RoA Microgrant Awardee Tynesha McCullers - 2024

We are proud to once again celebrate with you the reporting of our 2024 Reporting on Addiction Microgrant winners, and today, we head to a North Carolina campus to do it. 

Tynesha McCullers is a graduate student at North Carolina State University writing for the on-campus Black publication Nubian Message. In her story "Pack Recovery Offers Community to Graduate Students in Recovery," Tynesha explores the pressure of being a graduate student on the campus of NC State, a culture that often revolves around drinking, and the support systems in place on their campus for students in recovery.

We asked Tynesha to help our community better understand just what went into her reporting process. Take a peak behind the scenes of her reporting below!

What drew you to telling this story? 

“I wanted to tell this story because I felt that not enough attention is given to graduate students navigating addiction and recovery. There’s a general assumption that graduate students don’t need additional support while pursuing degrees and that they don’t involve themselves in campus efforts. Telling this story showcased that there are graduate students who need these resources and experience a number of benefits by participating in them."

What did you learn from the process of reporting this story? 

"While working on this article, I learned recovery, much like addiction, is complex. There isn’t a singular way to be in recovery – it looks different for everyone. To accommodate differences in addiction and recovery journeys, a number of treatments and resources are available on and off college campuses."

How did the microgrant from Reporting on Addiction support your work?

“Without the funding from this microgrant, I would not have been able to conduct as much research as I did for this piece. Having expenses covered afforded me time to interview multiple people with varying experience and expertise on the subjects. Most importantly, the grant will allow me to continue reporting on these issues."

Make sure you give Tynesha's story a read on the Nubian Message's website here.