David in the Thrift Shop Office.
Two years ago, David found himself uncontrollably driving laps in a parking lot. At the time, David felt "If I said a certain thing or did a certain action or if I drove my car and I didn't have to stop at a yellow light that something good was going to happen to a sports team. If I thought positively before the clock changed from 12:43 pm to 12:44 then I can drive my car and…Carolina is going to win a football game. I had to keep driving around." This moment, which David says "made me really nervous" was the culmination of years of dealing with obsessive compulsive disorder. "I was having symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder when I was in grammar school where I would tear up a homework assignment. If I'd finished the whole Spanish assignment and then I wrote my name and made a little mistake I'd tear the whole homework and have to do it again. So the second time when I got to my name I had even more pressure and then I'd do it again. This might be five or six times. I spent six hours just writing one assignment. Then when I became a junior in high school the problem exasperated and when I felt the pressure at UNC, that's when it really got hard. I had a really difficult time at UNC because of the sports and my magical thinking related to that." In the summer of 2000, David's obsessive compulsive disorder progressed to the point he was hospitalized at McClain Hospital in Massachusetts. After returning home to Chapel Hill, his mother and counselor suggested David become a Club House Member at Club Nova.
A combination of counseling and Club Nova has greatly improved David's condition. "OCD has always been an enemy…it's not your friend, it's a monster, and you just have to say, as the doctors say, 'It's not me, it's my OCD.'" Club Nova has been crucial in helping concentrate on David's strengths and addressing his OCD weaknesses. "The camaraderie and working with people [has helped] and [I'm] understanding and coming to accept that I have a mental illness and not trying to be haughty about it all the time." When not relaxing with friends in the Club House, David is one of the Thrift Shop's most diligent workers. He puts in three hard worked hours daily. "I normally like to work with the books, but now I'm learning the cash register." He is also excellent at sorting through the clothing and keeping the sorting room immaculate. [Hear David discuss the work ethic in the Thrift Shop.] The work is rewarding. However, most of all David values the relationships he's built with his co-workers. "It's real people…[who] can empathize with my illness."
David's experiences have been so rewarding that he's currently seeking employment outside of the Club Nova community. With little work experience due to his illness, this search has been difficult. "There's a movie theatre I applied to and I never got a response. I've applied to Barnes and Noble. There's a video store I've applied to. I've also applied to some book store. [But I have] strikes against me not having a recent employment record even though I've done a lot of volunteer work. It's just kind of hard to battle uphill." An extremely intelligent man, a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a Political Science major with a concentration in Latin American Studies and Russian Literature translation, David deserves fulfilling employment. Hopefully, Club Nova will be able to find him a job like many other Club House Members before him.
David has come a long way since doing laps in a parking lot. Yes, employment is an issue and sports are a sensitive subject, but David seems genuinely happy and satisfied with Club Nova. The social community and work at Club Nova has provided David with plenty of fodder for his complicated brain to focus on. No longer is he doing circles, getting no where. Instead, he's clearly moving forward in the right direction. [Hear a final statement from David.]
A combination of counseling and Club Nova has greatly improved David's condition. "OCD has always been an enemy…it's not your friend, it's a monster, and you just have to say, as the doctors say, 'It's not me, it's my OCD.'" Club Nova has been crucial in helping concentrate on David's strengths and addressing his OCD weaknesses. "The camaraderie and working with people [has helped] and [I'm] understanding and coming to accept that I have a mental illness and not trying to be haughty about it all the time." When not relaxing with friends in the Club House, David is one of the Thrift Shop's most diligent workers. He puts in three hard worked hours daily. "I normally like to work with the books, but now I'm learning the cash register." He is also excellent at sorting through the clothing and keeping the sorting room immaculate. [Hear David discuss the work ethic in the Thrift Shop.] The work is rewarding. However, most of all David values the relationships he's built with his co-workers. "It's real people…[who] can empathize with my illness."
David's experiences have been so rewarding that he's currently seeking employment outside of the Club Nova community. With little work experience due to his illness, this search has been difficult. "There's a movie theatre I applied to and I never got a response. I've applied to Barnes and Noble. There's a video store I've applied to. I've also applied to some book store. [But I have] strikes against me not having a recent employment record even though I've done a lot of volunteer work. It's just kind of hard to battle uphill." An extremely intelligent man, a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a Political Science major with a concentration in Latin American Studies and Russian Literature translation, David deserves fulfilling employment. Hopefully, Club Nova will be able to find him a job like many other Club House Members before him.
David has come a long way since doing laps in a parking lot. Yes, employment is an issue and sports are a sensitive subject, but David seems genuinely happy and satisfied with Club Nova. The social community and work at Club Nova has provided David with plenty of fodder for his complicated brain to focus on. No longer is he doing circles, getting no where. Instead, he's clearly moving forward in the right direction. [Hear a final statement from David.]