Mike Scott shares story of addiction and street life with Sandy Lake youth

By Brianna Goodman, Janesa Harper, Taylor Meekis, and Sandy Wood

On Thursday, September 24, 2015, Cree motivational speaker Mike Scott paid a visit to Thomas Fiddler Memorial High School in Sandy Lake to share his story about overcoming the evil spirits of addiction and street life, and to inspire young people to move forward and make positive changes in their lives. Scott rose to fame through Facebook, where he has caught the attention of over 94,000 followers by posting funny and inspiring videos about life on reserves. One of his most popular videos, titled “When your kid asks for pop,” has been viewed more than 460,000 times and shared by over 10,000 people. But Scott does more than make funny videos. Over the last three years, he has travelled to over 120 communities across Canada to present his story, titled “Finding the Warrior Within." At the high school gym, Scott shared his story in front of an audience of 200 youth aged 12-18. His story hit home for many, as he spoke about being separated from his family by Child and Family Services; bouncing from foster home to foster home; getting caught up in a dangerous life of theft, drugs, and violence, and losing his mother: a residential school survivor who spent her compensation money almost entirely on drugs and alcohol. Brianna Goodman, Janesa Harper, Taylor Meekis, and Sandy Wood caught up with Scott after the presentation.

Q: What does healing mean to you?

A: Healing to me is growing every day that we’re alive. We’re blessed with chances to grow from the mistakes and the pain that we’ve had in our lives. So healing is many things. You can heal through culture, you can heal through friends, and through relationships, but most importantly, you can heal through the creator in yourself.

Q: What were the most important things that helped you quit drugs?

A: I think the most important things that help me quit were my desire, my want, and my need for it. My family, my daughter, my surroundings needed to change in order to be happy.

Q: Are you happier now?

A: WAY HAPPIER!!

Q: What was the most difficult part of your journey?

A: The most difficult part was probably letting go of the people I used to hold on to, because I grew up with a lot of the people that I partied with, and I had to decide that letting them go was going to be beneficial for me, because holding on to them was only investing time into them that I wasn’t giving to myself. That aloneness that I felt when I had no friends when I first sobered up was later on filled by true friendship with people that will last forever. So, it worked itself out in the end.
 

Grace Goodman (15) watches keenly as Mike Scott gives a presentation to students at the Thomas Fiddler Memorial High School on September 24, 2015. Photo by Sandy Wood.