FV asks: Tell us about TEEN LINE and the work you do there.

I had a problem with depression at the beginning of high school that was brought on by a combination of my dad's drug and alcohol abuse, my parent's sudden divorce, and mental health problems in my immediate family. I realized how important it was to talk about your problems rather than pushing them aside, and that in order to heal, I had to start talking. When I had improved a lot, I knew that TEEN LINE would be the perfect way to indirectly give back to all the people who had listened to me when I needed help.

FV asks: What’s the recruitment and training process like at TEEN LINE?

After I was accepted to TEEN LINE, I began the summer group training sessions. That was where we met twice or three times a week, for about three hours every session, to learn how to take different types of calls. We covered topics such as substance abuse, relationships, gangs, sexuality, body-image, suicide, depression, child abuse. I learned how to be an active listener, meaning not giving advice or counseling, but learning to REALLY listen to what the caller is saying, and merely offer suggestions. When it comes down to it, the teen who is calling knows him or herself a lot better than I do. I don't tell the person what to do. I just listen to what they're going through, and give options. That's why we're not counselors, but 'listeners.'

FV asks: What’s your typical day for you as a Listener like?

I work for TEEN LINE once a week, and depending on the night, I will get maybe three long calls, or ten short ones. Some nights, I don't receive very many at all, and other nights, I'm busy for most of the four hours. It's never the same.

I think that the most rewarding part of my work at TEEN LINE is the help I receive from it as well. It's advertised as a hotline from someone to call about his/her problems, but what isn't advertised is that the listener can be helped just as much. I could be having a pretty bad day, but once I'm there in the hotline room, just BEING THERE for someone else really calms me, and makes me much happier and fulfilled.