Walk a Mile in Their Shoes Written by: Phil Jones | Photography by: Brandon Pham
According to The Free Dictionary, the phrase "to walk a mile in my shoes" is “to consider or understand another person’s perspectives, experiences, or motivations before making a judgment about them.” As a drug and alcohol counselor, Travis Hall can certainly put his patients at ease as he explains that he has indeed been where they’ve been. Hall works as a drug and alcohol counselor in Tifton, Georgia, helping those who are suffering from alcohol and drug dependency. He is approaching the 20-year mark in this field and finds his work both enjoyable and rewarding. While Hall mentors those suffering from various afflictions, it wasn’t that
long ago that Hall himself was facing some of these same demons. Hall was born and raised in Metter, Georgia, and graduated from Metter High School in 1989. It was during his high school days that Hall said his problems began. “I started using alcohol only during high school,” Hall said. In fact, Hall said that he was not only simply using alcohol during that time, but he was far beyond that point. “I was most likely a full-blown alcoholic in high school,” he said. One month after he graduated from high school in 1989, his problems with alcohol nearly cost him his life. He and two of his friends were
enjoying a night on the town in Statesboro. “We were at an establishment drinking and eating," he said. As it turned out, there was much more drinking going on than eating. The group decided to head over to a friend's party, where the drinking continued. When the group left hours later, they headed back to Metter. On the way to take the friends home, with Hall driving, they encountered a sharp curve at a high rate of speed. Unable to properly negotiate the curve, the car flipped and then rolled six times. Hall and one of the occupants were thrown from the vehicle, while the passenger in the backseat remained buckled in with his seatbelt.
“The drugs and alcohol began to have a negative effect on me, and they started taking their toll on my mental state,” Hall said. “I really reached the end of my rope, so to speak.” — Travis Hall 13
