"We are currently facing a major drug epidemic within our nation, with our collegiate students at the forefront of the conversation. Statistics are proving that what was once an issue in older populations is drastically shifting towards a younger audience. Todd Zalkins’ documentary, “The Long Way Back: The Story of Todd “Z-Man” Zalkins,” allows a new, unedited insight into this phenomenon through his portrayal of the journey to recovery. East Carolina University’s Collegiate Recovery Community was blessed with the opportunity to bring Todd to our campus in order to give students a new perspective of the issues we face. We were able to host a movie showing, a keynote speaking event and a podcast featuring both myself and our Collegiate Recovery Coordinator. Throughout the process, we were able to get several students to recognize risk behaviors, identify a problem, seek help and get plugged into recovery resources. We were able to attract students who were fans of Sublime’s music and, in doing so, allowed ourselves to get the message of recovery to those who we would be otherwise unable to reach. There is a strange mindset on college campuses that excessive partying behavior is the norm and there is a troubling belief in students that, “you are not an addict until you graduate.” Those of us plugged into the recovery population know this is far from the truth and we are seeing students enter treatment younger and younger as a result of these perceived social norms. Todd’s talk allowed students to see recovery through a new lens, one free from the, “just say no,” prerogative that fails to resonate in the majority of the population. Students were given a raw representation of addiction through his documentary, and were then able to connect deeper through his talk the next night. After these events were finalized, the podcast allowed university’s CRC the opportunity to speak on the issues we face in order to break the silence of the anonymous people. This gave us a platform to voice our concerns and raise awareness to what Collegiate Recovery Communities are doing across the nation. As addiction continues to be a controversial issue, it is often difficult to spark a dialogue within the general population. Todd’s appeal and charisma was the catalyst needed to open the door for conversation across our campus. Mike Meeker and Todd Zalkins were absolutely incredible in creating an avenue for those in recovery to be heard and those across our campus to listen."