Student Success: Peter Helms Credits MCC for Helping Him with “Second Chance”

Manchester, Conn. (March 14, 2016) – Peter Helms, of Manchester, not only believes in the power of second chances – he’s lived it.

The MCC alumnus, who is now in his first year at Eastern Connecticut State University (ECSU) studying business administration, while at the same time doing independent marketing consulting, says that he got the new start he never imagined anyone would give him when he decided to enroll at the community college.

Helms’ childhood and teen years were marked by challenges due to a misunderstood personality disorder that led to abuse and confusion among his family and friends and, at the age of twenty, he began a prison sentence. “I made a serious mistake and went to prison for robbery and assault,” Helms said. “After that it was in and out of prison and halfway houses for the better part of 10 years.”

He briefly attended Three Rivers Community College after he served his time, but it was not until he moved to Sober Solutions LLC’s recovery living center that he felt he truly seized the opportunity to turn his life around.

“I had been living under the belief that I could recover on my own,” Helms said. “I’d thought all of these programs were toxic for me. I was a stoic kind of guy, and I wanted to do it without help.”

Helms notes that people at Sober Solutions, “for some reason, saw something different in me.” He was given what he calls a rare opportunity to speak to inmates about ways to defeat their own personal demons and change their lives. This path eventually got him the attention of Mike Pohl, chairman of the Democratic Town Committee in Manchester, whom Helms said became his mentor.

“Mike suggested I look into going back to college, and he introduced me to people at Manchester Community College, where I enrolled in the Drug and Alcohol Recovery Counselor (DARC) program,” Helms said.

MCC Counselor Robert Turner worked closely with Helms to get him enrolled into the program. “I knew he struggled with some challenges, but I didn’t know the specifics,” Turner said. “He was very appreciative of everything the college did to help him. He also was very willing to provide mentoring to other students, to give them advice on how they could overcome challenges and succeed here.”

Helms ultimately opted to change his career plans to incorporate his marketing talents but, since transferring to ECSU, he remains connected to MCC. He continues to speak to people in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction about how to change their paths, and recently he was instrumental in revitalizing a weekly Alcoholics Anonymous meeting on campus.

He points out that since attending MCC and transferring to ECSU, where he continues to do well, he has reconciled with his family as well. He is now eager to point out to people that whatever their challenges or mistakes have been in the past, those don’t have to define the future. “Whatever led you up to here doesn’t have to continue,” he said.