My first AA Meeting

Today I attended my 1st AA meeting! As an assignment in my seminar class I was required to attend a self help group meeting and write about my experience. I felt really enthusiastic about the assignment from the day it was assigned because I had never had the opportunity to watch this type of group in real life. I felt so excited and had no idea what to expect. To make things easy, I choose to Google AA meetings since they are held in every location multiple times a day. Surprisingly, the search was very simple and took minutes. I found several open meetings located at convenient times no more than 2 miles from my house. Perfect!

Hesitant to go alone, I had my friend, and fellow MSW colleague accompany me to the meeting. It was held at a local hospital, and was more difficult to find than I had anticipated. After getting completely lost and asking at least 5 hospital staff to point us in the direction of the AA meeting, we stumbled in about 10 minutes late. There were about 15 women sitting in a circle listening to one who was reading from a book. We were quickly asked to introduce ourselves and explain the reason we had decided to attend. We explained that we were MSW students and were there to observe the group process. All group members welcomed us with warm "hellos" and a few hugs. It was a very safe and warm environment. Each member had an opportunity to share their thoughts and feelings with one another, and all were very respectful and supportive. There was a coffee break and time for chatting. Overall, it was a very positive and welcoming experience. I would not hesitate to go again.