Jeff Fernandez

NURS 360
AA Reflection
On September 26, I attended an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. The
group that I joined is called Happy Hour and is located in Kapiolani Park. I
was very hesitant to sit with the group because I felt as if I was intruding into
their sacred time. If I were one of them, I wouldnt be too happy about a
student sitting there just to observe me as if I was some type of social
experiment. One of the leaders approached my classmate and I after the
meeting and asked if we were visitors. We told him we were nursing students
from Kapiolani Community College. At that moment I thought that his initial
welcoming attitude would turn into one of ridicule. I was wrong. This man
maintained a smile on his face and welcomed us anyway and shook our
hands.
The whole time during the meeting, I was just hoping I wouldnt get
called on and put on the spot. Thankfully, that did not happen. The meeting
started with the guest speaker talking about her struggles as an alcoholic
and how it affected her life as a wife, daughter, and a mother. I had so much
respect for her for having the courage to overcome the addiction and to be
able to speak about it openly with the intention to help those going through
the same addiction.
After she spoke, more people would share a little story for a few
minutes. Most of them spoke about a recent life event. They described what
happened and how they felt and then they talked about what would have

happened had they not been sober. Everyone was very supportive of each
other. I could sense a somewhat family kind of vibe with some of the longtime members of the group. Its very admirable to see how close some of the
members are and how they consider the group as their family.