On April 14, 2021, all of DMAE attended a virtual assembly hosted by Speak Sobriety about drug addiction and the downsides of drugs. Motivational speaker Stephen Hill spoke about his experience to hopefully spark a change in students’ habits. 

“Mr. Hill gave us real-life experiences to show that it can happen to anyone. It could be a star athlete, someone who is bullied, or the bully himself,” sophomore Christopher Restrepo said.

Stephen Hill explained how he did drugs in high school and told stories of how drugs led to him committing felonies, fracturing his family bonds, and how drug abuse led to the deaths of others he knew. What gave his story impact compared to previous assemblies about drugs is how Stephen had no filter when telling students about this vulnerable time in his life. 

“He didn’t choose to do this job because he had nothing better to do. He wants to impact us teenagers and show us the consequences of taking drugs,” Christopher said.

Mr. Hill was, in fact, a star athlete. He spoke about how he was a shining athletic student in the beginning of his high school career, but he hung out with friends who peer pressured him into doing drugs, and “it spiraled into a path of constant destruction of my life.” Mr. Hill said that once he chose recovery and a sober lifestyle, many rewarding events happened to him. He plans to maintain his sobriety and speaking on the subject allows him to reflect on that dark era and maintain his strength. 

“I enjoyed knowing his story because it’s a good thing to know that there’s hope out there,” sophomore Lara Ashely Morales said. “He was inspirational to me and I know that if anything wrong happens to me, I can change it,” Lara added.

The administration and the guidance department agree that presentations like Mr. Hill’s are invaluable to students, especially at an age when they can be influenced by anything, including drugs, and especially at a time when the pandemic has made us all feel off balance. Recently, drug overdoses are at an overwhelmingly high number. Assemblies like this one for high school teenagers help to bring awareness to the issue and decrease drug abuse and deaths. 

“When it comes to prevention work, the message may not apply to everyone at the moment, but if it helped a few people then it was well worth it,” school counselor Jalesah Brooks said. “Although some messages may not apply to students currently, they may encounter a situation in the future where they may remember this assembly and its lessons,” she added.

Mr. Hill expressed his hopes of visiting DMAE in person one day and having the opportunity to impact students more profoundly. He has also released a book about recovery called A Journey to Recovery that anyone can read.