A year ago, Bruce Anderson was anything but a Neighbourhood Hero. Today he definitely is one. Leslie McWhinnie, one of his teachers at NDSS says so.

"I spent three years doing drugs, missing school half the time, letting my friends drag me down," Anderson said recently "but no more." On the days he did turn up in class, he was there in body only. His mind was some where else. Life was definitely going down hill.

Then the best thing that could have happened, happened. Anderson got in trouble with the law. "That made me start thinking about what I had done, how stupid I had been," he says now, "and I realized that what I was doing was leading to harsher stuff, worse drugs and stuff and I knew I had to change."

Anderson registered for Exodus, a 9-week residential drug rehab program in Langley and he began to learn that you can have fun without drugs. One of the activities he most enjoyed was the Wilderness Challenge Camp where they did a lot of kayaking and hiking. He did very well in that environment. In fact, they asked him to come back as a leader. He had never thought of himself as a leader before.

Anderson says another lesson he learned at Exodus was that you can't do drugs just one more time and then quit. You've got to quit now, keep thinking positively and take one day at a time.

When he graduated from Exodus, Anderson registered in the CTC Automotive Technology Program at NDSS and he's doing well. How well? "I failed English three times," he says "and now I'm getting A's and I'll tell you, it feels really good to be doing that well.

"A year ago I felt like I couldn't get anything done, no way I could get a job or anything. I was just sitting around doing nothing, hanging out with people I thought were friends and doing drugs. Now I have lots to do. I'm doing good in school, I do my homework and I have a job on the weekends. The way I look at it, I can do anything I want now. All I've got to do is try."

Anderson plans on graduating from the CTC program next year and then taking one semester at Malaspina. That will give him credit for one complete college year. His plan then is to go to BCIT to continue to work towards his Heavy Duty Mechanic's ticket, a career path he's always wanted to follow but never dreamt he could.

It's not easy to get back on the straight and narrow once you have wandered off and it can be harder yet to stay there once back. How has Anderson managed? He attends both ADAPT and Narcotics Anonymous once a week. And he'll talk to anyone who wants to talk to him about his life with drugs. "Anything I can do to help," he says. The people who coordinate the ADAPT program have invited him to become a Peer Councilor starting later this month.

Leslie McWhinnie, a teacher at NDSS had tears in her eyes when she started to talk about Anderson. "He almost radiates positivity now," she says "and he's on such a calm, even keel. There's no doubt that he's a positive influence on other kids who are now where he was a year ago. I'm just so proud of this guy and I hope he's proud of himself - I know he is."