Now, life's good, recovery is VERY good, and I'd like to hear from some of my old "buddies"...Hope you aren't too put off by the Alcoholic thing...some people read that and I never hear from them again!! I understand if you ...Expand for more
are uncomfortable about it, but I'm not!
Hope to talk/write with you VERY Soon!
John R. Durbin, CAS
p.s. AHS Rules!
School
I have very fond memories of High School...Track, Football Games, the Speech Team, Student Government...I was way too shy to ask out many girls...I remember sitting out at lunch every year selling "Student Body Cards" because I was the Student Body Treasurer (Senior Year - I was the "Assistant" the year before) That was a great way to at least get to talk BREIFLY with just about every girl in school.
If memory serves, I wound up being the guy the females went to to talk about how much trouble they were having with my friends that they were dating (or wanted to date) instead of being the guy they wanted to date...oh well, I guess that set the foundation for me becoming a Counselor later in life! :)
I remember it seemed our entire Senior Class began to get along REALLY well right before we graduated and I remember thinking "Wow...why didn't we just treat each other like this the whole time?"
Probably my best friend from High School was Jerry Debene who I have recently gotten back in touch with!! For those of you that new my OTHER best friend, Derek Wallace, in case you hadn't heard he passed away about 12 years ago in Antioch...he died in the hands of the police as a result of being "pepper sprayed"...I miss him very much and regret that he and I hadn't had much communication in the years before he died...My plan is to not let that happen again with any of my friends/family now!!
Workplace
I started out working for "The Bee" in college, and It progressed from there, until I became the "Service Manager" for 6 years...Then I kinda moved around a lot over the next few years and was a "Graphic Artist", worked for Cingular Wireless, worked for the San Diego City School District taking people's fingerprints (Yes, while I was still in my Active Alcoholism...wasn't THAT exciting!) Then I got a great job with Intel that I loved dearly...when I lost that because I couldn't show up for work anymore, I went into a recovery home...ended up Volunteering there and then became staff...went back to school and got my Certificate as a "CAS" (basically, a drug and alcohol counselor)...I ended up doing some graphic work for the California Association of Addiciton Recovery Resources - who was the agency that I got Certified through - and ended up getting a job with them! Now, I'm working on a major project to get the entire program accreddited by a National agency, as the CAS Project Coordinator...I love my job now!
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