This “memory” from 6 years ago popped up on my Facebook page today. Seeing this inspired me to reflect on the last 8 years of my life as I plan to leave New York City in a week to start my PhD program in Public Health at University of Pittsburgh.

As the NYC chapter of my life comes to a close, I look back on how much has changed in that time. To say these last 8 years have been “transformational” would be an understatement.

I came to the city at the urging of a close friend (below) who tragically passed the same week. That incident, and the loneliness that comes from being surrounded by millions of strangers, led to a relapse of meth dependency after nearly a decade of being sober.

More troubling, my use was also tied to my work (video and escorting) allowing me to financially support myself better when using rather than when not. (Big $$$ clients pay you extra to use with them).

When my life inevitably started to crumble, including an arrest for possession in 2014, I knew I needed a change but was not sure how I could leave that life behind and still be financially successful.

I checked into an amazing outpatient rehab at the Addiction Institute at @MountSinaiNYC which helped me reorganize my life, define life goals and work towards a life that brings me true fulfillment.

One exercise I did there was build a “personal mission statement”. The series of exercises really forced me to examine what makes me happy and what I want to do with the talents I have. Although the exercise was several steps, here is the final statement I developed.

Chief among those goals was returning to school to complete my undergraduate degree, and ultimately obtain my Masters in Public Health. It was scary to challenge myself in that way... mentally.. after a solid decade of relying purely on physical goals to advance in life.

I was still trying to overcome my meth addiction, and my brain chemistry was pretty fucked up. I remember not even being able to read a full page of text and connect the ideas together. But I enrolled at Borough of Manhattan Community College @bmcc_cuny to try it out.

At the same time, to fill my desire to connect with people and quell my anger against institutions of oppression, I became very involved in social justice activism, and particularly Palestinian liberation protests. #FreePalestine

And later, the early #BlackLivesMattermovement

It was the confluence of these two activities— school and activism— that led to a profound change and leading me to leave New York City next week.

In that time, I’ve graduated from @cunybac with honors, studied abroad extensively in East Africa. Here is my ridiculously corny graduation speech where I quote @RuPaul and do quick drag.

I also won multiple prestigious awards (including a @FulbrightPrgrm to Kenya in 2017) to work with marginalized LGBTQI such as refugees, Sex workers, and those living with HIV. I helped produced the first LGBTQI Pride Parade in a refugee camp in Kakuma.

And last month, I finally got that Masters in Public Health!@nyupublichealth encouraged me to merge my desire for community-driven interventions with rigorous scholarship and data-based decisionmaking, so I can bring those skills back to the communities that need it the most

At @PittPubHealth, I’ll be able to put those skills into practice through the Center for LGBT Health Research @cntr4lgbthealth and my @NIH T32 Training Fellowship.

In addition to that, I will being decades of lived experience. I am living with HIV, an indigenous #achomawi, grew up (and continue to live) in poverty, overcome a major meth addiction, a sex worker since I was 19, and grew up in a family with mental health issues and violence.