Photo Courtesy of Betty Araya

“What I want to do [has] really been a spiral of things. At first, I wanted to open my own type of [rehabilitation] place. Kind of like [Alcoholics Anonymous] but with a twist. I wanted to do it where it included the parents, but also the kids because kids get really left out on the whole drug rehab stuff. Parents are [the ones] getting the treatment, but [it should also focus on] how we can help the kids so that when they get older [they don’t follow in their steps]. You can’t be a parent and an addict – they don’t mix. I know because I’ve had someone in my life that was an alcoholic. Basically, I wanted to open up my own place so that we could teach kids how to cope and what to do, I wanted to show them what resources they have. I want to teach them all these techniques so that when they are older, they’re not freaking out when they get 20 phone calls from their dad in an hour or [he] is drunk calling them all the time, or asking for money. Now, I still want that, and I still want to be a therapist but I’m leaning toward going into the Peace Corps and working with kids in the East Caribbean. I have it all figured out, I talked to a recruiter and everything. Recently, I actually worked with Public Safety here. I always [thought] I didn’t like [Public Safety] because I thought they were useless, but actually, a lot of stuff happened recently and they were more helpful than the cops here. They are amazing people. [Most people] know Steve, the night shuttle driver, but there are lot more officers there that are underrated. I’ve decided I want to join the Peace Corps and then come back to Hofstra and hopefully be a Public Safety officer. I would like to be one of the good ones and try and help people out.”