“Bad chapters can still create great stories. Wrong paths can still lead to right places. Failed  dreams can still create successful people. Sometimes it takes losing yourself to find yourself.” 

-Cynthia Thurlow 

I don’t believe any of my grade school teachers would find it easy to believe that I am a former  heroin addict who just got out of prison recently. I was never considered a trouble maker or misfit. I  only had detention once, always made the honor role, and had a natural athleticism. All these things  happened with minimal effort and that was the beginning of my problems. 

You see, as childhood accomplishments grew with ease, so did my expectations of success into  adulthood. I believed life would continue to happen easily for me, that I would never have to work as  hard as others. My ego began to inflate. Combine that with an inability to properly process and express  my emotions and you have the perfect combination for an addictive mindset. 

Equally contributing to my addiction was how I chose to respond to things which didn’t meet my  expectations. Instead of considering I needed to work harder, I chose to believe that my failures were  more of a reflection of favoritism, social class, and popularity. I took little responsibility, fed my ego, and  created the narrative of being a victim. I began using drugs and alcohol, got bored with life, and used  more to deal with that. This pattern continued and progressed until I was 37 and facing aggravated robbery charges for robbing a pharmacy using my childhood BB gun. That’s where MY BEST THINKING  got me. I used to question everything and everyone except for the one person who contributed most to  my misery, myself. 

My crime occurred in Feb. 2017. It was my thinking and my actions that got me arrested for the  first and only time. No one else was responsible, only me. Today I am genuinely grateful for the  consequences of my crime because it forced me to take responsibility not only for the crime, but most  importantly for my life. 

I spent 9 months in rehab (The Recovery Village; Umatilla, FL) and in sober living (Cameron  Villas; West Palm Beach, FL) prior to incarceration. These were the most critical months of my life.  Without the changes of perception which God brought me there, I have no doubt that I’d either be  ashes on a mantle or still be in prison today. While there I was introduced to Alcoholics Anonymous, got  

a sponsor, and worked the 12 steps. I began developing a spiritual existence. I had spiritual  experiences, became aware of my defects of character, worked through my resentments, made amends,  began taking daily inventories of my wrong doings and corrected them. This all lead to a spiritual  awakening and genuine desire for continued growth leading into my incarceration. 

While incarcerated I focused on spiritual, conscious, and mental growth through self-inquiry  courses available through the mail. I read over 100 books about art, the cosmos, quantum physics,  music, psychology, and Eastern philosophy. I began meditating and praying. I felt connected to God for  the first time. This all resulted in peace and patience where there was once only stress and anxiety. I  found an ability to accept the moment for what it was and make the best of it despite the chaos around  me. I finally understand how happiness is truly a choice because how I choose to respond to life is so  much more significant to my serenity than what happens to me. I no longer victimized my mind or  limited my potential.

In addition, I became inspired by artists around me and began to believe I could apply  my new found focus and patience toward developing a new talent as an artist. Art, I believed, could also  communicate the growth I was experiencing with my friend and family, be an outlet to express myself,  and give me a goal to accomplish with the time I had to serve. I developed a process and began to  practice daily. Surprisingly, the ability came easily to me, but this time I didn’t let it go to ego. Instead I  worked hard at it, crafted it, and began using it to tell my story. I began drawing portraits for other  inmates and eventually the prison staff as well. This earned me trust and respect. It opened the door to  get to start and AA meeting for inmates, giving me more purpose. I have continued this on the outside  since being released in June, 

Today I am an advertised portrait artist and am beginning to oil paint as well. I am a residential  tech at Turning Point, where I actually get paid to carry the message of recovery and my experiences  with it. I’m honored to be a board member for the REBOS building and Central Group of AA in Johnson  City, as well as a C.O.R.E. member at the Day Reporting Center through the T.D.O.C. My sponsorship  family has a saying which definitely applies, “Look What God Did!” My life, today, is everything I once  believed it never could be. God has truly done for me what I could not do for myself. We do recover! 

Jason Stout

Elementary, middle and high school students with TEACH Beta Club attended the State Competition, hosted by the National Beta Club held in Nashville, TN at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, November 18-23, and came home with several awards.  The students competed in academic quizzes, visual arts, and performing arts as individuals and as teams.  The National Beta club is a non-profit that promotes the ideals of academic achievement, character, service and leadership.   Beta holds annual state conventions in 18 states, and winners of these states will go on to compete on a national level.  The conventions give students the opportunity to interact, share project ideas and show their academic and leadership skills.  This year, National Beta offered the state competition both as an in-person event as well as a virtual event.  

TEACH Beta club sent the high school students to the competition as an in-person event.  The students in attendance were Elizabeth Carpenter, Samantha Kendall, Mia McIntire, Carlisle Jarnigan and McKenna Marr.  Carlisle Jarnigan received 4th place in 12th grade language arts.  Samantha Kendall placed 3rd in 10th grade language arts and 4th place in Division 1 Recyclable Arts.  Mia McIntire received 3rd place in Division 1 Sculpture and received 4th place in Division 1 On-Site Drawing.  The students also competed in “Living Literature”, which provides an opportunity for students to present an interpretation of a scene from a work of literature, and they chose Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott .  Students had to recreate a scene from the book through costumes, scenery, and props and be as still as wax figures while being judged.  The engineering competition that the students competed in demonstrated not only their creative ability but also their collaboration and attention to detail when constructing an invention in the spirit of Rube Goldberg. 

TEACH Beta had many virtual entries at all three levels of students.  The students competed in speech, creative writing, poetry, as well as marketing and communications. In the elementary division (grades 4th-5th) Berkley Jones received 4th place in painting.  In the junior level (grades 6-8th), Annalee Mindeman placed 3rd in painting.  

TEACH Beta Clubs are led by Nicole Kendall, Carter County Drug Prevention Drug-Free Communities Coordinator, and Jilian Reece, Carter County Drug Prevention Executive Director in partnership with Carter County Drug Prevention’s Youth Coalition.  “Our Youth Coalition offers our homeschool students the ability to participate in National Beta.  This gives them the opportunity to become great community leaders through service and assists them in developing their leadership skills through collaboration and empowering them to be successful,” Kendall added.