Success is Subjective: Helping parents of college students accept that dropping out is okay

Episode 73 — Your Wellbeing Matters More Than Finishing A Degree — with Robert McCaslin

August 03, 2021 Joanna Lilley, MA, NCC Season 1 Episode 73
Success is Subjective: Helping parents of college students accept that dropping out is okay
Episode 73 — Your Wellbeing Matters More Than Finishing A Degree — with Robert McCaslin
Show Notes

Whether it’s the pressure from family to finish school ‘on time’, the pressure you might be putting on yourself, or the expectation that you should be tough ‘enough’. Mental health and one’s overall wellbeing can be so overlooked when it’s put under a timeline. There is no set timeline on getting well. When that’s understood, real change is able to happen.

Robert McCaslin, director of business development for Alta Loma and founder of Sunlight Sober Living, dealt with addiction and mental health struggles from an early age. Not only was the transition into college hard enough, but everything that he was going through at the time, weighed him down even more and completely changed his outlook on life. Robert had tried to go to treatment many times throughout college always with big expectations for himself. It wasn’t until his senior year that he decided to put a hold on his degree and take a year off to really commit to treatment. After taking a side job at a sober home he had an amazing experience at, instead of going back to his degree right away, he went off to find a huge passion working in recovery and mental health, and now finds great joy in his work.

On this episode of Success is Subjective, Robert joins Joanna to share his rocky college experience and how he came to be vulnerable in his challenges, coming to find a passion through his own struggles. Robert’s story shows how important it is to always value yourself before focusing on any academic or societal rating. Listen in for insight on Robert’s journey as he finds the importance of mental health and now uses that to help individuals and their families find recovery themselves, from their issues with mental health and addiction.

What You Will Learn

  • College was never a question growing up
  • The very difficult experience with losing a close friend in Robert’s senior year
  • The mental health struggles Robert tried to ignore in college
  • The LEP program
  • What caused Robert to drop out with only a quarter left for his degree
  • Where Robert found himself after becoming sober
  • Your health matters. College can wait 
  • Where Robert finds himself now and how he can’t think of anything better
  • The biggest measurement of success for Robert
  • The importance in taking as much time off as you need

Connect with Robert McCaslin

References

Connect with Joanna Lilley