“I want to know what makes you decide that being yourself is not good enough.”

Milton, hosted a powerful presentation by former Boston Celtics player Chris Herren late last week.

Mr. Herren entranced the audience of nearly 1,000 Milton High School students during his presentation on substance abuse.  His powerful story and his redemptive rise from drug addiction were featured in the book, Basketball Junkie and the release of the ESPN Films documentary, Unguarded. (You can watch the documentary here)

“I want to know what makes you decide that being yourself is not good enough,” Herren asked the crowd. “Why do you want to put drugs and alcohol into your body? What has gone wrong for you that you can’t enjoy being yourself without that in your system?”

Chris Herren, a native of Fall River, played basketball for Boston College, Fresno State, the Denver Nuggets and ultimately, the Boston Celtics. He struggled with drug and alcohol addiction for many years while playing basketball, and at one point, overdosed on heroin. He entered a rehab program in 2008 and has been drug-free and alcohol-free since that year.

Students were silent during Mr. Herren’s hour-long dialogue that dealt with teenage alcoholism, cutting, prescription drug abuse, peer pressure and being role models to younger students. He told personal stories about his teen years at Durfee High School, in Fall River, and talked about friends who have overdosed and those who have maintained sobriety.

Mr. Herren spoke to nearly 1,000 Milton High School students in the morning during an assembly in the Copeland Field House and later that evening, made another presentation targeted to parents and guardians. The Impact Speaker Series is designed to educate youth and at-risk populations on the importance of a healthy lifestyle, good decision making and providing “real-world” techniques on how to handle pressure within a teen’s life, community or family situation