When senior Devin Brewer suffered an injury in a football game his freshman year and could no longer play, he turned to marijuana and alcohol as a distraction. It was not until junior year that Brewer started to genuinely notice the toll it was taking on him and others. Brewer knew he needed to make a change.

“I got tired of how I felt with it. I could never be happy any other way, it would just make me more miserable,” Brewer said.

His friends and family were there for him when he started to rehabilitate and motivated him to stay clean.

“I let him [Brewer’s grandfather], my brother and my mom down when I started doing stuff like that so they helped,” Brewer said.

Brewer said his proudest moment throughout the journey was seeing his son smile, and it encouraged him to make better decisions. He advises those struggling with substance abuse to find someone to talk to.

“I saw this quote that said ‘happiness doesn’t just happen to you, it’s a choice of mind, you have to want it,’ so I stuck to that.” Brewer said.