KENNESAW, Ga. | Apr 15, 2019

Members of the KSU Center for Young Adult Addiction and Recovery (CYAAR) traveled abroad to Italy this Spring Break and participated in activities  geared towards maintaining their sobriety. 

The CYAAR is a program for KSU students that have struggled with diverse substance and situational challenges earlier in life. The CYAAR's mission is to support and encourage young adult recover and wellness by providing recovery-based programs and engaging in collaborative research and education at KSU and the local, state and national community. It serves approximately 90 KSU students.

The CYAAR provides this international experience each Spring Break to further support and enable recovery and prepare participants to be more competitive after university. As a component of completing a three-hour course entitled, Recovery, Resilience and Leadership, the group visited Montepulciano and Rome for 10 days.

During their stay there, students went biking, visited addiction and recovery centers, toured farms, took Italian cooking lessons, visited museums, and attended an Alchoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting in Rome.

"This is international education and cultural exchange at its best...a wonderful marrying of academic work and real integration with the Italian culture...a mutual sharing of life experiences," said Ken Hill, Site Manager for KSU in Tuscany.

Hill explained how this unique experience abroad is different from the other various programs hosted at the Fortezza.

"This truly differentiates our recovery students program from many of the other programs that we welcome here. While the program includes the expected contact with the culture, history and the typical university coursework, in a number of program-related activities these students exchange their struggles, successes and values with their Italian counterparts," said Hill.

According to Hill, the experience of traveling abroad can either be menacing or life changing for young adults recovering from addiction. For some, even travelling abroad seemed out of reach.

"I never really thought I would be able to go to Europe as a broke college student, but KSU provided me with the opportunity to go there for cheap. Italy is absolutely beautiful," stated a memeber of the CYAAR. 

The CYAAR hopes to continue providing this emersive recovery program each year as part of their mission to support and encourage young adult recovery and wellness.

For more information on the Center of Young Adult Addiction and Recovery visit https://cyaar.kennesaw.edu.

- Imperiaa Resendiz