It's amazing what you can learn about someone just by sitting next to them in class.

So the goes the story of the 24-year-old boy who took a seat next to me on the first day of Survey of Personality. He had kind eyes and immediately began talking to me, asking me my name and major and such. I liked him. He was honest and in between the mandatory self-introductory sentences he fed me I felt a sort of vulnerability and fear in him. Women love this. When we realize a man has been hurting it becomes our mission to make it all better.

Today, the third day of class, started out like the previous two, except my friend was wearing a national guard shirt. Knowing several people who are serving, I asked if he was in the guard. "No," he said. "I have a felony charge so they wouldn't let me." Really? For what? For possession of cocaine and intent to distribute. Wow. He then showed me the scars on his right arm where he used to plunge needles full of heroin into his undeserving veins. He had been to rehab four times and was just now getting his life back on track. He told me what it was like to suffer through withdrawal and that he wanted to work with drug addicts when he graduated college. I was highly intrigued. Before, I had sensed there was something a little off about him, like he was slower than the rest. Now I knew it was years of hard drugs that had permanently altered his brain. Amazing. Simply amazing.

When class ended I had gained a great amount of respect for him. It takes a lot to pull yourself from the depths of addiction and turn your life around, but here he was taking notes and making conversation. I'm learning that everyone has their own interesting story to tell. You might just be sitting next to a recovering addict.